Schaufenster!

Hermes on Kurfuerstendamm

The German word Schaufenster means, literally, window for looking/gazing - and in contrast to many shop windows I've seen in the US, these windows really do offer something worth a gaze.

The main reason is most likely that Dekorateur is a profession in Germany. You do a combination of school and internship, and then you join a company that offers services, usually to different types of businesses. I'm sure there are also freelancers, but the point is that it's not the owner of the shop or an employee - it's a professional, often with resources that are used in the different displays.

Hermes on Kurfuerstendamm

The point is to make the window eye catching, so the passersby will stop and remember, or maybe even enter and purchase something. 

Children's fashion (Kurfuerstendamm)

More people walk in Europe, and many people walk in Berlin. Furthermore, window shopping is quite a popular pasttime on a Sunday afternoon. But even in small villages with few shops, the windows are usually done professionally - it's just done. 

Children's fashion (Kurfuerstendamm)

Stores on or near the Kurfuerstendamm or other famous shopping miles have the most out-there shop windows. But even simple displays on the side streets are arranged pleasingly. 

Children's shoes

It's really all about "first impressions count" - and about grabbing people's attention. 

Wine store

Really, I seeing a bunch of wine bottles in a shop window wouldn't make me stop - but the bright colors of the watering cans might even make me want to cross the street. 

Florist

And maybe the nautical theme of this florist's shop window, with  lighthouses, ship's steering wheel, rescue rings, and fish, might stop a gentleman who wouldn't give a window with flowers a second glance. 

Optician

With two opticians just a few houses down from each other, the need to attract attention is big and the windows are elaborate (the window below includes a video of a young woman with come-hither eyes). 

Optician

Pharmacies are especially elaborate with their displays, attempting to remind the passer-by of a problem they might have. Earlier this year, the focus was on hayfever. Now, it's more mixed and includes this charming window, which promotes different natural laxatives "For a Happy Ending" showing old film reels. 

Happy ending (pharmacy)

The best thing about the windows is that they're rotated quite frequently. That allows reuse of the materials, maybe in another part of town, and makes it even more likely that eventually someone stops in front of the store, and finally enters through the door to make a purchase. 

In the meantime, the rest of us can enjoy the show - maybe just as creative and entertaining as the street art, if we know how to look.

Siegessauele (trans: Victories Columns)

Angel at the Top of the Siegersauele

Posted by James

For the last month, we've had visitors almost constantly with a maximum of 4 days between visits and a minimum of none, which is why our posting frequency has slowed down. Now, we have about three weeks until we are scheduled to leave, so I thought I would do a few posts to finish up about my favorite places in Berlin.

One of those places is a monument called the Siegessauele, translated into English as the "Victories Columns". It's located in the center of a huge traffic circle, called Grosserstern, in the middle of the Tiergarten Park. But the Siegessauele is visible from the Brandenburg Gate, on the east, all the way to Sophie Charlotte Platz on Bismarkstrassse to the west. It acts as a kind of backdrop to views along Bismarkstrasse through Strasse des 17 Juni, the angel on top hovering on the horizon like a shimmering gold vision.

The monument consists of a broad cylindrical base on top of which is a column, topped off by a standing angel called Viktoria, for victory. Below you can see the whole monument from the other side of the traffic circle:

 (Well, looks a little more like the leaning tower of Pisa, but...)

The Siegessauele, designed by Heinrick Strack, originated as a crass celebration of Prussian militarism. Prussia conducted three wars during the late 19th century to construct a unified Germany out of the handful of German speaking princely states and Austria: one with Denmark in 1864, one with Austria in 1866, and one with France in 1870/71. After the last war, Wilhelm King of Prussia had himself crowned Emperor Wilhelm I of the German Empire at Versailles, and commissioned the Siegessauele to commemorate the victories. These wars seem to have cemented militarism into Prussian and by extension German, society, at a time when many other European countries, such as Britain and France - having achieved unification of like minded cultural and linguistic groups through force centuries earlier - were evolving toward a more democratic social and governmental form, while simultaneously exporting their use of force for gaining territory to Africa and Asia where they were engaged in colonization. This militaristic mind set persisted into the 20th century, catalyzing that century's tragic story of war and destruction in Europe.

In any event, the Siegessauele is really worth a visit. You enter through underpasses on both sides of the Grosserstern traffic circle. Along the passageway to the center, you can see this piece of video art:

The work consists of four huge black and white video screens on which giant white pixels light up like stars as you walk by. There's no attribution on the work, but it's pure Berlin, interesting art in an unexpected place.

You come up in the center of Grosserstern and stand in line for a bit to enter the monument. Here's the view from the line:

The iron bas-reliefs around the base which you can see in the lower left of the picture above (no detail unfortunately) depict important scenes from the three wars of unification. After WWII, three of the four were removed and taken to Paris and stored away in a hidden place. The French occupation authorities in Berlin then requested that the Siegessauele be torn down, understandable in that one of the wars involved the defeat of France by Prussia, but the American and British authorities vetoed the request. The iron bas-reliefs were first returned from France in 1987 as a gift for the 750th anniversary celebration of Berlin's founding.

It costs 5 euros to get in, but for that you get to look through a museum about the history of the monument and the story of its construction. Interestingly, the current location wasn't where it was originally built. Kaiser Wilhelm I originally had it built in Koenigsplatz, which today is known as Platz der Republik where the Reichstaggebeude (Parliment building) was built in 1884. But Albert Speer, Hitler's chief architect and urban planner, had it moved to Grosserstern in 1938/39 as part of Speer's plan for making Berlin the  "World Capital Germania", and, at the same time, the mounment was enlarged by adding an additional 7.5 meter section to the column. That move probably saved it from destruction during WWII, since Tiergarten, being a park, didn't experience as much bombardment as other parts of the city.

A short set of stairs leads up to a platform around the monument base. The walls of the base are covered with mosaics, one of which you can see here:

Not exactly sure what this is supposed to represent, but the net suggests fishermen and the guy with the sword at the top a martial theme of some sort.

Another long set of stairs leads up to the platform below the angel. The view from the platform is stunning, you can see Alexanderplatz and clear out to Teufelsberg and the Funkturm (Radio Tower) on the east side of the city. In the other direction - straight up - you can see the bottom of the angel:

The angel was designed by Friedrich Drake. In her right hand, she holds a laurel wreath, the symbol of victory in ancient Rome, while in her left, she holds a military medallion, the Iron Cross, which played an important role in the Prussian military culture.

While the Siegessauele started out as a celebration of militarism, like a lot of places in Berlin (abandoned industrial buildings becoming street art galleries for example) it's been repurposed in a way that I find so refreshing and exciting about the city. Unlike so many cities in the US, which cling to their historical sites, Berlin seems to be a place that is constantly reinventing itself while, at the same time, acknowledging and incorporating its past into that reinvention. The Siegessaule appears in many examples of Berlin popular culture. For example, it's featured in the Wim Wenders film "Wings of Desire" ("Himmel ueber Berlin" in German). In the film, an angel, played by Bruno Ganz, falls in love with a circus performer and decides to become human. Here's a poster showing the angel sitting on top of the Siegersauele*:

Here's a picture of the angel wearing headphones on the side of a tour bus in an advertisement for Radio Berlin:

 And here's a picture of a store window in a jewelry store along the Ku'damm, where the angel is being used to show off the store's wares:

Like the Berliner bear, the Siegessauele has become a symbol of Berlin itself, representing the resilience and creativity that has driven the city to recover from the disasters of the 20th century to become one of the most exciting and vibrant places on the planet in the 21st.

Updated 8/30/2015: Here's a music video link with the Siegerssauele in it. Starts at 2:47.

*This is a Fair Use notification, a nonprofit lower resolution picture to illustrate a point about Berlin culture.

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ic!berlin Tour

I've worn glasses since 3rd grade. I still remember how the world changed when I got my first pair - and one of the things I liked about the Harry Potter movies was how Harry put on his glasses first thing before going off on the next big adventure.

So, when I read that ic!berlin, a manufacturer of high-quality frames, (1) was in Berlin and (2) offered guided tours of their manufacturing place, I jumped at the chance. I signed up, got a date for the next week, and pedaled across town with great expectations. With traffic and construction I arrived just barely in time, was told that the tour had already started, and was directed to the lovely space on the roof where the company does their parties and events.

Three other people and one very charming little girl were also on tour, and our guide started by explaining how the patented design of the screwless frames allows you to put the glasses together just by snapping them back. For all those who've struggled with finding an option on a Sunday to help mend a problem, this seems like a great idea. But ic!Berlin has more that makes them special. First, they are most likely the only true manufacturer inside Berlin; the work still gets done in trendy Mitte, right next to the places, where, for example, the Berlinale takes place - and right where all the cool kids live.

Among our guides primary functions at the company were organizing events, both for employees and other groups, and finding art - PR with a twist, in a way. The picture above was from a small room off the roof - still equipped with a couch, the room was by homeless person at night. This gentlemen has since risen to fame by being in certain ads (clearly I was missing out on some cultural references here) and he no longer lives there. Instead, the room is used for art supplies and beer.

From the lofty heights of the roof terrace, we descended to the 5th floor, which house primarily the white collar workers including the 3 bosses. A large wall of art showed pieces donated by artists in exchange for frames - several of these are quite famous.

I was going to crop the fan on the left - but it's such a very German thing to not have air conditioning in homes or office buildings, and ic!berlin was no exception. In the same way, the bike rack at the entrance right off the elevators seemed different from how bikes are often banned and hidden away in some American offices.

We descended to the fourth floor, where photos were, regrettably, not allowed, but it was fascinating to see how many steps of manufacture and QE each frame had to go through. First, the frames were cut out of the sheet metal, maybe 20 at a time. The fairly big remnant pieces are recycled or used for art. Next, the frames are bent by hand using special tools, one by one. In later steps, the frames are polished, and finally plain glass is added to allow the customers to get a feeling for the glasses they might buy. We talked to some of the people who were doing the work, and they seemed happy enough about working in a well-lit office that offered good parties and had to follow German labour laws.

In addition to the laser cutters, we also saw a small 3D printer that is being used for prototypes of frames, and were able to watch a QE person look at glasses extremely carefully - even a small scratch means the whole pair is a reject.

Back up on the 5th floor, we saw some more art - a lot of it much like Berlin street art - and the Wall of Frame, an attempt to collect each frame ever made by ic!berlin. Business started in the late 90s with handmade frames that the owners peddled, black market style, at a trade show. They almost got themselves kicked out, but somehow things worked out, and now they have a solid business and are even thinking of expanding to other parts of the Backfabrik.

Some of the glasses they produce are one-offs for famous people - and in general, I saw more star-struckness than I would have expected in our guide.

The golden pair at top left, for example, would be a great choice for a walk down the red carpet.

Be that as it may, I was impressed that a company is trying to produce these frames where they're designed, and I like the designs enough to consider getting a pair. After all, they'd make such an excellent light-weight souvenir....

Bike Tour in Frankostan

Erik and I in Alsleben, source of the Frankische Saale photo courtesy of Erik

Posted by James

Weekend before last my friend Erik and I did a 200 km (semi) round trip in Franconia (aka Franken in German, or Frankostan by analogy with Afghanstan, Turkmenistan, etc.) and a small part of Thuringen. The plan was to bike on a route from Bamberg -> Coburg -> Bad Kissingen -> Arnstein -> Bamberg, stopping in Coburg, Bad Kissingen, and Arnstein for a night in small hotels. The basic route was up the Itz River valley from Bamberg to Coburg, spend half a day crossing the watershed  boundary to the Frankische Saale River and down that to the mouth on the Main River, then up the Main to the Wern River and up the Wern, cross back into the Main watershed and finish at Bamberg, which is on the Main. The whole trip would have been about 300 km. Erik has done bike trips up rivers all over southern Germany and northern France, so he knows how to plan a good trip.

But the schedule required that we arrive in Bamberg around 1 PM and then do the 60 km trip up the Itz River to Coburg in the afternoon. I had bike reservations booked on two Inter City trains, one from Berlin to Hannover and one from Hannover to Wuerzburg. The final stretch from Wuerzburg to Bamberg was on a Regional Express, which does not require a reservation, though the number of bikes is limited. However, between Berlin and Wolfsburg the engine hit a raptor (maybe it was a goshawk?) and they had to stop in Wolfsburg to change out the engine because there was some damage. By the time we got to Hannover, we were an hour and a half late, and my reservation to Wuerzburg had lapsed. I tried to get another reservation on an Inter City but, it being summer, they were all booked out by people on vacation, so I had to piece together a trip using 5 stops on Regional Express trains through Thuringen and Bavaria, and I met Erik in Coburg where I started the trip. Erik did the stretch from Bamberg to Coburg alone.

Coburg is a beautiful town with a town square featuring buildings restored in the traditional south German medieval style. In the center of the square is a statue of Prince Albert of Saxony, who, at one time, was the ruler of the area:

I think Coburg is considered part of Franconia, which now is a part of Bavaria, but I guess at one point in time it was actually part of Saxony.

One of the great things about bike touring and long distance hiking in Europe is that you sometimes come to a place where there are great views. Here's a view of a castle on the top of a hill, on the stretch between Coburg and Alsleben, where the Frankische Saale starts:

This castle looks like it has been restored, we didn't get close enough to see, but it might be a hotel or restaurant. In other places, the castles are ruins and there's a kind of romantic atmosphere about them. Below, a ruined bridge abutment on the Frankische Saale:

Not quite as romantic as a ruined castle but still picturesque.

Near the top of the watershed, we crossed into Thuringen for a brief stretch, then back into Bavaria. On the boundary between Bavaria and Thuringen, we saw this reminder of more recent history, now rapidly fading into the rearview mirror of history:

This is a guard tower on what used to be the border between East and West Germany during the Cold War.

Our first day was supposed to be a 100 km day, and I had trained for it by doing a 100 km ride near Berlin (but without the hills, Berlin is pretty flat), but since the temperature was near 100 F (a century all around!) we broke off in Bad Neustadt and took the train to Bad Kissingen. This left the first day at around 75 km, but still a nice ride, with the exception of a couple hours in the afternoon when we were short on water, dive bombed by yellow jackets when we stopped for a rest, and sweating like crazy.

We spent the night in Bad Kissingen, which is a very fancy spa resort on the Frankische Saale. Many towns in the area are named "Bad" something or the other, and that usually means they have a spa and are organized as a tourist destination, but like Baden Baden, Bad Kissingen has been a spa since the late 1800's and many of the buildings stem from that period:

Above a photo of the main hotel, restaurant, concert hall, and spa. Needless to say, we didn't stay here, since it was the fanciest hotel in town, but we did have dinner at a Michelin one star restaurant. Below, you can see my bean salad, the presentation being definitely a 10 on scale of 10:

Though the food was quite tasty too.

From Bad Kissingen, we rode down the Frankische Saale the next day to its mouth at Gemuden am Main. Gemueden is a really charming town, with a beautifully restored town square. After negotiating some tricky construction sites on the bike trail and road into the city, we stopped in the town square and had lunch at a little cafe. We were joined by other long distance bikers. The Main Radweg (Main Bicycle Trail) is a major bicycle freeway, kind of like I5 in California, and, it being summer, there were lots of couples and groups underway.

Throughout Franconia, on the bridges we often encountered this guy:

He's Nepomuk, also known as St. John of Nepomuk because he originally came from the town of Nepomuk in Bohemia, which is actually in the Czech Republic today. Nepomuk was tourtured and thrown into the Vltava River from the Charles Bridge in Prague on command of King Wenceslaus of Bohemia. Opinions differ as to why the king ordered him killed, on the one hand that he backed the pope in Rome over the pope in Avignon while the king did the opposite - i.e. politics - on the other, that he refused to divulge to the king whether the king's wife had confessed an affair to him, thereby preserving the sanctity of confession. Nepomuk is often depicted with a stone tied around his legs indicating the instrument of his demise. He's the patron saint of bridges in Franconia.

Our trip up the Main valley was difficult. The Main acts as a kind of wind tunnel in summer, and most people ride in the opposite direction, downwards so they have the wind in their backs and a favorable downhill topography . From Gemuenden to Wernfeld, where we turned up the Wern, the wind wasn't so bad, but the next day, from Arnstein to Bamburg, it was pretty intense.

We stayed overnight in Arnstein then woke early on Sunday for the last push, to Bamburg. Erik had to catch a train around 4 but I had made reservations at a small hotel so I could take the IC straight to Berlin the next day without having to change trains. We biked through Schweinefurt (which means "pig ford", i.e. the place where the pigs ford the river) and though we didn't see any pigs there, we did see these delightful brass pigs in a fountain at Hassfurt up the river:

We had a hard time finding a place to eat in Hassfurt but eventually we found an ice cream parlor (called a "dealer" in German, like ice cream is some kind of drug :-) and each had one ball of ice cream for 80 euro cents. Next to the ice cream parlor was a beautiful old church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary:

Here you can see a nativity scene over the door, carved in white stone.

The last stretch from Hassfurt to Bamberg was pretty tough going. My bike is a mountain bike, which with its extra wide tires isn't so great for touring due to the increased rolling friction though it is paradoxically really great in the city because you can ride over curbs and on cobblestone streets without a problem. Also, unlike Erik, I didn't have clip on shoes and clips on the pedals, so I lost something like 30% power on the upstroke. To top it off, there was a 20 mph headwind coming down the valley. We avoided the headwind a bit by getting off the Main Radweg and riding up on north side valley slopes, which also cut off a big loop in the river.

But by the time we got to Bamberg, we were pretty beat and really hungry. So Erik found a doner stand and bought a huge doner sandwich and I found an ice cream place and had a huge celebratory sundae. Then I checked into the hotel, and we went to the train station. Erik found an earlier train and we bid each other goodbye as Erik headed home and I headed off for the evening in Bamberg.


Bamberg is built on hills overlooking the Regnitz and Main Rivers. I walked up hill thorough the pedestrian zone, visited St. Martin's church and the cathedral which sits on the very top of the hill. Bamberg was the seat of a politically powerful bishop during the Middle Ages, who was constantly at odds with the city of Nuernburg. The signs of Bamberg's powerful political position are everywhere in the beautiful architecture and art throughout the city. The Regnitz River and the Main meet in Bamberg and the Main-Danube canal, which parallels the Regnitz here, also runs through the city, so the urban views are dominated by water and bridges as you can see in the following photos:

In the lower photo, you can also see the medieval city hall, with its paintings on the sides.

I found a small Italian restaurant with a view of the river and had pasta and some salad, then went back to my hotel and channel surfed for an hour before I passed out. The trip back to Berlin the next day wasn't quite as uneventful as I had been expecting. The air conditioning was out in a car where I had a seat reservation, so the conductor insisted we move to another car after 11 AM. Why the time limit he didn't say. In Lepizig, the conductor came on the intercom and insisted that everyone with reservations in cars that were lacking air conditioning get off and take the ICE to Berlin. Needless to say, I ignored his advice, since the ICE won't take bicycles. This is the third time in the last 9 months that I've had a checkered experience with the Deutsche Bahn, and, considering the cost of tickets, I have to say that their service really hasn't lived up to my memories of courteous, fast and on time service during my last lengthy stay in Germany in 1978-79.

But the train arrived back in the Berlin Hauptbahnhof on time and I topped off the tour by biking home rather than taking the S Bahn.

Reflections on Life in the City

Store Near TU Berlin That Sells Only Items Related to Hamburg

Posted by James

On my way walking to work a few weeks ago, I spent some time reflecting on living in the city. I've spend most of my life in small suburban towns, not really suburbs in the sense of not having a central street, but by no means cities the size of Berlin. The largest cities I lived in prior to Berlin were Stuttgart and Boston for a summer and Karlsruhe for a year and a half. None of them were half as interesting as Berlin, but then none were as large either. For the last 30 odd years, I've lived in a suburban town, Mountain View, part of the larger suburb that is Silicon Valley.

Many of my younger friends and colleagues in Silicon Valley now live in or want to live in San Francisco or Oakland. Recently, there's been a lot of protest on the part of long-time residents of these cities against the new tech workers who they claim are driving up rents. But if you talk to the tech workers who want to live in these cities, they view their life in the city as temporary. Once they settle down, get married, and start having kids they are going to move out to suburbia, like where they grew up so their kids can have a lawn on their 5000 square foot lot with a single family home. This attitude has colored my view of city living, that it was for 20 somethings and 30 somethings wishing they were still 20 somethings, and real life starts in the suburbs. Even better is a 3 acre lot out in the country where the neighbors are a quarter mile away and you don't have to listen to their music, to say nothing of them walking around on the floor above your head as we sometimes experience here in our apartment.

But after living in Berlin, I'd have to say that my attitude has changed. Everywhere you look in my part of Berlin (Charlottenburg), there are kids. Kids playing ball, kids riding bicycles (sometimes even with their parents), kids taking the S Bahn and bus, kids crawling around in the dirt at Scheulsenkrug (a beer garden we often go to), kids walking with their parents, moms out pushing baby carriages with kids, you name it. On my way to work, I saw a well dressed woman walking along with two young girls. The younger one was holding tightly to her mother's hand, while the older one was holding a doll and singing a German children's song at the top of her lungs.

The only thing you don't see: moms driving their kids to their next appointment in huge SUVs. There are some SUVs in Berlin, but parking is so difficult that there are not many. You do see a lot of Smarts and other smaller vehicles that will fit into a micro parking space. Of course, the situation might be quite different in Kreuzberg or one of the other "cooler" boroughs. There, the 20 somethings and 30 somethings wishing they were still 20 somethings tend to congregate, and so maybe there's less evidence of the city as a place for nurturing a vibrant family life. Similarly, out on West End or in Wilmersdorf where there are more single family houses and the urban cityscape looks like a traditional suburb you are likely to see more SUVs.

The other thing that struck me was the sheer overwhelming variety of retail available. Nearby is, for example, a store specializing in pink second hand woman's clothing, and only that. I walked by a store just selling tin figures, like tin soldiers. And in the photo above, you can see a store selling items relating just to the city of Hamburg, and, in particular, Hamburg's soccer team, HSV, which for some strange reason seems to be as beloved or even more so in Berlin as it is in its hometown. And restaurants. We live in an area where 4 Vietnamese restaurants are within a 5 minute walk from our house. Indian restaurants tend to be a bit more on the scarce side, but there are at least 2 within a 10 minute walk.  And they are always crowded. You even see people eating breakfast at a restaurant table outside on the sidewalk, sometimes alone. It seems like you could visit a different restaurant every weekend night of your life just in Charlottenburg and still not visit all of them.

So my appreciation for the city as a good place for all kinds of human life has increased substantially by my experience here in Berlin. Somehow, I wish we could get some of the urban amenities that Berlin has but are sorely lacking in Silicon Valley, like bicycle and public transit infrastructure, so Silicon Valley could grow up into the city it is trying to be, instead of lingering in a prolonged adolescence as a gigantic suburb.

Retreating from the Heat to Britzer Garten

It's been fairly hot in the last week. While Berlin has trees planted along many of the streets for shading, after a while, the stones of the buildings heat up and air conditioning is not usually found in apartments, and not even all that common in shops.

A trip to a green oasis with expanses of water seemed in order. While our visiting friends took the easy way out and went to Hamburg for the weekend, I decided on a bike ride to Britzer Garten in the southeast of Berlin.

The park is only 30 years old and was put in for the Bundesgartenschau in 1985. Bundesgartenschau is a horticulture show that happens in a different city or region in Germany every two years. It's always outside, with a focus both on traditional flower beds and garden design and more innovative approaches.

The city or region ends up with lots of visitors, and, after the show, a large park that's been spiffed up and will look better for years to come.

The artificial lake in Britzer Garten now seems as if it's always been here, stocked with carp and other fish and covered with beautiful waterlillies.

I participated in a bird walk of the waterfowl of the park and learned a bit about the many different species of birds - not only waterfowl - that live in the park. Our guide told us of woodpeckers (3 kinds), raptors, owls, and many songbirds. Interestingly, he said that the gardens of the surrounding area - which consists of suburban-style single family homes and small weekend homes in large gardens (Schrebergarten) - contribute as much to bird habitat as the park itself. Some birds like to nest in high trees, while many prefer medium trees, and of course the fruit trees and vegetable gardens are a favorite hangout for birds and rodents (which become raptor food).

After the bird walk I visited the different formal and informal gardens. I liked the combination of carefully manicured rose-and-salvia garden on the one side...

...and wildflower garden with grasses on the other. 

Shady areas were planted with ferns, heuchera, and Japanese anemone. 

And several of the buildings and shade structures featured a green roof. I saw many families with picnics, parents and grandparents sitting in the shade, kids running around or riding their small bikes and trikes, other families on their ways to a large playground. This makes the park all-inclusive of all ages - a great place to learn about birds, enjoy the beauty of garden plantings, go for a run, or play. Bikes are not allowed in the park in summer except for small kids bikes, which makes sense though it took me a half hour to walk the 2 km from one end to the other. 

After a large juice and a tasty Brezel, I took one more photo and hopped on my bike for the long way home, pondering why the suburban areas in the bay area don't feature parks like this. What would it be like if instead of playing fields with lights we had tall trees and a lake? If kids ran around and explored a playground instead of being groomed to win?