Although I certainly miss the many months of sunshine in my homeland, one of my favourite things about living in Berlin is the way the city experiences all four seasons very vividly. In winter there’s extreme cold and snow, in spring the trees burst to life with blossoms and the air is filled with the fragrance of flowers; summer days are long and filled with visits to the lakes, and in autumn the trees turn glorious shades of gold, red, orange and pink, as if someone has come and painted them. This year the trees seemed to keep their leaves longer than last year, until by late autumn almost all the trees had some colour and Berlin was a golden place to live in. But just in the last week the temperatures have dropped and the first bite to the air is here; winter has arrived – just in time for the Christmas markets!