Summer’s Here!

… or at least it is in Berliners’ minds.

Yesterday (sunday) the sun made a lengthy appearance, and by way of response, the temperature hauled itself grudgingly into the teens.  In other northern european cities this might result in you leaving your scarf and gloves at home, or perhaps a cheery exchange with a neighbour, along the lines that “spring is be just around the corner”.  Even in London, I imagine that everyone would be looking slightly less pissed off than is the norm.

Not so in Berlin. 

Pavement cafe tables (an all-year-round feature of most establishments) were packed.  The sort of people who own dogs kept on pieces of string were out in force in the park, without their shirts. (The people that is, not the dogs. Dogs don’t have shirts, especially in Berlin, where they definitely wouldn’t be seen dead in those tartan doggy coats that doggy people buy their beloved pets). 

And of course there’s the ice cream.

Berlin appears to be sort of powered by ice cream.  It’s not just a summer thing – I’ve seen people getting stuck into their favorite flavour in a snow storm.  Queues yesterday ran out of shops and down the streets, yet none of the vendors seemed to be running out.  They’d probably stocked up specially – it is late February after all.  Almost time to turn off the pavement heaters, and for annoying musicians to start playing panpipe and/or accordian based music at you in the street.

In short, it seems that Berlin’s population either believes itself erroneously to be a city on the mediteranean, or is simply wildly optimistic about the weather.  Perhaps it’s because in reality the summer is so short here, getting started twards the end of May, and usually gone by mid September.  The rest of the year is often characterised by a kind of ‘grey sky blanket’ which just lies on top of the city like, well, an enormous grey blanket.  In the sky.  So I can’t blame everyone for making the most of it when the sun decides to make a guest appearance.

Can’t stay, as I need to go and fix my bike.  I’m not entirely sure whether the rear tyre has a very slow puncture, or whether I’ve been gradually gaining weight since Christmas (I have a medical condition which requires that I take cheese cake orally three times a day).  So either it’s an inner tube repair, or I need to buy a heavier duty bike to support my increasing spread.

In partial response to the latter, we both got new trainers today (as in ’training shoes’ rather than ’personal trainers’ – it would be excessive to have two of those, or even one come to think of it).  Katie’s gone off to a yoga class tonight, and intends to start running this week.  I’ll join her soon, just as soon as, er, I’ve got rid of this cough that’s been troubling me. 

It’s Snowing!

Just a short post to say

IT’S SNOWING!

And not in a terribly English way either.  It started with a thunderstorm with rain, which then turned to sleet, which has now turned to proper snow.  Great big white flakes - it’s definitely, verifiably snow.   We’ve just cycled back in it, from a local cafe.  We’d popped out to do some shopping and it was a lovely sunny morning, but then it went a bit rainy and we agreed on the need for a second breakfast.  We often have this need.

You might be thinking “yes, but Jim and Katie didn’t grow up in Australia or wherever.  They’ve seen snow plenty of times.”  True, but…

a) unlike globally warming London, where it hasn’t snowed ‘properly’ for ages, this snow is quite early in the winter and looks like it means business.  Berliners have recently delighted in telling us how cold it might get, and that the other year the snow hung around till April

b) because we’re not working, life has become real again.  All the stuff that just used to be peripheral to work is now noticeable.  If it snowed in London, I used to think “pooh, I’ve got to go to work in this.”  Here, I’m thinking “hoorah, I can go and play in this!” Although obviously both of us will be wrapping up warmly in sensible clothing and drinking lots of warm drinks*.

Plus the fact that it’s saturday afternoon, and seems just the right moment for such a thing to happen.  We’ve just finished the first week of a three week intensive German course (as in the language, not a course for becoming an intensive German, although we’ve met some) which made today feel like a proper weekend for the first time in ages.

The course, by the way, is quite good, although everyone on it is considerably younger than us.  Not quite as young as teenage, but still of an age where thay sit and giggle and flirt together, and mainly want to know every possible German swearword.  Actually, I want to know this too, but as an adult (or at least as a person disguised as a 37 year old) it seems inapropriate to ask this of our new friends here.  Don’t worry, I will ask in due course, then publish a table of filth here on the blog.

*Well, Gluhwein at least.  This is German mulled wine, for those not in the know.