Spring is here!

The signs of spring--the tentatively budding trees, the refilled fountains throughout the city--have been beginning to show themselves for awhile now, but the last few days have been the first really springlike days. Much welcome after the Scheißwetter of last week--we had a few days of sunshine alternating with hail/sleet/rain. I'm not sure if I've ever described the weather patterns of Aachen to you all, so I will today. Usually it rains. That's about it. People joke that you know it's summer because the rain is warm. I'm usually not anti-rain, but there is something about the quality of rain in Aachen that makes it miserable. I'm a fan of the American thunderstorm. When I worked in Florida for a summer, it rained every afternoon. You could feel the humidity building and building until BOOM! Downpour. Afterwards, the 100 degree heat would be bearable. In Aachen there's no downpour, no thunder, no lightning, no post-rain satisifaction. It's just mostly gray. So you can see why after all this grayness, four straight days of no rain are kind of magical.

Afternoon coffee breaks are now taken on the fire escape, the sun rises at 7 and sets at 8 and the walk home from work, which was never really unpleasant, is suddenly becoming beautiful, a delight, if you will. Perhaps best of all, Anke, one of my labmates, has a bicycle she doesn't want and is letting me use until I leave. I'm picturing riding my bike through the greenness to work, I'm picturing taking my bike on the train to Cologne and then riding along the Rhine (I'm in some ways not over living in Europe--on my way to AstraZeneca I passed a country club, now I pass a medieval city gate on my way to work. In Massachusetts I rode my bike past tobacco fields, here I can ride along the Rhine, past castles. Gate from the 1300s! The Rhein! Castles!), I'm picturing...well, that was about it, actually.

With spring also comes the realization that my time here is short, and motivation to make the most of it. I have some exciting trips ahead, including a spontaneously booked Überraschungsflug to Zürich for Easter, and a trip to Stockholm, as well as some unfirm plans that include the British Isles and Italy. I will try to be more motivated to write up my previous activities--I owe you guys Budapest (so, so long ago!), Brussels, Berlin, Copenhagen, a train ferry, and Hamburg. And Karneval! What a story that one is!