And yes, sometimes even beautiful

I'm not a person who normally seeks out the easiest road. In fact, if I follow my own impulses, I often make every day things harder for myself than they would have to be. Occasionally this can even boarder on absurdity. Take this story as an example: A few weeks ago I went to visit a friend in the neighborhood Friedrichhain. In Berlin, hardly any of the U-Bahn stations have an elevator or escalator, meaning if you want to take a small child with you, you are dependant on the kindness of strangers. The trouble is, strangers in Berlin are usually the very opposite. My baby buggy weighs well over 30 pounds, but often enough no one even offers to help me with it (I can just barely schlepp it by myself...) When they do help, they usually give me a look at the end like I just ruined their day. Needless to say, I most often stick to the neighborhoods and areas within walking distance (no car, by choice, but the upkeep here is also really expensive.)

Anyway, when I got to the Warschauer Strasse station, I saw that I could either carry the buggy down around five steps, or take an elevator that went back behind the station (I didn't notice that there was also a ramp. D'oh!) Of course, I took the elevator, but soon discovered that there was no way out back onto the street except by going up lots of stairs. Cursing, I schlepped my buggy up them, hoping I wouldn't kill my back in the process. Later, when I was telling my friend the story and complaining about how unhelpful Berliners are she just said "Why didn't you just take the elevator back upstairs and go down the ramp?" The sad truth is, this never even occurred to me as a possibility.....

But sometimes going the hard way can be a creative thing. Like in the pursuit of beauty. Anyone can find a sunset or an Italian village on the riveria beautiful. But to find beauty in unexpected places; gritty, dirty and drab places; is much more of a challenge. With my new Olympus I have been trying to do just that. Here, in the urban jungle, I have found interesting details that are aesthetic and yes, sometimes even beautiful.