SoWa Open Market in Boston

This past Sunday I took a walk through Boston's SoWa Open Market, on Harrison Avenue. SoWa stands for South of Washington Street, Boston's hip & happening warehouse district, home of fancy renovated lofts and artist's studios. The open market is a mix of farmer's market, flea market and crafts fair. There I found artisans, artists, bakers, florists, vintage clothing & furniture dealers and designers to name a few. The eclectic mix has a hip edge to it, not at all granny's old church swap meeting. As it was a warm Fall afternoon the place was packed with young couples with baby strollers, gay guys with baby strollers and the usual bargain hunters. The images above illustrate a bit of the day's outing and the variety of different cool vendors there. I'd definitely advice an out-of-towner to stop by for a stroll and experience a bit of SoWa's hip vibe. The market is open from mid May to late October.
For more info go to Sowa Open Market's website.

Street Vendor in Rio - Flower Guy in Ipanema

I had seen this flower vendor above around Nossa Senhora da Paz Square in Ipanema, here in Rio, a couple of times before. The cart always seems to be by itself, as he stands away from it, making it a very poetic tableau of flowers left alone in a city square. But as soon as I pulled out my camera he showed up yelling "Two dollars for pictures". I just laughed it off saying in Portuguese that I was not a gringo and complimented him on his Brazilian flag patriotic touch. He then proceeded to straighten it out to make it look better for the pictures and didn't even mind being in the picture too.

Carioca Street Vendors

A few images of street vendors I captured this past weekend in a public park in Rio. I love all the colorful packaging, some familiar like Cheetos and Fandangos, and others that I never heard of like "Fofura" (cuteness, chubbiness) or "Torcida" (fans in a sports event). The sign sells hot-dogs and burgers, and the "X-tudo" is a burger with everything on top (cheese, egg, bacon, etc). The X stands for cheese, because in Portuguese the word sounds like the letter X, as we pronounce it "sheez". Cute, huh?

Carioca Street Vendor