maverickbirdLast night had been a wild one. We had gone for a dinner date at Saudade, our neighbourhood Portuguese restaurant in Cologne where they had served a kilo of gambas (prawns) with an excellent bottle of wine and that had been followed by tapas and cheese platters. The evening had been young when we had left the restaurant and the slight nip in the air had made us bolder; bold enough for coffee and multiple schnapps shots. Needless to say, today had started with a very difficult morning and we had taken off from work to snuggle at home. With a watery bleakness lighting up the grey blue skies, it had been a perfect day for snuggling and we had watched red leaves swirl and carpet the sidewalks. Autumn has settled in fully by now and our house sports various shades of orange. All around us the maturity of the season can be keenly felt and the parks and gardens are visions in red and gold. The tropical plants in my garden bloom less now, though the jasmines are curling all around the veranda. They have been procured from all over the world and one had come from as far as Philippines.
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Red leaves of autumn
Our neighbourhood florist’s window display tempts me with Christmas cactus, fluffy mums, African violets, chamomile and the farm to table shop is a visual delight. Pumpkins (kurbis), butternut squashes, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, turnips and cabbages tumble out in riots of colours and the late fruiting berries come in cute little boxes. Blueberries, raspberries, cranberries etc, jostle for space with hardy chestnuts and ripe purple figs emanate tantalizingly sweet smells. Such is the joy of autumn; colours, smells and sensations of the most beautiful season of nature fill your heart with such fulfillment that you just want to burst out in exuberant energy before the dreary winter settles in. We too have been caught in this spurt of happy activities and our home smells of delicious hearty meals. Creamy pumpkin soups, roast chicken stuffed with exotic ingredients like raspberries, oranges, fennel, whole steamed lime fish and gorgeous salads grace our table and we cannot have enough of the glorious golden chanterelles mushrooms (pfifferlingen). Traveling is also fun at this time of the year and the combination of blue skies, fall colours and rolled up bundles of cut hay is simply irresistible.
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Shelley had correctly captured the allure of autumn when he described it as, “There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be as if it had not been! “. So hang a wreath of corn and chamomile, smell the rolls of hay and breathe in lungfuls of the sweet smell of sunlit crisp air; it is time for the final burst of the season’s beauty. It is time when autumn comes home.
P.S – This blog post is part of the weekly series called the Cologne Diaries. Every week, Maverickbird will take on a new theme, emotion and beauty of an expat life and the first post is dedicated to autumn at our home in Cologne.
Pfifferlinge, the gorgeous golden mushrooms collected from the autumn forest floor
Orange floral arrangements along with fallen leaves
Berries galore
Snapshot of the neighbourhood farm shop
Hearty season’s specials
The season of warm colours
Is beautiful in Cologne
The city of home sweet home
RESPONSIBLE TRAVELING-BECAUSE I CARE