Happiness is a good flea market. If you happen to be in Europe, even better. This past Saturday, I headed down to the weekly flohmarkt and dug right in, despite the rain and looming storm clouds. Although the market was a mix of garage sale finds and genuine antique's dealers, I found it fascinating to look through the old postcards, stamps, porcelin, and all the various other collections on display - like a 1920's doll house (above) that I would have loved to purchase, redesign, and give someday to my future daughter. There was also this lovely phrenology head (top left) representing, according to the renowned L.N. Fowler of London, "the true map and functions of the human brain". It was a vintage find, not a reproduction and so very heavy. I've seen these before in old pharmacy's (there's one in Harvard Square that has one of these on the shelf), and I've always wanted one for my bookcase, so I was so sad when I picked it up and realized it would cost wayyy too much to ship back to the states due to the weight of it. Otherwise, that head would have been in the bag, baby! When I scoured the web post-flea, I found lots of phrenology heads right here on eBay, so I may be able to find another that has the same vintage charm and surface imperfections as the one I had to leave behind.

Although I can't say this was the greatest European flea market ever (London and Paris have the best anywhere in my opinion), I did have a good time and in the end, I walked away with ovenware from Sweden and a porcelain hare with extra long ears, both in near perfect condition. I love the veggie graphics - very mid century modern. I don't plan on using it for baking, but to display on a table in my house.

After a few hours, we decided it was time to grab a cafe mocha over at Balzac (pronounced "ball sack" - good luck getting into English speaking markets he he - but then again with Starbucks dominating the US/UK, why would they need too?), the German equivalent of Starbucks, and then we spent the day shopping and eating with friends. Sunday we hopped around from door to door for an art walk here in List, where we followed a map to the atelier's and homes of local artists to peek in on their works. Wow, it was a truly intimate and lovely experience, and although I had to respect their privacy by not snapping photos, it was sooo hard not to because I wanted so badly to share them with all of you - particularly because I loved the spaces and how things were set up. So nice.

I'll be back with lots of fresh finds and this week we'll be looking at lots of things from Dutch Design Week, so stick around!

(images from holly becker for decor8)