Apero de Quartier

Don't you just love it when I write my titles in French? It's only because what I'm about to describe sounds much nicer in French than English. Street Party just doesn't do it for me!

Basically apero is short for aperitif, which is that lovely French custom of having an appetiser before the appertiser. At least an hour (and sometimes as much as two or three) before sitting down to your evening meal there's the apero during which you drink mainly sweet wines like those from the Alsace region, and munch on delicacies like peanuts and chips. The munchies are definitely not the important part of this custom!

The phone rang about 7:00 p.m. on Monday evening, it was Lucas telling me he was downstairs. Um, ok, he was supposed to be passing by to see one of our neighbours when he got home from work, so I thought that's what he meant. Nope. Apparantly said neighbour and several others had spontaneously decided to have a neighbourhood apero outside. And they wanted to know where I was. I reluctantly dragged myself downstairs armed with the cellar key (so that Lucas could get some wine) after telling Vernell in ym that I wouldn't be gone for long. Yeah right. We stumbled (just kidding) back in around 11:00! A totally fun evening, getting to meet neighbours that we had only been passing on the street for the last 36 months. The main topic of conversation was " I've been living here for x number of years and never met you before! How is that possible?"

My street is starting to feel a bit more like home.

(for more photos check out my photo blog)