*the message in the snow is literally "I want summer". In the same blunt way that a child might say "I want candy" for instance.
Winter in Berlin is gross. The end of winter in Berlin is even grosser. Not to mention a bit depressing. Mostly because of the lack of sun. We have definitely gone weeks without seeing it at all on a couple of occasions. This makes the moments during the winter when the sun does peek out a bit quite a surreal experience. But, it's also the ice. Berlin doesn't get much snow typically. Most of the reason behind this is that the wind in the winter comes from Siberia in the northeast. This is usually quite a cold wind, but it is also usually dry, so not much snow. Well, something changed this winter, whether it was the wind or the moisture or some combination because we got quite a bit more snow than usual. Since they are not used to getting snow here, they also don't seem to have much experience cleaning it up. Sooooo, the snow on the sidewalks tended to get compressed more and more by people walking on it (and the temperature fluctuations over time) until it was solid ice. And basically, it stayed in that treacherous state all winter. I've slipped and fallen down quite a few times. The most noteworthy one that comes to mind was when I happened to be carrying a banana. In my attempt to catch myself when I fell, the banana burst out of its peel leaving smooshed banana mush all over me. It was to the point where people would walk next to the sidewalks, in the streets, or wherever. Just to make sure to avoid walking on the actual sidwalk. Not worth the risk.
Also, Berlin has a reputation for not necessarily being the cleanest city. And this is particularly true in Kreuzberg, where I specifically live. Here is what I would say is a fitting Berlin Christmas tree.
God bless us, everyone. On top is an overturned shopping cart along with some pieces of Christmas trees and other assorted trash. Those Germans are always recycling :).
Speaking of cleanliness, the people in Berlin absolutely do not know how to clean up after their dogs. And A LOT of Berliners own dogs. Again, this is particularly true in my neighborhood. Generally, they just walk their dogs on the sidewalk and let them poop and run. This creates a mine field of dog poop that you have to navigate, even under the best of circumstances. I wish I could say that I had a 100% success rate in avoiding these booby traps. But, I've gotten much better the longer I've been living here. You've got to keep your head on a swivel. This is what poop looks like, in case you were curious.
A photo like this could be taken simply by pointing your camera in any random direction on the sidewalk in front of my apartment building. But, this leads me to another phenomenon that happens at the end of winter. There was an article in one of the newspapers here a little while back with the following picture. The headline read roughly, "Trash from New Year's Eve arises again."
Here is a link to the article in case you're interested in reading (in German).
http://www.bz-berlin.de/aktuell/berlin/der-silvester-muell-taucht-wieder-auf-article744144.html
So, this is what happens at the end of winter. All of the trash that has accumulated since the fall, starts turning up again. And particularly in my neighborhood, this goes double for frozen dog poops that have been preserved in the icebox since the end of Autumn. And this brings me to the reason that the end of winter in Berlin is even grosser than the beginning. Hundreds of poops will do that. But, of course winter must come to and end and I am thankful for that end. Here was the last tiny little piece of snow left in my neighborhood. It's mostly covered with the dirt and sand that they threw on the snow in lieu of shoveling it.
And with the end of Winter comes the beginning of Spring. It's still a bit cool here, especially at night, but the sun is coming out more often, and the temperature is definitely trending upwards. Here is photo I might entitle "Spring". Perhaps I have just done so. In any case, this is at the canal in Kreuzberg not far from my apartment. The surface is half melted and the geese and ducks have gotten together for a party to celebrate by leaping off the ledge into the frigid water.
Incidentally, if you look closely, you might notice a couple of additional details in this photo. One is that, at the point where the ice ends along the shoreline, there is a mattress that someone has apparently discarded into the water (I guess this is still Berlin...). The second is that in the lower left corner, there is an all black goose. I was trying to remember if I had seen one of those before and I am still not sure. In any case, Happy Spring!
