The Joy of a German Flea Market

This weekend I died and went to Flea Market Heaven.

I am lucky enough to have already made a friend here. She is an older woman named Indgrid, and we got connected with her during the first week we arrived in Amberg. There was a woman staying in our hotel who spoke English, and through Amelia’s charms we quickly befriended her. It was great to have someone to ask relevant questions, like “Are there thrift stores here? Where can we buy cheap stuff?!” Although most of the facts about 2nd hand wares were discouraging, she was still able to help us out. She called Ingrid, who was downsizing and moving to a tiny studio apartment. She gave me Indgrid’s number, and we went over there and bought a lot of her stuff! It was such a huge blessing, because I was able to get cookware, houseplants, platters and vases and that sort of thing from her– it saved me SO much money and work! She has been really kind and helpful to us– she spends the cold part of the year in Australia, so her English is excellent and she knows what it’s like to be a foreigner. I have been able to call her and ask her cultural questions, and she has given me lots of helpful advice on where to find various items, when it’s OK to haggle, etc. She called to tell me that the very best flea market in the area was in a town called Neumarkt, and it was being held this past Saturday. She assured us that there would be plenty of antiques, unlike the “flohmarkt” here which was mostly people selling their junk on card tables, like a neighborhood yard sale (although that was not so bad– we came home with a drill– it wasn’t what we’d hoped for.)

We are still lacking SO many household goods– even as people who like to live minimally. So we ventured out, and were very well rewarded. The size of this market was surprisingly big, and the stuff was all amazing. I just walked around, smiling– it was all so beautiful, unique, interesting and cool! We didn’t even get to see everything, there was so much! I swear I could have taken one of everything there, but I was very happy with what I walked away with. Five euros seemed to be the magic price of the day, and it certainly helped that we were there right before everyone was packing up, and eager to unload a few more items. Here are all of my Five Euro Finds:

Isn’t this the coolest little tea kettle?

I had been hoping to find something like this, and I had seen some on various websites, but of course for much much more.

This is solid iron and super heavy. It’s hard to see the size from the picture, but it’s big– about a foot wide.

I could have seriously gone crazy with all of the beautiful table linens– embroidered, striped, etc., and all pure linen. This one was a good bargain, and just the right size for our tiny dining table.

No matter how many fancy ways I’ve tried preparing coffee, nothing beats a cone drip. I love the ceramic ones, and although it’s hard to find them in stores here, there were plenty of vintage ones there. Now to find a matching Melitta coffee pitcher…

A little enamel bowl. So practical, so irresistible.

A couple other things were definitely worth a little more, but were still very good deals:

An antique Swiss military first aid box! This will be perfect for vitamins…

And, my favorite, a vintage educational poster on brassicas. Our walls need to be painted really badly, and this is not only wonderful to look at, but covers a very awful-looking wall in our kitchen.

Driving away with all of our new things, I felt so lucky! I really felt like was taking advantage of living in Europe, and although everything else seems to be much more expensive here, I had finally hit the jackpot. This market is held once a month, and I think Jeff and I will try to be there every time.