Adventures beyond the front door
In the car park at Heimbach, as the river waters ran fast beneath the castle walls, we peered through the windscreen as the rain beat down on the car and puddles formed where the asphalt had been misshapen by time and the long reach of thick tree roots beneath the surface. We had known, before… Continue reading Walking in the rain – Heimbach, Eifel
Even paths we have walked many times can be made anew. The walk was a familiar one, out from our little yellow house on the edge of a Brandenburg village, following a rutted, sandy trail where the houses meet the fields to the water tower. From there, we would walk the track along the forest,… Continue reading Miles to go before we sleep – Fläming in the snow
A few weeks ago we headed out from Berlin to explore the salt marshes and tidal estuaries of Germany's North Sea coast. On the way we crossed the Kiel Canal, and discovered the Rendsburg railway bridge, an architectural marvel that dominated the landscape and became the subject for our latest Postcard from The Winding Trail,… Continue reading Postcard from The Winding Trail 06: Rendsburg
From the top of the Wilseder Berg, the highest point of the Lüneburg Heath (Lüneburger Heide), we looked out across the rolling landscape that has long been a draw to visitors of northern Germany that has long been an attraction for visitors – and especially nature lovers. Unfortunately it was too early in the summer… Continue reading Rolling country – the Lüneburg Heath by bike
The new year begins as the leaves begin to turn, and those last warm summer evenings switch to an autumn chill, the smell of wood stoves in the village or small bonfires in the allotments of the city. We call it a new year because autumn is a time of beginnings as well as the… Continue reading Walking in Autumn – Berlin & Brandenburg
On a lazy Sunday morning here in Berlin we've just sent out our latest Postcard from The Winding Trail and this time we are staying close to home as the subject is walking out from our apartment and the joys of exploring familiar places. Our postcards are an irregular email newsletter including original writing as… Continue reading Postcard from The Winding Trail 05: Berlin
We had arrived in Bochum to visit friends, approaching this city in the industrial heartland of Germany known as the Ruhrgebiet in torrential summer rain. Somehow it fit the city that we explored that afternoon on foot – a no-nonsense, postwar urban landscape similar to many of the towns that were heavily bombed during World… Continue reading Riding the rails – the Erzbahntrasse, Bochum
The metal staircase starts at the bottom of the tower, and with each step we were climbing ever closer to the top of the trees. We were in the grounds of the old Beelitz Heilstätten, a sanatorium set among the pine forests south of Berlin. Looking up we could see the walkway stretching out from… Continue reading Above the treetops – the Beelitz Sanatorium
It was Friday evening when we caught the train from Berlin’s Hauptbahnhof. Two dads, two daughters, heading south beyond Dresden and towards the Czech border, climbing down from the train in darkness on the banks of the Elbe. Across the river from the station, the lights of Bad Schandau shone against the dark hills that… Continue reading A place like no other – the Schrammsteine of Saxon Switzerland
From the street, which runs in a straight line through the Jungfernheide forest in the north of Berlin, circling around the old Tegel airfield, it is a short walk through the trees to the lake. The path, which follows the water’s edge from the Greenwich Promenade south towards Saatwinkel and Spandau, passes by sailing and… Continue reading Our lake – Tegel, Berlin
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