photograph courtesy of jonnnnn

Most major European tourist destinations want so badly for you to shop at their luxury stores that they even publish little ritzy “how-to” pamphlets, as though you need help figuring out how to use your credit card.

But all good Cheapos know that it’s the fleamarkets, not Louis Vuitton, that deserve our hard-earned euros. Not only are fleamarkets cheap, they’re a great way to connect with a city. Which material possessions inhabitants choose to own (and give away) is also quite revealing.

In an effort to supplement our touristy experience of Salzburg, we made the journey to a fleamarket—or Flohmarkt, in German—in Kleingmeinerhof, a suburb southeast of the city center. It took some planning to get out there. The signs advertising the fleamarket weren’t in English and we weren’t exactly sure where we were going.

But Mensch, was it worth it! The small wooden pavilion housing the Flohmarkt was packed with so much bric-a-brac that not even your devoted fleamarket-crazed editor had the energy to pick through everything. Genuine Lederhosen! Austrian Kinder board games! An ominous photo of grinning woman and baby dated 29.6.1961! Handmade leather sandals! A ratty backpack shaped like an owl!

Topping it all off, a 1960s German pop soundtrack in the background—Heino: is it you?!—and home-baked cream cakes rounded out the experience.

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