A free weekend ahead, the options are to spend a quiet weekend in Plzeň or to go to Leipzig, Germany, where one of Europe's largest antique markets, Agra Antikmarkt, would be organized. Huili would be good, but on the other hand, the autumn holidays will decrease and there might not be another opportunity to go to that market.
In the first blog, I told about our drive through Germany. I mentioned a vintage shop that sells stuff in our style called HinrichSINNdreißig, run by a friendly couple, Lola and Manuel. From them we got a tip about the big antiques event organized on the last weekend of every month, which is one of the finest and biggest antiques events in Europe. They say we should definitely get there, there would be old sports goods from the GDR and vintage treasures in our style.
I asked Manuel in more detail about the weekend's event by message and the recommendation was still strong, the instruction was to arrive at 6:00 in the morning. They themselves said that they would come shopping and meet friends only on Sunday. From that seat, hotels are booked, dogs are in the car, and Skoda's head is headed for Leipzig's vintage finds. The fire was strong, so even a three-hour drive was no obstacle.
It rained on Saturday morning, which is why we sat at the hotel's breakfast a little longer than recommended. It was a good decision, because the sellers started displaying their products around 7:30. Right from the start, it became clear that fine and rare old stuff was really appreciated and despite the rather high prices, many products moved as soon as the sellers revealed them from under their tarps.
We also made discoveries here and there. One salesman, an elderly gentleman, had arrived in Leipzig from Nuremberg. His range struck us: enamel signs, Pepsi drink boxes , cutting boards . Even when the man spoke fluent English, doing business was easy. Finally, the man invited us to visit his store in Nuremberg and we exchanged our contact information. More on this in the next blog.
We toured the market until 11 o'clock and it felt like the stalls would never end, so it's heaven for a collector and an antique enthusiast. A break at the currywurst kiosk gave us strength and we continued to finish the outdoor stalls. Inside the hall, a slightly different offering opened up. The sales tables were elegantly arranged and there were mostly more valuable antiques on offer. We had the best time at the outdoor stalls, where you could hang out and make discoveries.
Certainly a lot of treasures also passed by, because there would have been enough to go around for two days. For the sake of comparison, Finland's famous Juthbacka market has 400 sellers, Agra Flohmarkt had 1000 sellers. Smaller objects travel to Helsinki to Vintagetall in a suitcase, larger ones somehow, we'll worry about it in time.
Leipzig products are added to the online store as they arrive in Finland.
- Aleksi