Saturday Morning

 All week long I look forward to Saturdays - not because it's the start of the weekend (let's face it - being unemployed weekends are just like any other days) - but because I get to enjoy my Saturday Morning Market outing.

I get nearly as excited about fresh baked goodies as these little ones.

The street is so lively and packed with people - sweet little old ladies doing their shopping, new parents pushing strollers with little ones bundled up inside, kids running around asking their mothers for a sweet treat. No one is ever in a rush, and it's my favorite way to start my weekend.

At my favorite veggie stand, the old man doesn't speak a word of English and he just grumbles and calls his wife over to talk to me. She's short, with curly, frizzy hair, and a lively spunkiness I adore. The cheese man always offers me a sample of something and begins to tell stories - and when I say I don't speak Dutch he smiles and continues on in French. Mostly I just giggle. 

The charming flower lady talks my ear off for ten minutes in an interesting Dutch/English blend explaining that her daughter picked the same roses for her wedding bouquet as I was buying that morning. It was as though my choice in flowers brought back a flood of happy memories that she just had to share... and of course, hearing about her daughters wedding made me think of my own. And that always makes me happy. 

The lovely roses I bought for myself (from Didz) 

At the end of my excursion - when my bags are so full I can hardly carry them and I have baguette tucked under one arm, and flowers tucked under the other - I make one more stop, and enjoy a fresh baked waffle.