Sommer 2018 in review

The series of moments continues to fly at us
As if it will always be like this
It's a life experience in super-speed
Even now I can't fully believe it

Summer 2018:

Summer essentially started in Sardinia for our spring trip. 2018 was the warmest on record for Germany and much of Europe, and from May we really didn't have any rainy days. Now it is September and we still haven't had any.

Riding on the Autobahn for the annual "Sternfahrt" bike ride.

Date night! US band "Nada Surf" at Huxley's Neue Welt.

Nanny and Poppy's visit in May kicked off with a trip to Copenhagen to see newly-pregnant cousin Katie.

Jasper takes in some art in Leipzig in the "Baumwollespinnerei" complex, an old textile factory industrial area that is turned into exhibit spaces and workshops.

Jay went to Bulgaria for work and got free for a couple days to see some crazy old Soviet monuments, such as the crumbling UFO-like former Communist Party Headquarters on top of a remote mountain.

Spring comes to Kreuzberg, near the Schlesiches Tor U-Bahn station that we use most days to get to work.

Jay bushwhacked through various forests throughout the summer and snuck into several old Soviet airbases to snoop around the fascinating post-apocalyptic surroundings. He thinks he's James Bond or something.

Cassandra at Bayerischer Platz, the place we landed when we arrived in 2015. Every June we go back to mark the occasion.

City slogan "Berlin bleibt bunt" (Berlin remains colorful) is embodied on a tenement house in the Friederichshain neighborhood. Graffiti and street art here is elevated to an art form and the authorities take a very live and let live approach to it.

Family hiking in the Rila mountains of Bulgaria, a former Soviet republic that is bouncing back quickly from the painful transition to a market economy. The nature is wonderful there, with very little development outside the big cities. Here's us doing the "7 Lakes" hike a couple hours south of the capital Sofia.

In the ancient Thracian town of Plovdiv in central Bulgaria, we happened upon a studio with some period clothing and weapons, which the kids enjoyed.

More post-Communist detritus: a surplus Russian rocket launcher tube found in a Sarajevo junk market.

Then for the USA visit: the kids at Eagle Crag for Adirondack fun with Nonna & Skippy and surprise visitors Nana and Pop-pops!

The view I get every night upon arriving home from work and putting the bike away in the courtyard: My sunny wife waving happily from our balcony!!

One aspect of bike travel on the trains: sometimes the station elevators don't work so there is a fair amount of schlepping bikes up and down stairs to get to the platforms.

The agency rented a boat for the summer party. Julia (GDR), Vanessa (GDR) and Phyllis (Turkish) hang out with the token American.

Cody has now spent the vast majority of his conscious existence living in a society with abundant and cheap public transport. Apparently it is coming up being a bit boring for him.

Berliners hit the lakes in the summertime, it is the only way to cool off. So one afternoon we took a train, took a boat, then took our bikes out through the woods to the Sacrower See, a pleasant lake west of town. This notion of family bike rides to interesting places is one of my favorite experiences here.

Soccer camp for the kiddos at the Volkspark next to Nelson Mandela school, last week of the summer!

Jasper on the way back to Nelson Mandela for year #3.

Jay in Hamburg with cycling buddy Jani for the last race of the summer.

Cody at the Einschulung celebration with his little "buddy" and Ms. Conrad, his new teacher. Cassandra managed the whole production, and it was AWESOME.