I absolutely despise that opening line, but I kid you not this time. Last night, a massive thunderstorm ravaged Berlin and brought the airports to a standstill this morning. The weather service warned of another storm this evening, and in spite of the warning, everyone I commuted with on the underground and the bus this morning wore the lightest of clothes. I, on the other hand, looked like the overdressed duck showing up among the flock of flamingos with my rain jacket and umbrella. The old Girl Scout leader in me still follows the motto be prepared!

So here I am, stuck in the office, while another storm is taking Berlin literally to the cleaners. I haven’t experienced such weather in a long time and it goes way beyond all my years of monsoons in Asia. The lightning is as dramatic as it is scary, and the rumbling thunder seems to be mirroring the current political state of Germany: angry, unpredictable, and trying to outdo the rain by reverberating on the walls and floors each time it lashes out.

Based on last night’s storm, this can go on for hours, so I am glad our office has an excellent coffee machine and I had the foresight to buy an extra pastry this morning at the bakery. I thought it would be my dessert this evening, but turns out that the chocolate rum ball (imagine a brownie the size of a tennis ball that has soaked in rum for a few days… ) is my dinner!