Things I'll miss

The view from my window at night.


And by day, watching children wearing impossible amounts of winter clothing toddle around the playground across the street.


The world’s fastest toaster.


Berliners’ playfulness and sense of humor.


The bike-a-licious culture here. Note the segregated bike lane, away from the street, theoretically separated from pedestrian traffic. I’m not a big fan of this per se, but once you’ve got the infrastructure, you’re bound to use it. There are plenty of X-Mart Mongooses and so forth on the street, but also a tantalizing number of cherry Batavuses and Kettlers with S-Ram3s, Brooks saddles and lovely waterproof panniers.


This kid is sitting on the rack, keeping his balance by pressing his feet against the downtube. Do you know how difficult this is? Mom and son make it look easy.


How you can get anything you want -- at 5 a.m.

How, if you need to communicate in English, all you have to do is cock your head slightly, like a dog hearing a high-pitched sound.

And of course, all the cute, well-behaved dogs.


Speaking of which, I met my landlord today for the first time, hours before my departure, bounding up the stairs with his well-muscled Vizsla.

And too many other things to mention.