This past winter was the longest Leipzig had seen in forty or fifty years, and that's saying something. Usually the clouds come and the sun hides from November to March and the temperature rarely climbs above 55 degrees Fahrenheit. But this time around it was a little different. It lasted a bit longer than that...
Today is June 21st and I stopped wearing a sweatshirt each day about two weeks ago.
Then it hit 94 degrees three days ago and, call me hard to please, that's just miserable. Air conditioning is nowhere near as widespread here as in the US. Here, we can't escape the heat. In that weather I feel like a blob, oozing from one place to another.
Then, yesterday, we had one of the best storms I've seen in four years of living here. Lightning turned the night sky bright as day and the thunder had me getting up to check on Norah Grace to make sure she wasn't afraid (she slept through the whole thing). Once the driving rain, gusting wind and black clouds left us in peace we found ourselves enjoying a much more pleasurable temperature.
This brings us to today. Blue skies, sunny, maybe 75 degrees. Pretty breezy most of the day, so the ground was pretty dry by dinner time. This evening, the start of our last full weekend living in Leipzig, Norah, Amy and I had a picnic in the park.
We went to this new-ish restaurant near the university that's trying really hard to be an American diner. The food was actually really good. I got myself a decent pastrami sandwich on nice bread with mustard. I recommend the place. Anyway, the three of us rode our bikes through the park to the city center. We got our coffee for the week, picked up our dinner, and headed back to the park to find a place to sit down and eat.
Well, Amy and I sat and ate. Norah ate a bit and walked around in the fresh air, one of her favorite things to do. She ate some more, then walked around again. She got to eat on her own time and get up and wander a bit when the urge struck her.
She was relaxed and happy. Anyone who has a toddler can tell you how better meals are (and life in general) when the little one is relaxed and happy. For us, picnics are the way to go.
Any time the clouds take a day off and the sun shows its face, the people of Leipzig stream from their apartments to the parks where they play frisbee or soccer, grill some meat, drink a bit, and generally hang out and enjoy the nice weather. They know to take full advantage of it while it's here.
And when this weather comes around--sunny, clear skies, 75 degrees or so--this is a really
great place to be.
Today is June 21st and I stopped wearing a sweatshirt each day about two weeks ago.
Then it hit 94 degrees three days ago and, call me hard to please, that's just miserable. Air conditioning is nowhere near as widespread here as in the US. Here, we can't escape the heat. In that weather I feel like a blob, oozing from one place to another.
Then, yesterday, we had one of the best storms I've seen in four years of living here. Lightning turned the night sky bright as day and the thunder had me getting up to check on Norah Grace to make sure she wasn't afraid (she slept through the whole thing). Once the driving rain, gusting wind and black clouds left us in peace we found ourselves enjoying a much more pleasurable temperature.
This brings us to today. Blue skies, sunny, maybe 75 degrees. Pretty breezy most of the day, so the ground was pretty dry by dinner time. This evening, the start of our last full weekend living in Leipzig, Norah, Amy and I had a picnic in the park.
We went to this new-ish restaurant near the university that's trying really hard to be an American diner. The food was actually really good. I got myself a decent pastrami sandwich on nice bread with mustard. I recommend the place. Anyway, the three of us rode our bikes through the park to the city center. We got our coffee for the week, picked up our dinner, and headed back to the park to find a place to sit down and eat.
Well, Amy and I sat and ate. Norah ate a bit and walked around in the fresh air, one of her favorite things to do. She ate some more, then walked around again. She got to eat on her own time and get up and wander a bit when the urge struck her.
She was relaxed and happy. Anyone who has a toddler can tell you how better meals are (and life in general) when the little one is relaxed and happy. For us, picnics are the way to go.
Any time the clouds take a day off and the sun shows its face, the people of Leipzig stream from their apartments to the parks where they play frisbee or soccer, grill some meat, drink a bit, and generally hang out and enjoy the nice weather. They know to take full advantage of it while it's here.
And when this weather comes around--sunny, clear skies, 75 degrees or so--this is a really
great place to be.
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