Multifaceted at Salamanca Market (Day 171)

Salamanca Market is renowned in Tasmania, probably the most visited tourist attraction here. I do so love a good market and I do so love things that are multifaceted.

We hopped on a bus and as we walked nearer to Salamanca market, we could hear the buzz, even a guy on his greengrocery stall yelling “Come and get your apples” in his Aussie twang.

We wandered around the 300 odd stalls; it's wonderful to see such talent of local artisans, handmade body care, bespoke jewellery, carved timber, exquisite glassware, craft gin and so on. Tim’s focus was on the food stalls, and mine was on the clothes stalls. One of the first stalls we noticed was selling delightful colourful hats @Shazhats, so whacky and vibrant. We met Shaz, a spritely lady who was whacky and vibrant herself. Whilst chatting with her I noticed poking out from her hat that she had rather colourful hair. She kindly took her hat off to show me – one side was covered in rainbow colours – the photo doesn’t do it justice. Love the hair, love the hats. (New style? What do you think?)

I do like to find unique clothes that are great for travellers. All part of the research for #GrownUpTravellers. They need to be either multi-functional such as @MihiMerino’s wrap I saw in New Zealand which can be converted into about 8 different styles. At the market, there were a few “2 for the price of 1” clothes such as the reversible skirts at @Keshet with their fabulous strong colours and patterns. I refrained – I already have 3 reversible skirts with me. Then I found @4oneness who make and print their own fabrics. Wow – so much reversible clothes all in beautiful silk, I was in my element. Skirts, trousers, tops and dresses. I had mentioned to Tim that I’d really like a dress that I could quickly pop on when I get up in the morning, especially when staying at people’s places where we share the bathroom. I do have my sarong, however, I need to hold it on. He suggested pyjamas, but they would take too much room and also not versatile enough for me. Let’s cut to the chase (as my friend Barbara would say) I bought a reversible silk dress. The young lady who served me was brilliant, so patient whilst I was rummaging through the clothes rail.

Tim was getting hungry and had spied a stall that sold pulled pork on sauerkraut and potatoes. It was mainly a meaty place; I saw that they sold chat potatoes with sour cream - that will do me. We put our order in, sitting on 2 plastic crates. Tim tucked in and enjoyed his. Mine? There’s only so many new potatoes lightly fried one can eat.

I had seen an Art Gallery behind the market, so after we’d seen all the stalls, we popped in there. Whoever is the buyer at @GallerySalamanca has such brilliant taste: beautiful glassware, paintings, and jewellery. Do have a look at their website: www.gallerysalamanca.com.au. We were looking at a painting called “At the Foot of the Mountain” by Esther Shohet when an elegant, mature lady came and chatted with us. It turned out that she was the Manager of the Gallery called Marjorie, and we had a fascinating conversation with her.

Marjorie shared Esther’s background with us and of the painting we were looking at. Esther had painted it using palette knife with oils, lots of movement with a beautiful blend of colours: white, purple and touches of orange. The artist originally studied textiles and in recent years lived in Japan and this has influenced her use of colour and underlying patterns.

We chatted more with Marjorie, she said she had a messy life, to us it sounded intriguing and inspiring. She originates from England and was sent to Quaker Boarding School in Tasmania as a young girl. Eventually, she returned to live in England and worked in many of the University Publishing Houses as well as a number of the large Art Galleries. She has lived in several places around the world, meeting fascinating people, and still does some consulting, travelling back to England for a week every two months. She shared that her father, an engineer was an amazing man. He said to her “If someone asked you to do something, say yes, then work out how to do it” and she has certainly taken notice.

Marjorie wanted to show us another work of art. Stuart Clues’ Painting 'Where Two Rivers Meet'. Wow – stunning. We both loved the different textures of the smooth, transparent sky and water against the rugged coarse rock painted in strong bronze, white, deep green and black. Marjorie turned the lights of the shop off and the painting looked totally different. Imagine having this painting at home; during the day and evening this stunning artwork takes on different moods based on the light, both natural and artificial. It would be like having many paintings in one. A multifaceted painting.

We chatted more, the conversation flowed so easily, I would have loved to stop and have coffee with Marjorie, a very fascinating, intelligent, beautiful woman.

As we walked around the corner into Salamanca square, we could hear Latin music playing. There were three couples dancing Salsa together. They looked as if they had just been to the market, met up for a coffee, heard the music and in the spur of the moment, started practising their dance routine from their Salsa classes. We clapped.

Next, a very nice Dessert Café for coffee (Julie, the coffee here is delicious, hey it’s about the same size as the USA, but with less than 8% of the population). On the menu was Black, White or Blonde Panookies. We’d never had one before. We chose the Blonde: Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Cookie, still hot from the oven, with marshmallow, caramel fudge ice cream topped with orange blossom fairy floss and salted caramel beads – sweet but nice.

After that, we decided to walk the 4.7km journey home. Needed to get some of those calories off. Our lovely host Anna was home and invited us to join her for dinner. We’d just bought ingredients so suggested we’d cook for Sunday. Another delightful conversation. She is a lecturer at the Foundry College here in Tasmania teaching Creative Entrepreneurship. Another person who has done loads in her life (and she is only 34). She has travelled extensively, loves high altitude trekking, ran a project in Laos and Solomon Islands as a youth ambassador with VSO in her early 20s, and much more. Anna is a highly intelligent lady, into philosophical subjects, loves listening to Jordan Peterson, the conversation was very enriching. So I will end this post with a quote from Jordan Peterson: “Happiness is a pointless goal. Don’t compare yourself with other people, compare yourself with who you were yesterday. No one gets away with anything, ever, so take responsibility for your own life. You conjure your own world, not only metaphorically but also literally and neurologically. These lessons are what the great stories and myths have been telling us since civilisation began.”