Imagine your local flea market + food festival and square it. The Old City on the North side essentially shuts down to cars and scooter and fills with vendors lining both sides of the street shoulder to shoulder. The middle of the street fills too leaving two feet on each side as an isle. Every twenty feet or so there is someone playing music. Not great music, but entertaining nonetheless.
It felt like the entire city under 30 was out to join the fun. I walked around with my teacher and a classmate for some of it, and then as the market started to fill we got separated so I just wandered. Four hours of wandering is what it took to see the entire market.
I enjoyed being anonymous and watching the locals and seeing the city change its landscape for a night. And I love that I could park my bike, lock it to itself, and not worry about theft. I had no idea how large the market would become, and ended up a little lost at the end. After a few passes through the maze I finally found my bike. A foot massage stand of 10 lawn chairs had set up shop in front of it. I had to squeeze between two Germans getting a massage and then get back out without hitting anyone while I balanced a 20lbs bike over my head.
Outside the market the streets were very quiet and the heat broke for the night so the ride home was a great decompression. I ended the evening sitting on the porch eating the crab cakes and fresh spring rolls I bought at the fête.
