Euro-gazing

No matter where you choose to live, you are going to be hit with wonderful moments. It helps to be observant of these things, because so much amazing stuff blows right right by you in the rush of life, work and schedules.

Some moments that I choose to record from this Spring, that occurred in Europe, are as follows:

• Getting brunch with your wife at a street corner cafe underneath historic building balconies that are partially obscured by Linden trees, at a wrought-iron table.

• Walking home over the old bridge near the office past busker guys playing a Cello and drums for spare change. Sunlight reflecting off the water in the canal behind them as if they designed it all to look like a photo shoot.

• Listening to your kids chattering in German with their friend group, who hail from many exciting places that we previously couldn't have located on an unmarked world map.

• Everyone at work is multilingual. You can work with people for a year and suddenly hear them speaking a new language that you didn't realise they had. "It just never came up I guess," they'd say after dropping into French with the new woman from Tahiti.

Riding past old-school butchers and hair salons, their looping neon script signs hanging over the shop windows. On chilly & foggy mornings the dark spires of the Gothic churches disappear into the low clouds, while on sunny afternoons the light glints off the beer glasses on the sidewalk cafe tables.

Here are some recent pics of Spring activities.

Cody welcomes spring on the deck.

Jay and Jani kick off 2019's riding season with a spin down to the palaces of Potsdam.

Jay and Jasper flew the "para-kite" at Tempelhof after attending the Berlin Airlift 70th anniversary at the old airport.

Cass and Jay had a date afternoon and checked out the Holzmarkt area, a cluster of random bars, take-away restaurants and techno club that sprang up on an old empty lot next to the Spree river.

The research never ends, since the city pumps out new things to chase all the time. I am worried about finding future cities to live in that keep it at this level. Cafe Eckstein, Winterfeldtplatz in Schöneberg.

Morning walk to work on days that I don't cycle: It starts with walking the kids two blocks to school, then a stroll through the Volkspark to the U-Bahn. This park is amazingly green especially now in early Spring.

The storied Oberbaumbrücke, once split in half by the Berlin Wall, now holds some of the most interesting street acts in town. This is the other end of my work commute, as the office is just on the other side of this.

Visitors! The Leggetts make it to Berlin! East Side gallery on Mühlenstrasse.

Olympia Stadium. Gigantic and built for the 1936 Olympics. We did the tour, something that had been on the list for a long time. This is where Jesse Owen defeated the Nazis (for a bit).

A graffiti hof in Mitte. We had just explored a dark basement in this area that an artist had taken over to showcase his life's work of giant animatronic insects and other strange creatures. 

Overview of the former Anhalter Train Station from the Solar Sky Lounge bar. Soccer field and white structure used to all be underneath the train station. Now just the tan remains of the entrance are left.

The Berlin Bike Market Expo, also at Tempelhofer Feld. The plane is an original from the Berlin Airlift in 1948/49.

The street artists just don't know when to stop around here. Good!!