Berliner Winter


I always think the end of February marks the end of Winter. This tends to be completely unfounded, seeing as it's totally possible for it to snow and be freezing cold and miserable in March. Nevertheless, old habits ring true. So, to celebrate what my brain considers to be the end of Winter, I thought I'd share some wintery photos from my trip to Berlin in January. It wasquite a spontaneous move, I woke up on boxing day to an email from Kayak seducing me with a £30 return flight and before I knew it I had booked myself a five-day rendezvous with the German capital.

The city was mostly dark and grey, peppered with patches of cafe-cosiness and framed by icy exteriors. There were trips to the theatre, after-show parties on the K-damm, Kaiserschmarrn and Chopin recitals in Charlottenburg apartments, Sunday-brunching-fleamarket flirtations, slow-crunching strolls along freshly dusted pavements,  the lonely coolness of Alexanderplatz in January and plenty of mug-holding, wine-drinking catch-ups with friends old and new. Despite the main purpose of the trip being 'research' for my dissertation, it quickly became clear that what I needed most of all was to feel brave again. I needed to remember that person who arrived in the city alone, sleeping on the couch of a stranger and left with a family of friends and a sense of belonging. It was good to get away and gain perspective, which is often so difficult to find in the hibernation months. I'm also still desperately attached to Berlin itself and keep dreaming of a (slightly warmer) repeat one weekend very soon. 

3 comments :

  1. I loved Berlin when I visited back in 2011 - such a fun, vibrant city!

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  2. I am so jealous of those living in Europe. Your flights to neighboring countries are so cheap! When I studied abroad in Madrid, I actually paid for flights with a price of $0 and only paid taxes. How does that work?! :) I wish I could fly like that in the United States.
    http://liveitinerantly.com/

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  3. I wonder why I haven't visited Berlin yet... Shame on me!

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