March is a nothing month. Not in the middle or the end of the year. For me, though, it has been incredible! Why is that? Well, just a flow. A flow of experiences. Berlin in the sun. Suede making me feel 17 again. Riding a bike and feeling my legs, feeling them strain. And a mind that has been clear.
For a fairly nondescript month, March has been memorable.
Berlin
It all started with Berlin. Something I was actually very nervous about, to be honest. I had not been for around ten years and had still been fit and mobile then. A lot of walking that weekend. Not going to happen this time. Still fit but not as mobile.
In contrast to ten years ago, though, there are simply more ways to get around the city. There is Uber, which in Berlin is cheap and reliable. My friend and I still did some walking, of course. You cannot do everything with Uber. Getting around the Reichstag is a little difficult in a car. This was more about covering distance to get somewhere we actually wanted to walk.
But, never mind that! I talk enough about getting around. Like I am making an excuse! Sorry I am having fun with a medical condition. How dare I.
Exhilaration
It is better to just focus on the exhilaration of somewhere like Berlin. To be surrounded by history, to visit the top of the Reichstag. Something I had not done before. The Holocaust Memorial, always quietly numbing. The Tiergarten and Brandenburg Gate in the fairly early morning. All different aspects of the past writ large. Some bombastic, some reflective. So many different perspectives in one part of the city.
There is also the modern world and people. The Mauerpark and its market, where I still regretted that, ten years before, I had not bought a Sonic Youth tee-shirt, of all things. No possibility of that this year, just a couple of silly tee-shirts about aging.
Of course, there was food and drink. Amazing food and drink. First night, at Hallman & Klee. Fine dining of the friendliest kind. We loved it. And we then asked where they would eat. They suggested a few places and we found a place at one of them, a place called Otto. The perfect place, in fact, at a counter looking into the kitchen. The food was all amazing, both in preparation and eating.
Before I start sounding like a tourism blog, I had better mention what led us to Berlin. The sommelier in Otto asked us and we told her. To see a band that we had loved as teenagers. Far too long ago. She put it on the sound system. She agreed.
Suede
All this culture, all this great food. The main event, though, was still an early 90s British Indie band.
We had originally planned to see Suede in the Netherlands, assuming Amsterdam or Utrecht. When Tilburg was announced as the Dutch venue for the tour, we decided to go somewhere else. Nothing wrong with Tilburg at all. But my friend lives in London and for a flight over perhaps the destination needs to be a little more enticing. So we decided to combine with our yearly ‘trip somewhere else’. Berlin!
Suede I have mentioned before. Quite a few times. This would be the sixth time I had seen them, and still so impressive. The inevitable ‘doesn’t Brett look good for his age?’ comment segued in to ‘and he sounds good!’ because he did! Two fifty-year-olds in Suede T-shirts were seventeen again. And loving it! Especially when they played ‘The Drowners’. Still electrifyingly arrogant.
Concluding March
A real high to start the month. The rest of the month continued from that high. The trip to Mont Ventoux is fully booked for June. Something I will not shut up about. I have been getting around on the bike, doing a semblance of training. Enjoying it, which is the main thing. I stop a lot, but it is good to look around a bit as well, right? It will be an e-road bike on Ventoux so the training will not be 100% realistic but some of the challenges will be the same.
Like remembering to stand on my left foot when stepping off the bike. The right leg does tend to tell me to f*ck off after a ride, which can lead to an embarrassing fall. Just embarrassing, though. Nothing worse.
Still I can enjoy the longer days, the fresh air. Meeting friends in various places. Staying mobile. A little cold now, but the warmth of the sun is starting to make itself felt. I am still able to enjoy it.
A Launchpad
Perhaps the most understated but nicest element. My mind has been clearer, the concentration better. Speech has been a small struggle and the cognitive clarity is not constant. It has been better, though. I don’t know why. Fampyra? Good habits to exercise the mind a little, like reading? I don’t know. I wish I did. But I will take it. The physical challenges of walking remain. This meant that the joy of March needed planning. Surrounding myself with the right people. Accepting the fact that I need a walking stick and a leg support.
Accepting all of these things keeps the world open. OK, I can look a little strange walking stiffly with my leg support. The odd strange look. When I am in a bad mood that can hurt. In March, though, it did not matter. Too much to enjoy. A nice launchpad into the rest of the year.
