Snapshot : Spring is here!

Isn’t Hamburg heavenly in the Spring time! I couldn’t let these photos sit on my computer one more day, without sharing the beauty that is just meters from my front door right now. This was Wednesday last week – and it was the first day this entire year I have been able to walk and ride around Hamburg without a decent coat on – even though by most measures, we’ve actually had a very mild Winter.

The seasonal changes in this city, never cease to amaze me. My personal Facebook page changes with the seasons each year – with new annual Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn photos rotating as my cover photo – always taken by me, as the seasons change. Sometimes I wonder whether I would bother to document, comment and share – if I was still living in Melbourne. Probably, but maybe not?

There’s something about being on the other side of the planet, that makes you get out into your home away from home and take those photos – because one day we might not be here. It’s about making that time, to ride my bike around our delightful neighbourhood and stopping to take those photos – that we’re sometimes just too busy to take.

I’m really happy to be able to share them here with you – and to be able to look back on this ‘living abroad’ adventure, that is our life right now. Taking it all in. Painting pictures in my mind, a photograph around every corner and loving being able to look back on days like this, when the rain beats on our windows and it’s dark by 3:30pm.

So when the temperature gauge hit 16°C last week (I still put on my coat and scarf – always suspicious of the realfeel of a clear, sunny day), grabbed my bike and took off to the above park – just down the road. Most there were enjoying the sunshine on their lunch break, games of hack sack were in full swing, mums and bubs, students having an impromptu bbq – this is Hamburg in Spring. This is Hamburg in Summer.

After scouting the area for the best light and branch-sitting possibilities, I took out a couple of Monkies I had finished, the very night before – sat them in the blossom tree and happily snapped away – while many onlookers questioned my sanity. But the monkeys and I don’t care if we look like crazies in the park – the blue skies and blossoms were too good to pass up! Don’t you agree! Look at these shots! And Lucio is a blossom-covered monkey sitting in the blossoms ❤

What many don’t know about Hamburg, is that it is full of large and small green parks and gardens, and leafy tree-lined streets, which have a total of over 4 million trees combined, making this an extremely green city. Hamburg was even voted “greenest city of Europe” by the EU commission in 2010.

So when are you coming to visit? April, May & September are my favourite months here – usually warm enough for cardies and mary janes, sunny and full of either blossom trees or autumn leaves – take your pick.

Welcome to my world.

jx