Horse-chestnut leaves, duck, greeting

Both here, and in Munich where spring seems to be arriving at the same time as ours, you can almost see the buds of horse-chestnuts opening as though they are gloves into which fingers are being wriggled.

From the balcony at the rear of our flat, you can hear, as the sun sets, the sound of water-birds saying goodnight in the Englischegarten.

The universal greeting "Greuss Got", used everywhere in Bavaria, (but not elsewhere in Germany) by everyone and at all times of day and night, is a pleasing custom to which you quickly become accustomed.