Spring are you upon us?

Today I had to ride the subway and visit two libraries. One library to pick up research material for my ongoing thesis and the second one to pick up another book by Gunther Grass which I foresee finishing by Friday of next week. The tourists were out in force today with their badly folded maps and their wide eyed stares. The Hertha Berlin fans were out with their flags and scarves as the big game approached for the early afternoon (I am happy to report they held off aspirin-owned Leverkusen). That makes Hertha the Bundesliga leaders which is pretty much unheard of in modern times.

There was also a massive protest that started less than a block from my house. The police were everywhere and it seems that everything went off without a hitch. I followed the whole thing to Gorlitzer Bhf before deciding that I didn't want to stay out watching them march. They were protesting about gentrification and higher rent prices while the economy is stagnating. It was rather disappointing to see the police filming the protesters so they knew who had been there. Its nice to know they are probably running files on the most common protest marchers in Berlin. Paranoia!