July 12th, 2005 | The lowdown by Bryan Fox

To Market We Go.

There's a wicked Sunday market at Hala Targowa, where you can buy all manner of Communist regalia as well as antiques and books and bootleg DVDs and magazines and just about anything else that you could throw down on a blanket and try to hawk to passersby. You can even find things you'd really rather not find, including lots of war and Nazi memorabilia of often dubious origin, if that's your thing. As for me, I started to accumulate 1950s clocks with "Made in USSR" proudly emblazoned in Cyrillic across their faces, and Stalin pins because there was something quite novel about being able to buy them for a dollar. Even if you're not going to buy, there's an undeniable cultural experience to be gained from just passing through, as the sight of gnarled babcias (old ladies) selling fresh-pressed twarog (soft cheese) from the farm next to middle-aged men arguing over the price of a random key the buyer hopes may fit into a long-locked box he has somewhere possess a certain charm.

And if you like secondhand clothes, there are "Na wage" shops all over town, where they sell castoffs from Germany and points further North and West by weight, with a sliding price scale that steadily decreases from the day of arrival. Some of them just dump everything in big tubs, and you end up bin diving with old ladies looking for something of use. Others are more organized. There's a big and continually expanding chain called 'Roban' to which I became a bit addicted; they are the antithesis of Ivory soap, 99 and 44/100ths% crap, but when you find something good, it's virtually free. Lots of wonderful track suits made in "West Germany", t-shirts advertising Norwegian kayak festivals from 1993, and 70's double-wide polyester ties. Good for adding a bit of distinction to your wardrobe, or just passing a few hours on a cold winter's afternoon.

And, in case you just want to look like everybody else, there are a few "Made in the U.S.A." ultramodern shopping centers around town, too, the Galeria Kasimierz being the most recent one. As I write this, they are laying the foundations for what will most definitely be another 60,000 square foot sanitary testament to the proud fact that, yes, capitalism has arrived, next to the main train station. Starbucks can't be far away.