Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Spring in Berlin

Yesterday was a very "Berlin" day! I think there is nowhere in the world I would rather be than in Berlin, right at this moment. The air is warm and the days are long. People pour onto the streets the way people in cold regions do, when the long winter is finally over. The city awakens in a soft blanket of green foliage, and because the buildings here are not so tall, there is sunshine everywhere. In Berlin, every restaurant has tables outside, and the streets are teeming with pedestrians until 10pm.

Geoff and I biked down to Mehringdamm and had dinner on the bustling Bergmannstrasse. When we were there, we saw a piano player on an old piano in the middle of the sidewalk. A glass of wine sat on top of his old wooden piano. A German toddler wearing plaids watched on, while her dad stood by holding a bike, enjoying the open-air music. We got ice cream before dinner, because it was that kind of temperature. Even though spring has just arrived, I am sure we are already on the cusp of summer.

After dinner, we rode up the street to meet some friends at a biergarten. It was utterly lovely, and the place was just filling up as we were leaving after 9pm. I had two full glasses of wine plus a bit more, which is a bit much for me on any day. I swayed on home happily on my bike and didn't realize we were so close to home until we turned onto our cobblestoned street.

I would write a poem to describe the loveliness of summer in Berlin, but I am not a poet. I would take a picture, except it would do the city no justice. I have always enjoyed the cities in which I live, but I love Berlin like I haven't loved a place in a long time.

No comments:

Post a Comment