The first market we went to Saturday morning was called “SLOWeekend” and was supposed to highlight the artisan process and lifestyle. They are alluding to the time and effort that it takes to make something small scale, often by hand, in order to preserve quality.
The event was hosted in SOHO Factory on the Praga side of Warsaw. For those that don’t know, Praga is the area of Warsaw that tourists are told to stay away from, and stories of muggings, deaths, and violence do their role in keeping them on the other side of the Vistula River. Now, as urbanists now, it is often these environments, areas infected by “urban blight”, broken windows, cheap rent, old buildings, and bullet-proof glass, that become the inspiration and the home of emerging artists and modern “bohemians.” The “SOHO” district of Praga is one such collection of old warehouses that now serves as workshops for industrial and fashion designers, boutiques, hip restaurants, galleries, and a neon museum. Developers seem to have seen the potential as well and there are some new interesting looking apartment buildings being raised in the area, feeding off of the energy that is bubbling over here.
Back to the actual bazaar, it was held in a series of buildings (SOHO Factory) that basically looks like a hangar for old machinery. It was filled to the brim this weekend with young Polish entrepreneurs selling their fare. You could find jewellery, clothes, candles, wooden home accessories, leather goods, books, hats, bean bag couches, copper gardening tools, and the list goes on and on and on. There was also a section dedicated to natural food and beauty products but it was so filled with baby strollers that it was difficult to navigate through. That’s right. Though there were many young people in their 20’s and 30’s, there was a surprisingly large number of young families present. This was also clearly visible at the Foodtruck part of the fest where tired kids (and probably exhausted parents) had a chance to sit down and recharge their batteries whilst enjoying their crepes, burgers, burritos, or dimsum.
B and I spent some zlotys here but we cannot reveal our purchases because some of our readers will be receiving them as Christmas gifts and I can’t ruin the surprise!
After leaving SOHO and walking along a very sketchy stretch of Praga, we caught a tram back to Centrum. We got off close to our apartment but made a pitstop at Dom Braci Jablonskich which was hosting a design market. The venue was much different than that of the previous event, with high ceilings, stain glassed windows and majestic columns. However, the atmosphere was very similar, as was the fare. Cool drinking glasses, t-shirts, tote bags, and Christmas wreaths were being peddled by their passionate creators.
B and I whined to eachother a number of times about how we wished we had more money so that we could buy all these things that we wanted, but to be honest, being limited with your funds pushes you to really think through your purchases and lead a very “curated” life, where you learn to prioritize and understand your own needs and wants.
The rest of the day was spent baking Christmas cookies and crafting décor for our Christmas Party. We got creative with the cardstock we bought and made some cute 6-point stars, standing origami Christmas trees, cut out snowflakes, ball ornaments, and my pride and joy, our hedgehog family. What’s so Christmassy about hedgehogs? The fact that they are surround a Christmas tree, of course!
More details about our little souiree can be read on B’s blog here .
It was a great weekend and it filled us with Christmas joy. We are very excited now to complete round II of Christmas prep in Canada soon. I can’t believe we will already be there on Thursday!
Bisouxxx,
B[ZU]
The event was hosted in SOHO Factory on the Praga side of Warsaw. For those that don’t know, Praga is the area of Warsaw that tourists are told to stay away from, and stories of muggings, deaths, and violence do their role in keeping them on the other side of the Vistula River. Now, as urbanists now, it is often these environments, areas infected by “urban blight”, broken windows, cheap rent, old buildings, and bullet-proof glass, that become the inspiration and the home of emerging artists and modern “bohemians.” The “SOHO” district of Praga is one such collection of old warehouses that now serves as workshops for industrial and fashion designers, boutiques, hip restaurants, galleries, and a neon museum. Developers seem to have seen the potential as well and there are some new interesting looking apartment buildings being raised in the area, feeding off of the energy that is bubbling over here.
Back to the actual bazaar, it was held in a series of buildings (SOHO Factory) that basically looks like a hangar for old machinery. It was filled to the brim this weekend with young Polish entrepreneurs selling their fare. You could find jewellery, clothes, candles, wooden home accessories, leather goods, books, hats, bean bag couches, copper gardening tools, and the list goes on and on and on. There was also a section dedicated to natural food and beauty products but it was so filled with baby strollers that it was difficult to navigate through. That’s right. Though there were many young people in their 20’s and 30’s, there was a surprisingly large number of young families present. This was also clearly visible at the Foodtruck part of the fest where tired kids (and probably exhausted parents) had a chance to sit down and recharge their batteries whilst enjoying their crepes, burgers, burritos, or dimsum.
B and I spent some zlotys here but we cannot reveal our purchases because some of our readers will be receiving them as Christmas gifts and I can’t ruin the surprise!
After leaving SOHO and walking along a very sketchy stretch of Praga, we caught a tram back to Centrum. We got off close to our apartment but made a pitstop at Dom Braci Jablonskich which was hosting a design market. The venue was much different than that of the previous event, with high ceilings, stain glassed windows and majestic columns. However, the atmosphere was very similar, as was the fare. Cool drinking glasses, t-shirts, tote bags, and Christmas wreaths were being peddled by their passionate creators.
B and I whined to eachother a number of times about how we wished we had more money so that we could buy all these things that we wanted, but to be honest, being limited with your funds pushes you to really think through your purchases and lead a very “curated” life, where you learn to prioritize and understand your own needs and wants.
The rest of the day was spent baking Christmas cookies and crafting décor for our Christmas Party. We got creative with the cardstock we bought and made some cute 6-point stars, standing origami Christmas trees, cut out snowflakes, ball ornaments, and my pride and joy, our hedgehog family. What’s so Christmassy about hedgehogs? The fact that they are surround a Christmas tree, of course!
More details about our little souiree can be read on B’s blog here .
It was a great weekend and it filled us with Christmas joy. We are very excited now to complete round II of Christmas prep in Canada soon. I can’t believe we will already be there on Thursday!
Bisouxxx,
B[ZU]