Adventures beyond the front door
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 village of Ehrwald sits at the corner of a valley in Austria, just across the border from Germany. The valley is about a thousand metres above sea level, a damp moss of drained moorland divided into neat fields for growing the hay that will keep the cattle fed over the long, snowy winter. At… Continue reading Mountain of the Mind – Daniel, Tirol
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
The mountain starts where the city stops. A final semi-detached house before a farmer’s field, at the end of which the slope starts to really rise into the mist. It was a winter morning when we travelled there, to meet Feargal and his friends at the very edge of the city. They were going to… Continue reading Through the mist – Black Mountain, Belfast
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
The islands seemed to rise straight up out of the ocean. It appeared through the tiny windows of the propeller plane like a long green dragon resting in the turbulent waters. Conical peaks were strung out along the central ridge and the cliffs seemed to fall vertically down into the Atlantic. We circled one end… Continue reading The Fajãs of São Jorge – Azores
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
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