Shopping

Shoes & Spoons

A less important street market is the weekly Saturday outdoor market of nonantique goods (selling clothes, pet food, household goods -- nothing fascinating, but an interesting peek into local life and a good place to pick up kitchen items to re-create your own cucina italiana back home) in the Prato della Valle. It has a number of inexpensive shoe stands hawking goods from the many factories for which the nearby Brenta Canal area has long been renowned. Both the antiques fair (listed above) and this weekly market will give you a reason to visit the 18th-century Prato della Valle, said to be one of the largest piazzas in Europe. Located just southwest of the Basilica di Sant'Antonio, it is ringed by a canal and populated by more than 80 statues.