Mad about the Flohmarkt

Maybe it's the lack of second hand shops around here, maybe it's the general priciness of antiques, or perhaps it's the rather sparodic appearance of 'flohmarkts' (or flea markets) - whatever the reason - I'm mad about them. There are flea markets in and around the cities of Cologne, Bonn and Düsseldorf on a pretty regular basis. But there is no fixed 'second hand stuff' open air market - to my knowledge. So when you fancy wandering around a flohmarket type place, perhaps on a lazy Sunday afternoon, as usual you need to initiate German style millitary planning and know well in advance exactly which Sunday in the month a flohmarkt is going to appear on. I've been a bit spoilt for markets in the past. When I lived down in Munich we had the 'Kunstpark Ost' - a former warehouse district taken over by clubs, indoor climbing halls, artists and a huge sprawling Sunday flohmarkt. There you could find just about anything - from the weird to the wonderful - fabulous teak tables from Thailand, whole rooms dedicated to 1950's furniture and clothing, even a Munich lost property hall where you could find umbrella's, books, or ski's that people had left on the u-bahn. And then of course there's the Camden or Portabello markets back in London - open every Sunday and overflowing with a sublime pot pouri of new and second hand, madly tempting 'stuff'. So why am I telling you all this? Because I just found out about a new Flohmarkt and I can give you the dates right now so you can put them in your 'termincalendar.' On Saturday 28th January, Saturday 11 February and Saturday 10th March, Ehrenfeld in Cologne hosts the Nachtflohmarkt which starts at 5pm and goes on into the night. You'll be able to pick up any manner of flim-flam, bricka-brack and junk (or what we flohmarketeers call 'treasure') accompanied by live music and other entertainment as well as bars and food stands. It costs €3 to get in - and while I can't guarantee the quality or standard of the goods on sale - for the novelty of a night time flea market, it's bound to be worth a look
http://www.nachtkonsum.com/koeln/termine