all the right elements

Yesterday afternoon, the joyously blue weather coupled with the glimpses I'd seen of early asparagus gave me a craving for a bright, fresh salad. Since I'm working downtown in the center of everything German-city I decided to do the shopping from the street market near the church instead of going to a usual grocery store. Come 6pm, I packed my computer together and headed up to Lorenzkirche were a small band was playing some snappy 1930s jazz tunes to a captivated crowd. Ringed around the base of the church was a small cluster of stands selling fat olives, all varieties of cheeses, beautifully displayed vegetables, and tempting clusters of flowers.

I made my way through the different stands, finally going for the Spanish green asparagus since all the German stuff this early seems to be the white kind- not my thing. A few lemons and a massive bunch of flat parsley the size of a small shrubbery and I was ready for the cheese guy, where he sliced of a generous, creamy chunk of parmesan. One last stop to toss in a few coins for the musicians and I was on the way home with my spoils, the parsley springing out of the shopping bag festively. At home I sliced and simmered the asparagus lightly, and tossed with bulghur, minced garlic, garbanzo, and the other market ingredients, it was the perfect way to celebrate the springiness of the day.

These are the kinds of moments I dreamed of so much when I was a girl in Vermont, albeit quite vaguely. The ancient churches, the cobbled streets, the street markets with their gorgeous produce, and the soundtrack makes it feel even more like a dream fulfilled. I'm not sure what makes it feel so special though- I had cobblestones and street markets when I lived in Boston, and I did love them too, but maybe it's just that the Big Dig towering overhead isn't quite the same as a Medieval castle? Is it about the language and that thrill I feel when I can successfully order my 100 grams of cheese in German and actually get 100 grams of the cheese I wanted? It's definitely partly due to the knowledge that when I get home with the spoils, S will be there to tell me about his day, and as darkness fades on the view of the towers in the altstadt, we'll be there together, talking over our asparagus salads.