and your mother smells of elderberries!

So it's Monday, and the city of Wittenberg woke up with a massive Luther hangover today. The cracks between the cobblestones were full of relics of beer bottles past, the meadows had been trampled by thousands of medieval feet, and the streets bore mute witness to someone else's parades and booths and festivities. I must say, however, that I was impressed with how quickly the garbage pickers had the the streets whipped back into shape. Gotta hand it to German fastidiousness.

I learned a bit about myself this weekend. I am definitely extroverted, no question there-- but it's not the crowds I love, it's the people. Individuals. The best moments of the weekend were the ones where we recognized old friends.
- 'There's our firebreather again!'
- 'Hey, it's the Guy Without Pants!'
- 'Look! The plague-ridden dude in the cage is doing double-duty as an Inquisition heretic!'
- 'That's the bagpipe player from the courtyard yesterday!'

Those tiny little details made the weekend for me. Instead of anonymous masses, the madding crowd became the vehicle for our discovery of patterns and familiar faces, islands of familiarity amid the throng of strangers, our very own Wittenbergian Mandelbrot set. It was neat while it lasted... but I am quite happy to welcome back the peace and (deadly) quiet of "normal" nights in this Lutherstadt.

In other (culinary) news: we are now in elderberry blossom season! My very favorite beverage is made by soaking elderberry blossoms in sugar water and a little lemon juice for a couple of days. Totally yummy. Mmm... we currently have about 23 quarts of it in the fridge. We are still working to get the proportions just so, but every try has been palatable so far. To me, it tastes like summer! But it's true, the stuff does leave a bit of a smell lingering around the apartment.