Buying mint leaves at Porta Palazzo, June 2008

As Turin often positions itself as a city of supremacies (the biggest square without monuments and the longest pedestrian street in Europe are here), also its wide market adds to this. As a matter of fact Porta Palazzo is one (arguably Turinese would admit that is THE) among the biggest market areas in Europe. A square piazza gives the ground to a multicolour, multifaceted, multi-everything ensemble of vendors ranging from the rarest goat cheese from the Piedmontese Alps to the last Chinese plastic toy just shipped through the port of Genova. In the middle of the extremes you have the mixes: North African vendors shouting their offers of very Piedmontese vegetables in a good Italian, shaped by an accent of different origins (usually a Southern dialect, impressed by their bosses) or Piedmontese young folk selling Sicilian lemons and oranges; old ladies promoting their avocados from Central America and their husbands giving out Chilean pears for a better deal than the neighbour. The most unexpected is at the fish market, where a bunch of Peruvian men are supporting their Italian bosses in selling the freshest fish, best for a sashimi and the like. Moroccans are selling mint leaves in branches which make give such a special flavour to your tea, Romanians have a good stake in the meat business and in their well ordered stands sell everything from Valacchia's steaks to Black Sea's sheep yogurt.
Don't need to go far to get feeling of the world, got it here. It helps to get away from the stiff plastic surroundings. Have a look:
www.comune.torino.it/torinoplus/english/markets/porta-palazzo-market.html