Published on Wednesday, December 3, 2014 by Kathy McCabe Well, actually, the five best from among both the mercatini delle pulci (flea markets) and the mercatini dell’usato (second-hand markets), because both can be fun and because the latter type has gotten more and more popular in recent years. Biggest: Carmagnola in Turin may not have the largest number of stalls, but it’s laid out over the greatest amount of la...

Published on Saturday, November 29, 2014 by Kathy McCabe On the first Sunday of each month, 30,000 shoppers descend on the city of Arezzo in Tuscany, eager to see what the 500-plus vendors of antiques and bricabrac will offer at their stalls. Some of these vendors have been around for so long (the fair dates back to 1968) that they have permanent shops—about 100 or so of these line the Piazza San Francesco and its environ...

Published on Tuesday, February 11, 2014 by Kathy McCabe Italy is the land of luscious, colorful produce - giant, bright yellow lemons, eggplant that's the perfect shade of purple, peppers as shiny and red as they get. The flavorful bounty is usually lovingly and carefully displayed just so in outdoor markets and supermarkets.  All of the beautiful, deliciousness might make you tempted to...But Don't Touch!  Non T...