Eastern Market

Nu hvor vi kan tillade os at frådse bare en lille smule, bliver det væsentligt mere sjovt at holde weekend og i dag (lørdag) havde vi på forhånd bestemt at vende næsen med Detroit - denne gang med børn i bilen. Teresa var en smule bekymret og sørgede for at alle dørene i bilen var låst (ligesom os voksne gjorde første gang, vi var derinde). Første indikation på at vi er på rette vej:

Now that we can afford to spend a little more, the weekends are becoming significantly more fun and today (Saturday) we had already decided days ago to return to Detroit -this time including the kids. Teresa was slightly worried and made sure that all the car doors were locked (just like we adults did, the first time we went). First indication that we are on the right track:

Første stop var "Eastern Market" - et stort farmers market, der afholdes hver lørdag. Vi havde læst rigtig meget godt om det og jeg havde hørt godt om det fra mine kolleger, men vi anede ikke hvor stort eller lille eller billigt eller dyrt eller varieret det ville være. Det var STORT, og det var billigt og der var ALT hvad hjertet kunne begære af lokale ildsjæle, der solgte lækker frisk frugt og grønt til meget lave priser. Det kan godt være vi savner Californien, så vi næsten har ondt i maven ind i mellem, men æbler og frisk æblejuice fås vist ikke bedre noget sted i verden end her i Michigan. Det smager absurd godt!

First stop was "Eastern Market" - a big weekly farmers market. We had read a lot of good things about it, and my colleagues also strongly recommended it, but we had no idea of what to expect in terms of price, size and quality. It was GIANT, it was cheap and there was absolutely everything you could ever want of local enthusiasts selling delicious fruits and veggies at very low prices. We might miss California to the point where it sometimes hurts, but I don`t think that apples and fresh apple cider can be better anywhere in the world than in Michigan. It is SO good!

Vi fik varme kastanjer, som i hvert fald nogen af børnene i familien godt kan li (Ulrik kan ikke!):

We had roasted chestnuts, that at least some of the kids like (Ulrik did not!):

Vi gik forbi en bod med kunst af lokale kunstnere og var det ikke pga vores skide kroniske pengemangel, havde jeg altså købt et støvlefuglehus eller en flyvende blik gris på pind:

Vi went past a spot with local crafts, and had it not been for our chronic lack of money I would have loved to buy a boot bird house or a flying metal pig on a stick:

Vi har købt "spider balls" - en kastanje lignende dims, der vokser på træerne her omkring og som åbenbart dufter citrusagtigt på en måde, der får edderkopper og mus (men ikke egern - tværtimod) til at løbe skrigende væk. Eller noget.....

We bought "spider balls" - a chestnut look alike, that grows on the trees here and should have a slight lemony smell that makes spiders and mice (but not squirrels) run away screaming. Or whatever.....

De er ret store (på størrelse med en appelsin) og man lægger dem i en skål, da de godt kan udskille lidt væske som tiden går.

They are quite big (about the size of an orange) and they are to be placed in a bowl as they might secrete som fluids over time.

Efter frokost fra en snasket lille biks (hot dogs Chicago style med chilli con carne bl.a.) tog vi videre til DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts). Det var ret imponerende, men at sammenligne det med Louvre (som der er lokale, der gør) er måske liiiiiige i overkanten. De havde en ret imponerende samling af afrikanske masker og der var bestem også noget af det moderne kunst, der fik vores underkæber ned i gulvet. DIAs stolthed er en stor sal med vægmalerier af industri arbejdere. Der var så mange mennesker at det var lidt svært at tage et ordentligt billede, men her er et fra lige under loftet:

After lunch from a local greasy place (hot docs Chicago style with chilli con carne) we went to DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts). It was quite impressive, but to directly compare it to Louvre (as some locals do) might is pushing it. They did however have impressive collections where we especially enjoyed their african masks and some the modern art made our jaws drop as well. DIAs pride is a room with wall paintings of industrial workers. There were a lot of people in there, making it hard to get good pics, but I got one from right under the ceiling:

Der var nu også en særligt irriterende ung mand, der gjorde det svært at tage billeder af noget som helst andet ;-)

There was also a quite annoying young guy who made it quite difficult to take pictures of anything else ;-)

Nu er vi vel hjemme igen og har brugt resten af eftermiddagen på at vaske tøj og smutte forbi Whole Foods bl.a. Om lørdagen har de sindssygt mange smagsprøver, men vi kom lidt for sent i dag til alt det rigtig lækre.

We are back home and spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry and a short trip to Whole Foods. They have a lot of free samples for tastings on Saturdays, but we were a little late for all the really good stuff.

Nå ja - en sidste ting: Jeg har fået at vide at det er umuligt at kommentere herinde, så jeg har koblet bloggen til Google, så man kan skrive herinde via sin google konto, men der er ikke kommet nogen kommentarer i lang tid. Det virker tilsyneladende hvis jeg selv prøver, men hvad med jer andre?

One last thing: I have been notified that it is impossible to comment, which made me link the blog to google, such that one can use a google account for that. But there has been absolutely no comments in a while. When I try it seems to work, but what about the rest of you?