Have you got tired of seing the museums and art galleries? No worries, in Florence, theres always a surprise waiting for you around the corner. Right besides the Cathedral where the pedestrian area ends, if you are facing the road which leads back to the station, take a right, the streets name is Via Borgo San Lorenzo.
It would seem like a normal road at first but just 50 meters ahead, you will notice that there exists a completely different bit of Florence. The area is filled with stalls on either side of the road, like back in the Medieval times, with exception that the barter system has been subsituted to the Euro currency. The sellers come from all over the world, Turkish, Iranian, Chinese, Indian,Brazilian, Colombian, Albanian, Romanian, Peruvian which further makes us realise how different this area is.
The famous products sold here is definitely the Leather. You can find a variety of leather products such as bags, jakcets, wallets, gloves, belts and other smaller accessories. Besides leather one can find clothing from casual wear to sporty goods like soccer shirts or for the female interests there are accessories of all types. Earings made of glass to even simple metal ones with special designs giving it a non-european touch.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pavdw/4066628745/
Remeber as I said, the prices can fluctuate from client to client. Dont get me wrong, there is no discrimination as such, the only reason is how good you can get in lowering the price asked by the seller. Carefull coz with all the years of experience they are getting good at it so better show that you are firm and convinvced!
Once you are done with the market you can go check out the grocery stalls selling fresh vegetables, fresh meat, fish, sala
mis of different regions and a variety of cheese from all around Italy. You must enter the red building halfway on Via Borgo San Lorenzo, this market is opened from Monday to Friday, so hope you dont miss it.
By the end of the day im sure your bags will be heavier than normal after your visit to San Lorenzo.