Ostereier Markt

 

What in the world is that?! It is blue, blue sky my friends and it is a sight for very sore eyes.  It was so beautiful that it literally distracted me along the way.  I had a feeling of something being off and different but we were all so chipper.  Then, we realized that none of us could remember the last blue sky that we have seen since last fall.  That. is. a. darn. long. time.  I kept finding myself raising my face to it and wanting to wander, but I had to keep focused baby, we had shopping to do.  If only Dr's could find a way to bottle up sunshine and prescribe it like a happy pill . . .

 This weekend we attended the Ostereier Markt (Easter Egg Market) at the Eberbach Monastery.  This market is similar to the Christmas Market but on a much smaller scale.  Still, the artisans were just as wonderful if not better than we had hoped.  Vendors from all over Europe (which was surprising as I thought it was only German artists) to include Poland, Hungary, Austria, Denmark, Netherlands and a few others were present.  Every art element from paint, beads, string, jewels, intricate paper art and eggs carved from wood were our eye candy for the day.  Here are a few shots of the eggs we saw.

 

  

  

  

These were the vendors that really caught my eye but I must admit to being so disappointed in my photos when I returned home.  I really missed a lot of shots and the only thing I can think of to explain is that I was just so distracted and intrigued by the art work.  Every booth except the wood carved eggs were R.E.A.L. eggs from chickens, hens and geese.  Super cool. 

One portion of the market was set aside for the children.  For 1 euro the kids were handed a real (seriously) chicken egg to paint.  I was expecting plastic or wooden, a fake egg that was more durable and therefore kid friendly.  But, oh no, this is not German custom.  If you are going to do it, you do it right and you do it traditional.  For this little detail alone, German Easter Egg Markets now hold a special place in my heart and therefore pocket book as well. =)

 

The girls took this very seriously, they took their own sweet creative time and made egg masterpieces.  And look at the results:

BAILEY:

McKENNA:

 

 And here are the beauties that caught my eye.  From what I understood of the artisan, they have not been dyed.  Each egg, black, brown and mint are from different varieties of chicken and hens.  In the picture above of the beautiful white eggs with the white art, those are goose eggs.  These beauties were about the 4-5th booth in line and instantly I looked at Mark and mouthed, "I need your euro".  He said, "Don't you want to see it all and then make your choice?"  I said, "No, these are mine, all mine. muahahahah".  But don't picture evil Leslie rubbing her hands together, picture, Happy Leslie, because there is sunshine in my day and a little euro jingling in my pocket AND most importantly, the family is together which hasn't happened in a bit of time.

 

 

And how can you truly experience a German "anything" without this, wurst mit brochen (brat with bread).  It never fails whether it is a farmer's market, Christmas market, Easter Market, lunch market, breakfast market, dinner market.  It could be a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and oh yes Sunday Market.  THIS will be what is offered with very little other choices unless you want a bretzel (pretzel) or kaffee and kuchen (coffee and "to die for" cake).  You can't get it to go, because they only have real plates.  You can't rush it, because eating is social not physical and it is something that we have learned to enjoy.