Welcome to 2015

No football to report on but New year in Berlin has been eventful. We arrived back in Berlin on Monday to see a carpet of snow covering the city.  Looking out of the window we could see fields, streets and houses shrouded in white in a post Christmas wonderland.
It was great to get out and enjoy the snow as we hadn't seen any so far this winter.  Since returning to the city we've had a mixture of weather ranging from near whiteout to sunny skies and no snow at all!

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Wandering around in the snow had a real Christmas feel to it and Berliners were certainly out there enjoying it on skis and on a bewildering array of sledges and toboggans.
I really wanted a sledge so I could enjoy/play in the conditions but my other half wouldn't have it - bah humbug!  Here are a few pictures and a video so give you a bit of a feel for it.

Then came New Years Eve in Berlin - an experience not to be missed.  The city goes totally bonkers over New Year / Silvester.  Fireworks going off everywhere and, as the evening moves on, it sounds increasingly like you're in a war zone!   Enormous explosions rocking the  normal peaceful atmosphere.  How can I put Silvester in Berlin in a nutshell?  It#s hard but here are a few points -
- small children carrying fireworks bigger than themselves out into the street
- young men walking along the street with half a dozen rockets sticking out of their back pocket
- "Bangers" being thrown off balconies,
- rockets being launched from: balconies, roofs, porches, pavements, roads and central reservations
- enormous explosions starting at lunchtime and still going on 36 hours late 

In the supermarkets you can see where the chaos starts.  Everyone appears to be selling fireworks and most people appear to be buying them!  Here's a few photos and a tiny little video clip taken whilst crossing the Ku'damm at about 00:30 or so 1.1.2015.

Not my video but it gives you and idea if you have 20 minutes to spare!