A Sunny Sunday in Berlin

If you know me, you’re aware of my slightly neurotic habit of making ins and outs lists for each upcoming year. Something big on my ‘outs’ this year was staying inside because it’s too cold—we’ve all eventually got to learn how to layer and continue living our lives. Since coming to Berlin, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see how many people here seem to agree with me on this. Despite temperatures hovering around freezing at this time of year, crowds of people pack outside seating, flea markets, parks, and playgrounds at all times of day but especially on Sundays.

Sundays are special in Berlin because everything is closed—by everything I mean grocery stores, pharmacies, retail shops and shopping malls. The American mind cannot comprehend the degree to which nothing is open. There’s actually a German law referred to by Berliners as Sonntag ist Ruhetag, translating literally to ‘sunday is a day of rest’. In other words, the entire city is legally required to take the day for peace, quiet, and relaxation. Sundays are meant to be spent brunching, flee-marketing, and park-walking. As with most German customs, this is a very serious endeavor.

I could totally imagine spending this sort of Sunday laying on the couch all day, watching TV, and hiding away from the gloomy weather. I have a feeling that’s how Americans might spend a Sonntag ist Ruhetag if that concept existed in the US. I’m sure there’s a number of Berliners who spend their day rotting as well, but for the most part people really seem to make the most of this time.

This Sunday, I woke up to the sun pouring into my room through the flimsy slits of my plastic blinds. Since arriving in Berlin, I’ve shut my blinds every night purely out of habit, but they don’t really do any blocking or blinding because the sun rarely comes out, especially not in the mornings. As a casual believer in fate, I knew I had to take full advantage of this precious moment when the stars aligned and the Berlin sky was full of sun on a Sunday morning meant for relaxation. 

So, I bundled up and took the U-Bahn to Potsdamer Platz.

I’ve been in Berlin for almost a month and I still haven't been to the Tiergarten which is embarrassing for many reasons but particularly because I’m studying urban planning and sustainability here. And I hadn’t been to what’s often described as “the green lung” of Berlin. Anyway, there has truly never been a time like the present.

The sun made a chilly 31°F feel like a balmy 45°F. My friend Atessa (hi!!!) recommended a good walking around album called Electric Hour and off I went. My goal for this walk was to try to get as deep into a wooded area and as far away from the street as I could, which was easy enough to do in the park’s 520 acres (the size of Central Park!) of wildlife. I walked down winding tree-lined paths, over bridges stretching across ponds, and through open grassy areas. The park was packed with bikers, families on walks, and readers on benches. I even saw a guy doing yoga with no shoes on. If I took a picture and somehow edited out the light dusting of yesterday’s snow and people’s hats and gloves, it almost could have been a spring afternoon.

Once the album finished (I highly recommend Atessa’s recommendation btw) I took out my headphones and did the thing everyone’s always telling me to do which is to be more mindfully aware of my surroundings. And I’m so glad I did at that moment! So far I’ve been somewhat underwhelmed by the bird scene in Berlin—I’ve really only seen Carrion Crows and the Great Tit while walking around and from my apartment window. But without my headphones on, I heard two bird sounds that were different from the two I’ve gotten used to hearing here. I whipped out my trusty Merlin Bird ID app and confirmed I was in the presence of the itty bitty Eurasian Blue Tit and the Eurasian Goshawk. The former was strikingly distinct looking: it had a blue cap with a white face and a yellow belly. I was elated to see a whole crew of them bouncing around in the trees above me.

I also saw this plant that I’d never seen before– it stood out to me because the seeds looked like little eggs. There were a bunch of them throughout the park, and a lady told me they’re called snowberries. If I had to name that plant I would have named it that also—it literally looked like the top of the bush was covered in clumpy snowballs.

I also love to look for letters in tree branches. If you follow my instagram (@terry.missue) you’ll know this pursuit is something that I feel extremely passionate about. During this walk I found an S, a D, an L, and also sort of an upper-case H. (This is a very subjective and up-for-interpretation reading of branches.) Anyway, my goal is to collect the whole alphabet in the trees, and it's always exciting to find new letters.

Wandering through the Tiergarten, looking at trees, and listening to birds felt like an adequate use of this one precious, sunny winter Sunday. I’m from the Northeast US so I’m no stranger to trudging through blizzards to get an iced coffee, and I was excited to find that Berliners share this inhibition. They’re tough but they don’t play about their downtime; they’re willing to brave the cold if it means soaking up some vitamin D and taking advantage of a day of rest.