A street that never sleeps

We live on a very cool street - it starts with the name itself: Ankerstrasse. We've always liked the name and felt "anchored" into something solid.

That is until M came round and casually remarked our street had dropped its first letter: "W"

We've never been able to look at it the same way again...

Then, the street setting is a story of itself: opposite the Court House and one street far from the red light district. I guess it makes sense...

Oh, and on the direct route of all fire brigade cars. And their sirens are at exactly the same level as our bedroom window.

Then we have 2 of the city's most cool bars: one underneath us, the other opposite. One has jazz concerts every Thursday, the other one is packed Thursdays to Sunday. And with the recent heat wave and smoking ban, all parties have moved out onto the street.

Under our bedroom window.

And since we can't get that much sleep anyway, we lie in our beds and listen. And collect stories and snapshots of life.

The other night was a couple breaking up. He was Italian, very loquacious, and slightly pissed. To the point where he took his speech up and down the street, its reverberations bouncing up and down the walls. But we didn't mind, as 3 languages were switched with ease between the two lovers gone sour - we took it as a free language course.

Last week it got all dramatic, with Police car chasing, car crash, yells, arrests and the crowd of regulars, staring, commenting, betting I guess. It was 2 am.

When spirits calmed down, Police investigating team came to take photos, measure and chat loudly on the cell phone. Under our bedroom window.

We got to fully understand the local entrepreneurial spirit when 3 ladies of the night tried selling their services. To the Police officers.

Under our bedroom window.