Sunday, July 29: Cloudy to begin with, then hot & sunny
Hiking: 29.6 km
Home
It had rained some more during the night, but the day started clearing after a very short break. I got all my stuff together (including the two new towels) and left Kevin’s keys on the desk, as he had requested some time last night. At least no wild party girls or couples having sex in the night.
I was soon down at where the track begins and noticed that there was a white-blue-white sign with “11” on it, so about the time my recorded track had parted company with this 11, I chose to join it to see where it went. At least it remained fairly green for a while, and I noted von-Luck-Str and Spanische Allee turning up. I followed the marking over the street, and then it was briefly lost until I went through a small tunnel under the railway to Schlachtensee itself, and took up the track again. I had wondered about a couple that I had met along the way dressed in bathrobes, but this lake is a certified swimming lake and plenty of people were doing just that. Read more…
Saturday, July 28: Still very hot, one thunderstorm in the early evening, a little cooler
Hiking: 37.2 km
Kevin’s
I managed to get up on the dot of 8:00 and breakfast (one roll with sausage, coffee) was had, lunch made and everything packed up for the day in 40 minutes. I was down to the station a little earlier and correspondingly earlier into Potsdam, where I had a bit of a look around. Bus to Ferch was fairly full, but the going was smooth and we were soon in the place itself. A march around the block brought me back to the bus stop where the walk proper begins.
Must be a lovely place to spend a summer in. The village center was signed, so if that were doable in the time you could climb up to it, or you could remain on the level and aim for the stop at the camping ground, another ten minutes along. Read more…
Friday, July 27: Day n of the scorcher, very hot and sunny to begin with, but the cloud varied quite a bit. Signs of a thunderstorm towards evening
Hiking: 31.8 km
Kevin’s
I had been woken at around 3:00 by someone having a very hot shower, and someone else (the boyfriend) vaping in the lounge. I hope the shower wasn’t meant as contraception, although it looked very much that way (especially at that time, and with the vape). I couldn’t sleep much past 7:30, and so started on my preparations for the hike.
The smaller roll was had for breakfast and the larger one set up with bell pepper sausage for lunch. That with now four litre bottles of water was packed away and I was ready to go with the first set of trains. Had to stop by the bank for some cash, but even then I took a set of trains one too early, and a good thing, too, because it took most of the twenty minutes waiting time trying to ascertain where the 580 bus left from (all other bus lines appeared to start with “6”). Finally nailed down the bus, asked the driver and identified the temporary bus stop that he was planning to use.
There must also have been an issue with traffic around the forest fire, because as we were about to enter Lehnin, everybody seemed to be wanting to exit the motorway, and a gigantic traffic jam ensued. Our bus driver did the best he could, and we had only about ten minutes’ delay in the end. Then it was off onto the track again. Read more…
Thursday, July 26: Hot and sunny, a little wind, very few clouds
Hiking: 33.3 km
Kevin’s (room in student dorm shared flat in Berlin, €22.7 a night, will be a bit of a challenge)
Was up very early, despite all the attempts of the host to darken the windows (dark drawer, venetian blind, curtains), as the room had become quite hot. Down at breakfast, the only other guest was there as well indulging in his habit of addressing the phone. Anyway, breakfast was three bread rolls, coffee, and the usual assortment of sausage and cheese. I put one bread roll away for lunch, proceeded to pay, and was down at the market square getting a GPS fix before 9:00.
The walk around town to the north should really be done the day before, as it is only about 2.0 km longer. The street to come back down is Rosa-Luxenburg-Str., and that is quite well marked. I took hydration breaks at Springbach-Mühle and Lütte, and lunch was on the plan just outside of Dippmannsdorf. Here there is a further pub which is now called “Paradies”. The sandy track is quite hard to negotiate as dry as it is, and the Scots pine and/or larches throw about as much shadow as the eucalypt. In the meantime there were denser forest areas which were cooler. Read more…
Wednesday, July 25: Very hot and sunny, not much wind, a few clouds
Hiking: 30.4 km
Hotel zum Alten Brauhof, Straße der Einheit 16, Bad Belzig, double as single (€45)
The night was somewhat cooler, but that meant having to keep the windows open, and I could hear one or two mozzies looking for dinner. The sun was already quite hot, and although Bernd’s invitation for breakfast in the garden was hard to resist, I had to get the umbrella in the right position so that I wasn’t already being fried at 8:00.
I had all my stuff together, except for the small change I had put somewhere inexplicable – it turned up on one of the wardrobes – warning to self: Put all objects on low lying tables where they are visible! Then I was off down the track some distance from the road and alongside Raben with various amounts of shade. Read more…
Tuesday, July 24: Hot and sunny throughout, a couple of clouds in the late afternoon
Hiking: 32.4 km
Bernd’s, Rädigke, single room upstairs with shared con (€27.3, airbnb)
Had to be up half an hour earlier to get everything done on time for the early train. Breakfast was dealt with, then it was off to the supermarket for two bread rolls and two bottles of orangeade, then back to René’s to make the lunch, clear up the room, pack everything away, and I was well in time to take leave of René, and head off for the station.
Guy at the one ticketing machine seemed to be asking for extra service, so I had the time to go to the cash desk and buy a real ticket. On the platform the end half of the train didn’t seem to be taking passengers, so I moved up forward and got a seat with a view in order to get a good sat fix for the GPS. Only fly in the ointment was that the ipod was not giving out any sound, will have to look into this in detail. Otherwise it’s bye-bye Apple.
The journey was soon over and I walked back along the road to the track start. This is where the major error occurred: I took up the Luther Path (even though it was not carrying the E11 signs any more) and ended up heading towards Wittenberg, which I really noticed only after about 2.5 km. I should have looked very closely at the start before beginning, but a sign giving 4.0 km to Möllensdorf was too tempting. Anyway I had to traipse back over the hot fields, and try to make my way north. This sort of worked, but involved some dedicated bushbashing and after 2½ hours I finally found a sign to Möllensdorf (only 0.9 km), but this had taken seriously much more time than necessary.
To find a way forward, I elected for the road from Möllensdorf to Pülzig (no signs for the E11 were visible at all, though) and on arriving there saw that I would have to try walking from my notes, as there was no further advantage to be gained from walking along the road. Pretty much on the dot of the 400 m I had estimated to where the track leaves the road, there was in fact a track with a white-blue-white marking which led directly to Senst, where I stopped at a bbq/playground for lunch.
Slide Show
Click on the image to stop/start the animation
Continuing through Senst and along the street towards Groß Marzehn, the appearance of a field followed by a forest made sense in my notes, but not a single sign for a while, until the border with Brandenburg was reached. Then all the signs in the world turned up. Firstly, the white-blue-white signs appeared regularly from now on, as did proper signposts with realistic distances on them. What a change! For the first time in about 100 km there was a sense of confidence in the track. I could now see that I would arrive at Burg Rabenstein at around 4:00. However, this track does deviate from the track that I have a copy of, most notably between Groß and Klein Marzehn, where the real track follows a forest path, rather than the road, and there is even a new section just before Klein Marzehn, which still has to be paved.
Along the way to Rabenstein, the Million Bridge is a very imposing, gigantic Roman arch made of bricks to carry the motorway. A short time later the castle was reached, where it was time for a shandy, before the last kms into Raben. I was set on walking the whole way, but Bernd had told his acquaintance he was supposed to be meeting for coffee that he was expecting me, and after just on a km of road walking, a car pulled up and asked me whether I was staying with Bernd, and she took me all the way to his house. I had done enough walking anyway.
Interactive Map
Into Brandenburg. GPS quality: 30/30, coverage: 100% Can’t see map? Click here!
Bernd is a very pleasant older gentlemen with motor center damage from a stroke affecting the left arm. He was tending to his expansive garden when I arrived and I surprised him a little. He is very much involved with bringing some culture to this very small village (150 inhabitants) and related his encounter with Paul Oestreicher to me. Now, Oestreicher and I have at least one common acquaintance (Lenore Ryan), apart from his connection with Dunedin and Karl Popper who was also in his cohort of Jewish refugees taken up by New Zealand. What intrigues me is that I had never heard of him before.
Anyway, a short shower had to be taken, some sox washed, and then the question of dinner arose. The only pub in the village (which doubles as its library) was open, and Bernd was a guest of honor, so the choice had already been made for us. I had a pork steak with onions, chips and salad with a wheat beer for €15 (Gasthof Moritz), and the spacious courtyard was a tranquil end to the day, with a couple of families turning up from the local camping site. Bernd took me for a brief guided tour of the place, showing me how to avoid the road to get back onto the E11 tomorrow morning.
In the meantime Bad Belzig had organised an hotel for €45, which is the best of a tight situation, and I will have to see tonight about booking something for further along the track. But at least the track is there for once.
Monday, July 23: Hot and sunny, with some wind every now and then, a couple of clouds in the afternoon, but perfectly clear in the evening
Hiking: 30.0 km
René’s
Didn’t feel I needed to get up too early, but by around 8:00 I was up and about, had my breakfast, took off to the supermarket for today’s soft drinks and lunch (forecast was for well over 30°), made up the lunch here and was ready to go just before 9:30. No train to catch this morning, but went through the station anyway as an alternative, through the center of town and out down the track from yesterday. Eventually found a blue and white marker and a little after that the official looking signs, whereby it must be commented that for most of today’s route the E11 and the Luther Path were companions yet again. Let’s see how long this is good for.
Decided to rely as heavily as possible on the signs today, but had my diary there just in case. Just before the Luisium the markers ceased, and I failed to identify the one cafe I past, so on it was through this very special landscape they have here, part castles and gardens, part wildly romantic pastures set in cultured forests. Many a dead tree beckoned to be photographed. Finally a signpost showed up, putting all of today’s tracks onto one sign, including the Elbe Cycle Path, so that in case I was lost again, I would have to follow that. Plenty of cyclists around as well. Read more…
Sunday, July 22: A little cooler to begin with and quite cloudy. A ray of sun during the day and a drop of rain, sunny and warm towards evening
Hiking: 31.9 km
René’s
I was up fairly early for a breakfast of a yoghurt and a cup and a half of the litre packet of iced coffee (and the fridge had certainly made it quite icy), and then to prepare two bread rolls with Saxon Leberkäse for lunch. I was ready to go at 8:45, got to the station quite quickly, bought a ticket, and got into the train for the first section, and after arriving in Köthen had to wait nearly an hour for the connecting train (can’t this be done better?) for the last three-minute trip. I had my ipod with me and so was able to listen to all of the rest of the podcasts, then the next train was there and it spat me out one station later.
I had the entire trip noted in great detail today, because there was no promise yet of the signs returning. Rival football fan clubs had postered every lamppost in Arensdorf with their stupid stickers, so there was no chance of anything official or otherwise surviving. Found the way particularly easily in Pfriemsdorf and beyond, then at the road construction site it took me a while to find a continuing path, and when I did it was correct because it soon led beside Zehmigkau and onto Quellendorf, where I stopped for lunch. Looking back at the GPS track this was a bit of a miracle because part of the path had been completely removed and replaced by a new path at the construction site, and it was only rough and ready orientation (under cloud) that led to any success. Read more…
Halle, Alexandra’s (€11.4, bedroom with shared facilities, via airbnb)
Early morning at the dentist’s to check whether yesterday’s extraction had gone to plan, then a haircut and a brief visit to the office to finalise next semester’s timetable. Then it was a slow process of packing and trying to check that I had everything with me this time. Decided I would go into town by tram, as I had already brought to light that one train on today’s schedule had been replaced by another, with no seat reservation possible. Managed, however, to get some random lights working in the flat, although I should really read up on the mega new device onto how to set it up correctly, forgot only to turn off the video recorder, won’t be many new episodes of CSI anyhow.
If there had been a loose spanner in the works, then DB would have come crumbling down today. A couple of minutes’ delay in leaving the main station were almost immediately raised to about 10 within 100 m of leaving the station; although it didn’t get any worse further along the line, and thus no connections were endangered, there were announcements on the train about advising people not to change for a faster train in Brunswick, as the faster train was delayed, and you’d be quicker staying on this one. Read more…
Sunday, April 1: Overcast for nearly all of the day and quite cold
Hiking: 26.5 km
Home
Slept in just a little and was able to have my breakfast of an oversize yoghurt and a ready-made coffee in peace and quiet. Coffee tasted fine, wonder what it would be like if I put it in the microwave. Then a note had to be written to Nico to explain any lack of response on my behalf and everything else packed together. Oh, and lunch of two rye rolls with all of the 100 g packet of sliced sausage (Bierschinken) was made with the help of a little margarine from my hosts. I had cleared out the letterbox (at least, removed the newspaper Neues Deutschland) and so could deposit the key there when I left. Gloves and hat were ready for the cold day and I was ready to go @ 9:30. Tram was soon there for Franckeplatz, from there to the station and a slightly longer wait for the bus. Driver greeted me with, “Going to Petersberg?” which I negated, but was otherwise very friendly.
Not a long bus trip today and I knew where I had to go in Gutenberg. At the entrance to Räthern lost the signs again but picked then up fairly soon; again took a little time in Teicha, but then the track was well signed across town. Back at the railway track there was one last sign and at the entrance to the next town the one sign you needed to find the way back was hidden in the bushes. The remainder to Petersberg was sufficiently signed and I arrived in good spirits. Read more…
