The oldest historical record of Nădlac dates back to
1241 when the town was devastated by the Tartars.
The actual beginning of the weekly market is not known
but the earliest recorded date of the piaţa goes back
to 1822. It began in another location in town.
As you will see in the pictures that every Thursday the
little plaza gets a major transformation into an area of
incredible activity.
This is the piaţa on every other day other than Thursday.
I pointed out the location of the coffee shop … a topic
of a prior blog article. I also have found out that that
particular coffee shop was the first one to open here
after the ‘Revolution of 1989’. Before that time coffee
shops didn’t exist here in Nădlac.
The picture was taken from the balcony on the
Slovakian Evangelical Church.
Next a ground level view.
The vendors come in their little vans and cars
with trailers. It is amazing the quantities of goods
these people carry in their little vehicles. They
also move from this market to the others all
during the week.
The third picture should give you a better feel of
just how Market Day is.
In this plaza you can get anything you want. Jeans,
sneakers, food, bicycle parts, used clothes for an
incredibly good price.
This next photo hopefully gives you a more of
a ‘being there feel’. I like the color and ambiance.
There are also Rroma ‘Gypsy’ vendors on the
street side of the market. They usually sell used
clothes.
I have to say that the market here in Romania
is better than the 'piaţa mea' in El Salvador or
Senegal. The reason for it being that here the
prices are fixed. In the other countries it was
always a battle to negotiate a decent price.
I know that it is an experience to visit a country
that has the ‘haggling’ in their culture. It can be fun
and a great story to tell but when one has to deal
with it daily, it gets a little old. I have to state
that I am not a shopper so I am also giving my
opinion with that as a basis. Also, in the other
countries when they saw a stranger they also saw
$$$$$. If you lived there after a while it wasn’t so
much that of the haggling it was more a question
of respect. It was like, hey, I am living here and I
am not a tourist. Also, I felt that the vendors had
this ego thing of being able to beat the stranger. I am
sure that they discussed how much they could take
the stranger for. I am convinced that it was an ego thing
more so than the money.
But all that means nothing here as the prices are
fixed. The first time I had to go to the market I
was tense and I was thinking, here we go again,
another 2 years of battling it out. But when I went
there I was shocked to see prices attached to the
objects for sale.
Maybe it’s me but it seems to make for a
more ‘laid back’ and enjoyable experience.
People just spend the morning walking around
and ‘window/stall’ shopping. The vendors don’t
seem to be stressed like in the other countries.
The market is a pretty unique and quaint event
here in Nădlac. Those types of markets are really
of a time gone by. Today I guess we could say that
the ‘malls’ are somewhat of today’s market. Here
we have the best of both world’s. The town itself
has all the amenities, clothes stores, hair dressers,
nice bars and restaurants. It also has the great
old custom of market day.
I don’t know what the future holds for the market.
With the European Union's basic goal of
trying to raise the quality of life, I don’t know if
when that goal is accomplished, that the market
will be an obsolete habit. Usually markets of that
nature are for the poorer people. Malls are for richer
people. This is my observation only.
Either way, I am lucky to be here to experience
the carnival atmosphere of piaţa day in Nădlac.
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