Gnome Alone

A few streets away is an apartment opposite one of the best pizza places in Berlin. What makes it stand out, though, is that popping out of its East German facade are many, many gnomes. One could almost call them a Rainbow of Gnomes because you can see them from down the street. Who lives in this flat? A mad old lady who has sacrificed her precious balcony space to small plastic people? Here is a pic:

It always brightens up my day when I see them.
But this person is lucky to even have a balcony. Not everyone does. And no one in central Berlin has their own garden - well, very rarely. Most just stare out their windows to see someone across doing the same thing. That's why people are always heading to the parks so their kids can play in a sandpit, they can sit on a bench and relax or run around with their (big) dogs.
A friend of mine lived in a flat in Pankow where the coutryard was an enormous jungle in summer, teeming with rabbits and cats. Not far from her were boarded up GDR houses with overgrown gardens and odd statues covered in moss. A shame, these wasted spaces of greenery.