Trash

New Year's is awesome here, but winter visitors are exposed to an ugly side of the Germans that summer visitors don't see.

New Year's eve, or Sylvester, is celebrated with a lavish firework display, most of it sponsored by private pyrotechnics. This year, it snowed pretty well, and the reflection of the fireworks in the snow was pretty cool. However, after the explosions were done, the firework stuff was left, strewn all over the street.

And when the snow melted, people put their Christmas trees out on the street.

This seemed to go against everything I knew about the Germans... usually, they're super clean. They even pick up their dog poop. Usually.

I spoke to a German and asked them about the dirt.

"You'll have to forgive us. Once a year, Germans just leave their trash on the street. But only once."