urbanfairytales: where to go

Showing posts with label where to go. Show all posts

Müggelsee

The most peaceful and relaxing place in Berlin (of course, closely followed by my favourite, Treptower Park): the Müggelsee.
How to get there? Take the S 3 to Friedrichshagen, walk down the beautiful Bölschestraße (the "Ku'damm" of Eastern Berlin) and you will reach the lake in 5-10 minutes.

There is a great webpage (German only, unfortunately) with information on trails and tours and even an own travel guide app for smart phones.

There is hardly a place in an urban area I know where the eye can wander that far without being disturbed by some construction or other at the horizon.

Fun fact: earlier this year a movie called "Haialarm am Müggelsee" (Müggelsee shark alarm), sort of an (East) German (anti) road movie, turned the area into somewhat of a famous local screen beauty.

Street Food Thursday

logo source: Street Food Thursday

Time for another where-to-go: Street Food Thursday, first launched in April at famous Markthalle Neun in Berlin Kreuzberg and sure to enter Lonely Planet's next edition.

Be sure to come early to enjoy a free view at the great variety of extraordinary food ranging from homemade jam to Japanese Takoyaki and to find a free spot to sit and enjoy a glass of wine from France, a beer or some fresh juice.

some delicious impressions

kids & dogs: reaching for the stars

The last time I have been to Moscow was two years ago and I still have very colourful memories of a visit to the Монумент «Покорителям космоса» (Monument to the Conquerors of Space) and to the former VDNKh (now All Russia Exhibition Center) - particularly of that little girl 'shaking hands' with Yuri Gagarin ...

... and of that moving story of Laika, the famous first dog in space who had paid her visit with her life - unlike her fellow space travel mates Belka and Strelka who safely returned back home to live a happy dog life. One of their puppies was even given to the Kennedys as a present to the US by the Soviet Union.

Strandbar Mitte

A place that gains increasing popularity every summer:

Strandbar Mitte

Certainly one of the nicest spots to enjoy a mild summer's night:

with an amazing view on the Bode Museum, the riverside and the Fernsehturm

with swing music on a lovely and always crowded dance floor,

with a great bar and affordable drinks to enjoy while sitting and watching the dancing couples,

with the Hexenkessel Hoftheater and its entertaining theatre plays next door,

and not least with that divine pizza parlour to complete a perfect evening.

pilgrimage to Mecklenburg

As you might have guessed, my preferred mode of transportation is walking - closely followed by a ride on a train.

And of course, Berlin offers a wide range of walking trails that encourage you to slow your pace and enjoy, to let your mind wander, to look around:

a walk in the beautiful park, and for that matter at the Spree (or both: for example at the lovely Treptower Park)
the project 20 grüne Hauptwege (20 green routes)
the Berliner Mauerweg along the former Berlin wall

Sometimes, however, it feels better to leave the city: to Brandenburg or, farther north, to the Mecklenburger Seenplatte, where many a path looks back on a long tradition of walking:

on the 66-Lakes-Trail you can literally walk around Berlin - the trail is about 400km long, so it might take you three weeks to a month to complete the mission
the ancient Way of Saint James crosses the Eastern German countryside: follow the yellow shell on blue ground and you might end up in Santiago de Compostela one day in early winter
and then there is the pilgrims' way Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, which uses a sign easily confounded with the Saint James scallop


Way Mecklenburgische Seenplatte	Way of Saint James source: pilgern.ch

A couple of days ago I walked on the pilgrim's way Mecklenburgische Seenplatte (first, to be honest, I assumed to be walking the Way of Saint James - it was an amazing walk all the same) and was impressed by the stunning beauty of the lake scenery in that area. You could almost physically feel the silence.

The way passes through the small village of Mirow from where I took the train back to Berlin.

The first part of that route surprised me with a unique (re-)discovery of slowness of its own:

At one point the ancient carriage that connects Mirow and Neustreelitz stopped at a railroad crossing. The train driver got off the train to close the barriers manually by turning a simple crank, then hopped in again to get us across the road, then stopped again to get off and open the barriers.