In which Spring flirts with northern hearts.

The last signature on my ever-lengthening list of wonderful visitors belongs to none other than that most stealthy of seasons, that most fickle of friends, that eternally blossoming beauty-- Spring. She'd been here briefly in March, just long enough to convince us all to put the wool jackets into hibernation, O woe to the fools of April, that cruelest of months. And just when we were about to give up hope and place our order for a lifetime supply of flannel long undergarments from the L.L. Bean catalogue, she came back again, this time followed by the warm, juicy fragrance of fresh strawberries wafting from the red, polka-seeded huts on each street corner. With a blue sky up above and a Cloud 9 underfoot, the city erupted with blinding skin, charcoal sales, cries of: "Do you know where I left my sunglasses? --Wait, do I even have sunglasses?", and wrinkly, boxy-scented summer dresses that were too excited to be worn to bother with an iron massage. The number of water birdies skyrocketed as fuzzy-winged fluffballs with more cuteness than should be legal for any living critter to possess took to the Hamburgian banks and waters in the wake of Mother Goose, Donald Duck, and Natalie Portman.

Of course, most of the pictures you are about to see were taken during Spring's March visit, during which she was lovely as always, but unusually chilly in temperaturement. Hence the jackets. Let's have a look, shall we?

The Japanese Garden in Planten un Blomen regularly does afternoon teatime! There's a lovely woman there who chills out for hours at a time serving people tea, for free, youpieee!

Someone's missing their missing kitty.

Selected scenes from the Frühlingsdom. Seeing American flags in the D-land always throws me through a loop, though they're somehow easier on the eyes when perched atop a giant corncob.

And here are a few shots from the Hafengeburtstag (ie. birthday party for the harbor), taken at a particularly glowy moment. I did manage to see the opening of the Tugboat Ballet by chance when passing through on my way not to the Hafengeburtstag, which gave my inner tugboat captain ballerina much joy.

I like this one because the clouds look like sails. Big, poofy sails. Poof!

These next few are from a visit with Spring and another good friend from the south to one of my favorite Hamburg secrets.

Oh golly, that fabulously informative street art deserves a close-up!

 ...Which in term segues us smoothly into some more groovy street art! (Kein Mensch ist illegal --> No person is illegal. Painted on the side of a building in one of Hamburg's many "illegally" occupied parts of town.)

"You're it!"

See? I'm not the only one.

And finally, Spring wouldn't be Spring without a good Spring Awakening Creeper Photo. Ta da!

Love, m. xoxo