Life in Berlin: February 2021

And now for news from Berlin! Every month, I’m reporting on what we’ve been up to, both to preserve my own memories and also to keep in touch with loved ones afar.

COVID-19 Update

As with the rest of the world, our lives are defined by COVID restrictions. Germany has been in an increasingly-strong lockdown since the beginning of November. Since December, all retail is closed, restaurants are pickup-only, and starting in January, N95 masks were required in grocery stores and public transportation.

Infection rate dropped to about 50 per 100,000 over a 7-day period, but it’s starting to tick back up a bit. Hopefully things get back under control again.

And vaccines are being distributed! Germany didn’t do an emergency approval for any of the vaccines, so distribution didn’t start until about a month after the US. As of yesterday, 4.7% of Berlin had had an initial dose, and they’re vaccinating around 7500 people daily. It’s slow, but starting to pick up speed.

A Tale of Two Climates

With COVID still being what it is, we spent the month close to home. All last winter, we heard that it had been a mild one, and this year proved that! From February 5-20, the temperature didn’t go above freezing. Berlin got a few inches of snow, parks were full of folks sledding, and the canals froze over enough to walk on!

Then, about four days after finally getting above freezing, we had several days of above 60 degrees! The snow disappeared practically overnight, and the parks were suddenly full of people having picnics.

We took advantage of both kinds of weather, taking long walks regardless of the temperature.

Holidays

For Valentine’s Day, we decided to do some fancy takeout. Many higher-end restaurants in Berlin have created limited delivery services. We ordered from Nobelhart & Schmutzig. They have a “Daheim” option, prepared in their kitchens and delivered with finishing instructions for you. It was a vegetarian four-course menu, plus bread. We added the meat option and chose a bottle of wine from their cellar. The meal was delicious, and we can’t wait to go to the restaurant in person. They clearly have a sense of humor – our meal was delivered with a condom!

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The Jewish holiday Purim was on the 25^th. Zack made Hamantaschen and we had a zoom call with friends to read the story of Esther. We turn it into a drinking game – any time Haman’s name is mentioned or there’s an especially sexist moment in the story (“keeper of concubines” comes to mind…), DRINK.

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In mid-February, officials indicated they might discuss gradually lifting lockdown restrictions in mid-March. As of this week, hair stylists and schools are reopening. Honestly, I think it’s going to be a while yet before things truly open again. So until then, we’ll be planning our garden, baking a ton, and taking daily walks. All in all, our lives are comfortable, if not exciting.