Spring has (finally) sprung!

Spring!

Hello :)

Well after a month long visit to the States, I am back in Berlin! When I left back in March, it was still really cold out - when I landed in 80º Dallas, I was actually still wearing long underwear and 2 pairs of socks, ha. But when I returned to Berlin this month, the weather had changed drastically - just check out the sun we had last weekend:

awesome.

Jake and I took advantage of his 4-day weekend by going on several long bike rides. On Friday we went to Treptower Park - a huge park in SE Berlin that sits along the Spree river. After a couple of hours of riding, we parked in the sun and watched the kayakers while playing a lazy game of dominoes (and Jake won! wth?! I think getting hitched somehow ruined my domino mojo. sigh.)

On Saturday we went on another ride, this time along the Mauerweg - literally the "Wall Path" that follows the old route of the Berlin Wall. The trail is huge - 99 miles long - so we only did a few sections, but it was fantastic to get out of downtown and to see some entirely new areas of Berlin. Some portions of the trail take you completely outside the city and into the countryside, and each section includes a point-of-interest or historical marker. We definitely plan on attempting a few more sections over the next month.

Mauerweg

On Sunday we went to Erik's new apartment for Ex-pat Easter. Erik cooked up a fantastic dinner of french onion soup, roasted veggies, and mac 'n cheese, plus DELICIOUS gin fizzes made from his grandfather's recipe. Yum! 

This week we've still been busy with the hunt for our next flat, and Monday I start back with my German classes. It's pathetic how much I forgot during the month at home; I am terrified that I'm not going to be able to keep up with the next level, and I'll be booted back down to the beginner class ... Ich muss fleißig lernen!