Finally. A Flea Market That Sells Fleas.

The famous cat market women of St Petersburg are always good for a tourist snap.

Wouldn’t you just love to take one home? (I mean, one of the kittens.)

Of course. But, supposing you need more cats? I read that it takes around 23 cats or 10 -12 dogs to make the kind of coat you need to keep out Russia’s cold. So if you need a cheap coat, then you have to hop on down to the Polyustrovsky weekend market.

It’s called a ‘pet market’ but, hey, they sell fur, assorted reptiles and . . .  tortoises, which as we know are excellent for making guitar plectrums and fingerpicks. Just one tortoise shell should be good for a whole year of country picking.

Most tourists in St Petersburg prefer to visit the Kuznechny market. It’s Russia’s version of Les Halles, full of the kind of expensive stuff Russians don’t normally eat.  Worth a trip for the specialities though, like Rostov honey. The odd thing about Russian markets is that nothing is presented in a very genteel way.

At any American Women’s Institute stall you’d get the honey in a pretty pot, with a little gingham cloth top and a home-made label. The Rostov honey, however, was splurged – extruded is probably the mot juste – into industrial plastic containers. It looked just like the glue my nephew uses for his laminate flooring business.

Kuznechny market is expensive, so for something to eat St Petersburgers go to Sennoy market. Doesn’t the cows’ snout look good today! I was going to pick some up but then I thought . .  oh I don’t have a recipe for that.