This week the sun has made the occasional welcome appearance. It's on days like this when you look around anew with the sun glinting in your eyes and a little bit of warmth in your heart and think, ok, Berlin is a pretty cool city. Here are 6 things that make the city so recognisable, and so loved.
So that was Christmas
The Berlin streets are awash with Christmas trees, disposed of in heaps at every junction. Overnight they crawl into the street and cause havoc with the morning traffic. While the smell may be overwhelmingly Christmassy, there is one clear message - Christmas is so last year. It's time to move on with 2015.
Baby, it's cold outside... bloody freezing, actually.
After an extended Christmas holiday in London, I'm heading back to the delights of Berlin today. It is with some trepidation that I'm returning to Berlin as I have yet to experience the full brunt of a German winter and, as many of my veteran Berlin friends gleefully tell me, I haven't seen anything yet.
Coffee, coffee, coffeeeeee
I like coffee. No scratch that, I love coffee. No, scratch that, I LOVE good coffee. In Berlin the coffee is occasionally hit and miss. My heart sinks when my coffee comes out with that tell-tale over bubbly topping which suggests the foam came out of a machine. The benefit is that you do always seem to get a biscuit on the side with these coffees though. So, y'know, plus sides.