Lucerne Saturday Market

I love a market. It is true. Don't believe me? Read this, or this ... hence, I had a great time walking around the Lucerne (Luzern) markets with Juanita on the weekend. I have to admit, there was nothing uber special about the market's contents. They had fruits, vegetables, cheese, meats, fish, and the like. They did have some amazing handicrafts though and some beautiful flowers. But I think what made the market special was that all the stalls lined up along the river's edge. I mean, have you ever seen a prettier backdrop for a bunch of potatoes? No? Me neither.

And I felt like Fall had opened up it's mouth and eaten us whole, too, because Fall's frohliches fest was everywhere. There were heaps of gourds and pumpkins and vats of cider, dried flower crafts, and canned goods, ready for the hard winter ahead. Dried arrangements and centerpieces were also in abundance with a mix of the items in the photos below.

Gourds and some paper lantern flowers. What are these things? I must know. Flower? Mineral? Fairy houses? I must know.

Knowing my affinity to punishing myself with garlic, I almost poured the contents of these columns of yumminess into my purse. But alas, Juanita would not let me. ;) Actually, it was because we were both drooling and our purses were probably not big enough...

You could smell the Anis from these cookies three bridges away. I personally would like to collect the wooden molds that are used to make the patterns on these cookies, but for that I might need 22 more Swiss bank accounts.

More gourds. Seriously, this big boy at the bottom makes me blush just a bit. I am so sorry. This is a PG13 blog. I will be more careful next time. ;)

On a more PG note, I am in love with these hedgehogs. They are somehow made out of wood, and I recall now that I have seen them before - at the Munich markets. Don't believe me... here, check this:
Blast. They are different, but equally cute. Actually, the one from Lucerne is cuter but they were gone when we went back for a second look. Blast x 1000. (Ps. I saw a real one of these when I was in Vienna last week. It was just walking down the street. A REAL HEDGEHOG!!!)

This cheers me up though. These are all "Sirips." That is how they spell it in German, I recall, syrups for the English speakers. These are made from fruits and you mix them with 'Minerales Wasser - mit Gas" - that means, mineral water with bubbles. They were about 8 CHF per bottle which in hindsight is pretty good considering it is fresh fruit and it would go a long way.

Finally, these babies were in a lot of the fall centerpieces. They are African pickles. And they are so cute. They are about the size of a small plum and they look amazing in a dish with some gourds. Should have bought some, darn. Next time, next time.

Go check out the Lucerne Markets. I highly recommend it!

Weekly Lucerne Farmers Market along the river Reuss, every Tuesday and Saturday, 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.