Summer in the City

Summer has come to Berlin!! It is amazing what a few days of blue skies and warm weather does, not only to the American spirit but also--dare I say it?--the Berlin spirit.

So, maybe they won't smile at a stranger but they won't glare at you QUITE so hard. The gray and black jackets that everyone wears here are peeled off to reveal gray and black skirts and t's. And the noontime beer drinking begins a few hours early in response to the welcoming sun. It's down right quaint.

To pay homage to this new found summer spirit, one of the neighborhoods--Kreuzburg--throws a four-day outdoor festival to celebrate the multiculturalism that defines Berlin. Calling itself the Karnival der Kulturen, it brings together eighty different cultures to set up booths, and decorate floats to ride through the streets giving the festive crowd a little, or alot, of a taste of what makes their heritage unique. Thanks to our friends, Frances and Tilman, we were invited to experience the Karnival and were so happy we did. Not only did it reinforce what others have said about how great Berlin is in the summer but it introduced us to the possibilities of what is yet to come.