The Leather market - Skridloff Street
If you have visited the main market hall then your next port of call should really be the leather market.  Walking straight through the main market front door to rear, go down the steps turn left and you are in Skridloff street, heading for the leather market, two minutes walk away.  But get there quickly, it might be soon be gone...  Nothing, but nothing here has been changing so quickly as this old market street.  As the old shoe-makers; belt; handbag; sheepskin glove and waistcoat sellers close, a new jewelry shop seems to open.  At the rate it is changing it will soon rival Amsterdam for gems and Switzerland for watches and clocks.
Lets walk through.....
Walking from the Chania market end of Skridloff street and passing through the bollards and chains keeping the traffic out, the long narrow street, usually crowded with tourists stretches away in front.  You can't usually see very far because of the crowds.  But take a glance to your right by the large Burdas Jewelers and you will see a small square with cafes and outdoor tables.  The one in the picture is called the Konstantinople, but any will do for a quiet drink.  After you reach the end of the leather market take two right turns and at the end of the street you have entered you will be back at this square.  Either clutching your new leather or sporting your Rolex!  Have a drink!!  But walk through first.....

 

The old and the new; side by side, make for a colourful street, with a smattering of gift shops and a small cafe halfway down adding a bit more texture to the scene than might otherwise be the case.  And it is still possible to buy good leather at reasonable prices, although the hand-made is gradually giving way to the mass produced branded goods.  I particularly like the sheepskin patchwork waistcoats and sheepskin gloves.  The latter which sell for only 2 -3000 drachmae, a fraction of the UK cost.  And I really do like the hand-made belts. I probably own one for each pair of trousers I own!  I also have a sneaking regard for the obviously commercial but excellent quality belts - especially the ones with the Harley Davidson logos. However, even if I could find my Jeans they are from the bell-bottom era!


 

This particular pattern of interspaced leather goods and jewelry store is repeated with slight variations to the end of the street.  To anyone passing through regularly it must be obvious that the majority of the old leather shops will soon be gone and in this respect Chania will have begun to look a little more like modern Venice.  Nowhere is the progress more obvioud than in the nest picture....
Opposite the small cafe......
In the middle of Skridloff street one of the remaining leather shops is flanked by two jewelers...
Still Selling good hand-made leather.
 
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