Saturday, December 19th, 2020
Today was almost like a normal day of any vacation in Germany. As we did what we would do on any Saturday we are here, whether just visiting or living here – a visit to the farmers market to stock up on groceries. Masks are mandatory and police was around to enforce mask wearing. Many of the stalls are the same as they were twenty-five years ago when I still called Hamburg my home, but even the “new” stalls have been there for at least a decade. Even with the pandemic and the lock down the market is open. Afterall it is food items and fully outdoors.
EM and I so enjoyed seeing the diversity of food and so beautifully presented. First stop was the fish monger where I acquired a freshly smoked eel and fresh smoked halibut as well as a char, which I cooked for lunch today in taragon butter and with fresh spinach.
We criss-crossed past the various fruit and vegetable stalls picking up some cress, some fresh figs, fresh porcinis and chanterelles along the way. When we reached the Greek stand we bought the condiments for our Christmas dinner (Raclette). At the herb trader we acquired chestnuts, tarragon, thyme, and freeze-dried strawberries before making a beeline to the pasta stall. Potato-Truffel filled ravioli and beetroot gnocchi were some of the items we go. We left the butcher and the Italian stand for last, opting to visit the last stand of the market first, the candy maker, who sells the most delicious handmade chocolates. Just as we were joining the line our friends arrived at the market. On our way back we had some of the same stops, the butcher and the cheese maker, so we got to spend some time together and catch up.
Normally we would have ended our market excursion in one of the local pubs over a hot drink, alas courtesy of the Rona that is not happening. Instead we chatted standing on the sidewalk until our toes were frozen and EM and I could barely walk to the car.
It turns out the drugstore we wanted to visit has ceased to exist, so we had to drop into the supermarket for the gingerbread house EM wanted to get. Suffice to say they did not sell any, so it was a completely useless trip; and it was annoying as apparently one may enter only with a cart. No idea how the cart is supposed to make one safer. I find all the carts clog up the aisles making it far harder to pass people and navigate the market quickly. Anyway, we decided we had had enough entertainment for a day so went home to cook.
The USA has had another record of new infections, adding 251k over a 24 hour period bringing the total to 17.9 million of the 75.5 million worldwide.