Valencia, Spain - Canet Medieval Market

 Last time I was in the village of Canet den Berenguer I had seen a poster for this weekend, "The festival of Saint Antoni". On facebook last night I saw pictures of the medieval market so decided that was as good a destination as any, for my walk today.

Very windy again, from the north so no major waves.

 

Took the "agricultural road" and thought that just aiming for the church would probably help me find the market.

I don't think this irrigation system is still in use

some of the access gates are broken. The orange and lemon orchards have black pipe irrigation systems.

Once into the village I followed the sound of the pipe and drum.

The stalls were in 2 of the small squares and the road between them.

I will always stop for free samples. He had out sheep cheese and goat cheese and I bought some goat. When he realized I was actually a customer (not just a taster) he offered me a taste of the blue cheese, which was delicious and I had to buy some of that too.

This swing carousel is powered by a hand crank. I wonder if they really had them at medieval fairs.

I'm not sure how relevant this is to the one in the picture but I found it interesting.

The word carousel derives from the French word carrousel, meaning little battle a reference to European tournaments of the same name starting in the 17th century. Participants in these tournaments rode live horses and competed in various cavalry skill tests, such as ring jousting. By the end of that century, simple machines were created in which wooden horses were suspended from a spinning wheel mounted on top of a central pole, allowing competitors to practice ring jousting without tiring their horses. These early contraptions soon became common with traveling fairs in Europe, and by the 19th century, their popularity spread to North America, where they became staple attractions in traveling carnivals and some of the first purpose-built amusement parks. Most historic carousel animal figures, including those made during the golden age of carousels from the 1870s to the early 1930s, were made from wood, and were carved and painted by hand. From wikipedia

Along one street there was a rather gruesome

 

display of medieval torture

and death row implements.

Next up - a petting zoo.

I just can't resist baby goats.

A couple of food booths, so I had churros for lunch.

Deep fried while I waited and then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

It was a good job I didn't see this booth first

It was quite small but there were quite a few people, mostly families, milling around.

Some of the booths looked the same as I have seen at any of the flea market - plastic toys, candy, leather goods. But some made an effort

to get with the theme in their costumes and

their displays.

On the way home I bought a hyacinth and a geranium while supervised by the nursery cat. 

Missing this guy, who is supervising Rick doing crossword puzzles.