The Dolac: My Neighborhood Market

So instead of trying to write about things I've done (when I've done them), I've decided to just start blogging about daily life in this city. I'm positive I will still write some posts about various events and outings, but I haven't been very good at keeping up with that-so this is my alternative. Today I'd like to tell you about the Dolac. This is an open air market for fruits and vegetables located above an indoor market for meat, eggs, and dairy.  The modern market has been open since 1930 (I think,my source is a tourist brochure in Croatian*). It is one of several markets located around the city where merchants sell produce that is both homegrown and imported and deliver fresh meat. I usually buy all my produce and most of my meat here.I'm still nervous about shopping at the butcher stands for beef and pork since I don't know how to order what I need. I shop about twice a week and find the prices are basically the same as the grocery store, but I feel like I'm actually participating in Zagreb life by going there....plus it's closer to my apartment than the store. 

Here is a picture of the open air section of the market as I approach it from my place. It's not the best photo it, so I might update this if I can get another one. Under the arc you can see the big square where the vendors have their tables and all the people milling about. 

This is a typical stand. Here you can see they are selling citrus fruits on one the left side  (homegrown clementines are the best now) and various leaf and root vegetables on the right. 

This is the view from the stairs in the underside of the market where all the meat is sold. 

Typical butcher stand. I've noticed that they each tend to focus on one type of meat: pork, beef, poultry, but many stands offer their own sausages. 

This is where I buy all my chicken. I took this photo on a Saturday, when it is really busy. 

 I get my eggs at this stand. The eggs here are amazing and have the brightest yokes. I don't think I can ever go back to eating egg whites again. 

This is a photo of my typical purchase at the market. I always get some kind of chicken, although this was my first time buying a whole chicken to bake. I also have a few oranges, lemons, zucchini, carrots, onion, garlic  fresh parsley, potatoes, and 10 eggs. Usually a trip of this size cost around 80 kuna ($14), but the sausages costs a little more. I'm slow in my understanding of the language so I accidently ended up with more than I had anticipated. They are sold in pairs, so when I asked for two, I actually got four but I didn't mind. I shared half of them with Amy. Every time I make a "new" purchase at the market, I learn a bit more of the language and figure out how to get what I need. This week my new purchase was mushrooms so I learned about how many grams (roughly 300) I should buy at one time. Small victories are making life here a bit easier every day.

*http://www.zagrebtouristinfo.hr/brosura/korak_po_korak/brosura%20korak%20po%20korak_HR_web.pdf