Pfingstberg

It was a nice day yesterday, so I finally decided to climb the Pfingstberg. I started my walk on the grounds of Schloss Cecilienhof, where the leaves in the water told me autumn is around the corner.

I like this little archway and debated walking around the lake to read for a bit, but then I noticed there were dozens of people who had already had the same thought. 

Dutch houses on the grounds.

 I love these trees with peeling bark. I have no idea what they are.

The walk to the Pfingstberg itself wasn't spectacular. It was a warm day, so the uphill climb was a little tiring. At a fork in the road I had the option between a cobbled path and a dirt path. I chose cobbled, which turned out to be the more direct and uphill option. 

At the top there was either no place to get a good photo of the Belvedere, I forgot to take one, or I was too lazy to search for a good spot. I can't remember which was the case. But I did take a bunch of photos of building details.

The red light at the bottom of the stairs warns if people are currently using the stairs, and the sign says to wait for the green light. I waited and started to climb but soon ran into THREE people coming down the stairs. The last guy asked me if the light was green and I told him yes, of course it was. When I climbed down the stairs at the end I discovered the light at the top wasn't working.

I did not choose the clearest day to climb to the best view over Potsdam.

I want to live here.

It looks like Berlin's TV tower in the distance here, but I can't be sure this was facing that direction, or that the tower would be visible from Potsdam.

I cut through the Waldpark, a part of the Volkspark, on the way to the tram stop, but this time I didn't pay the one euro entry fee. I decided since I was only using the path and not the basketball courts or anything else, my visit should be free! And speaking of basketball courts/art installations...

There were four of these paths, with green glass covering the entire pathway. Another art installation?

And a statue of Lenin, like every good East German park.

Wiesenburg

Sometimes travel plans don't work out as expected, and yet they are still enjoyable. My boy was out of town this weekend, so I had to entertain myself. I've been thinking about taking day trips on the train using the cheap weekend tickets, but the budget part of my brain always says "it's the same cost for two people" and so I don't go.

I woke up Saturday with the idea to do something by train, but I didn't know what. I pulled out my guidebooks for inspiration, but found nothing.I then remembered a little booklet we bought a few months ago with information about towns all over northeastern Germany. I pulled it out and found a town that was on the RE (regional train) that leaves from the small station near me. The town had a schloss, so of course I wanted to go.

I didn't plan as much as I usually do because my internet was down and I didn't want to waste the  data on my phone. But, maybe I should have wasted my data because when I got off the train I was in the middle of nowhere. The train station was 2.5km from town.

Two kilometers isn't far, I know that. But, I didn't want to walk somewhere and have to walk back to the same place. I frantically searched on my phone and realized there were no buses to get to/from town or back to Berlin. The only option was the train.  I actually debated just waiting for the return train and going back one station. But then I smartened up and started walking. Germany's a safe country and I can walk through the woods alone, if I want to.

This bike path (it's part of a larger circuit, to Bad Belzig) has art installations along the way.

 

This branch is so large it needs support.

Oh, look, I've finally entered the town.

The Schloss. I should mention that I go to these schlosses and walk around the grounds, but I never actually enter them.

Another schloss kitty.

When I finally made it to town (which was greatly slowed by my photography), I spent at least ten minutes staring at the maps and information plotting what to do next. I discovered that there was a Rufbus, which means you call them to tell them to pick you up. It ran twice a day on the weekend between Wiesenburg and Bad Belzig, but not for three hours, and you had to call an hour before the scheduled pick up. I debated staying in town and taking the bus later so I could explore Bad Belzig, which was part of my general plan for the day.

I should also mention that if someone had been selling bikes, I would have totally bought one just so I could bike to Bad Belzig and make things easier on myself.  But, there was no bike shop nearby.

I debated walking to Borne (under the N in F L A M I N G, in the middle of the map) and then taking the bus from there. Borne was over an hour away by walking, and then it was another hour and a bit to Bad Belzig. I debated walking all the way to Bad Belzig. The bike route with the art installations is the yellow line.

I've wanted to do more hiking and exploring, so this seemed like a good time and option. But then I realized I wasn't prepared. I was wearing stupid flipflops instead of proper shoes.  The ground was not level so my toes were already hurting. I also didn't really pack a lunch or sufficient water for a two/three hour trek. And most importantly, I didn't like having no other travel options. If I started the journey and then needed to stop, I wouldn't be able to. Also, no one knew where I was. 

So, rational thought turned me around. I walked back to the train station I came from, but I planned a different route.

There was supposed to be another path here somewhere... I had my phone out and was trying to figure if my gps was just off by a few feet or what had happened to the path. And then I realized that the slightly flattened patch of grass was the path. I was a little nervous as I started - I didn't want to walk 1km and then find a fence and have to turn back. I also have a fear of being yelled at for trespassing. There was barely a path the entire way, but I kept going and it was really peaceful and pretty.

I arrived at this field, and the train tracks were right there. I was still about 750m from the station, but I had well over an hour until the train (which runs every two hours on weekends...), so I sat on a bench and read for a while. The schloss was visible far in the distance, and in the hour I sat there, no one passed. I was just me and the crickets and birds.

I arrived at the station and the train was 10 minutes late. The tracks were behind a fence that was opened about two minutes before the train arrived. I guess we can't be trusted to stay on the platform. The train ride home was the worst part of the day because it was full of football fans who kept singing their team songs. But I had a good day.  I think I'll go back eventually and make the trek to Bad Belzig, hopefully with company.

another row of the rainbow

It was way too hot for a few weeks to work on this blanket, but it has finally cooled down a bit and I have now managed to finish another colour band. I still love it as much as I did at the beginning.

Marquardt

Marquardt is a tiny suburb of Potsdam that I discovered a few months ago on a trip home from somewhere up north. I planned an alternate route to Potsdam that avoided driving through Berlin, and instead we drove through a bunch of small towns. I've wanted to go back, specifically to go fruit picking, but also just to see the town. I finally managed to go yesterday, but just to the schloss, not to the fruit. That just means I need to go back again.

The visit to Marquardt is an example of why I love Berlin and my BVG (transit) pass so much. Potsdam is in Berlin's C zone, and Marquardt is in Potsdam's B zone. And all of it is included in my monthly pass. Sure, the bus and train only run hourly, but it's free to get there, even though it's 40km from the centre of Berlin. I feel like I've explored a lot of Berlin and its surroundings in my time here, but I know there are still so many other places to visit.

I love fields like this.

There were a few ponds like this right next to each other, and whenever I stepped closer to the water I heard a bunch of little splashes as frogs jumped to safety. I tried to get photos of the jumping but was largely unsuccessful.

This is the type of pond water that I think is really pretty, but I'm happy to stay far away and use the zoom to photograph.

Schloss Marquardt is located on Schlänitzsee which has, without doubt, the grossest water I've seen.

And people dock their boats there. Why? There are dozens of lakes around Potsdam/Berlin. Why choose this one?

I found two schloss kitties. 

The schloss and surrounding buildings are empty and barely used. I saw three buildings and one guy working on each. It's such a shame because the buildings and surroundings are so beautiful. I wish I had money so I could buy it and turn it into a hotel or an apartment. I would love to live there. 

I left the schloss grounds (but not by the main entrance, which was locked up... hmmm...) and checked the train schedule. The hourly train left only nine minutes later. I didn't know how long it would take to walk there, but the train gods were in my favour as it arrived just as I stepped on the platform. Lucky me! And the walk to the station was really nice as the town was covered in bunting.