After a long winter break, the Grand Tour de Grüne Hauptwege was back! This route took me through many of the southern districts of Berlin that lay on the Teltow plateau. Although most of these districts are very residential, there are many nice green areas and paths along canals, ditches and especially along the former path of the Berlin Wall.
A hot summer’s day was a great opportunity for the eighth Stage of the Grand Tour de Grüne Hauptwege. This route led me through nature reserves and along small lakes in the east of Berlin. All the greenery was a nice touch to these primarily residential districts. A great ride and even my blood glucose was relatively well-behaved!
Stage 7 of the Grand Tour de Grüne Hauptwege started at the lovely Märchenbrunnen (Fairy Tale Fountain) and ended at the border between Berlin and Hönow. On the way, I encountered a huge bull fountain, some fantastic street art, lakes and high-rise blocks. A great mixture of all that Berlin has to offer!
The penultimate Stage of the Tour de Tall took me to the extreme north and south of Berlin on the hunt for the 7th to the 4th tallest structures of Berlin. The structures were all related to power generation – mainly stacks from natural gas power plants but also impressive wind turbines. This was a fantastic cycle in Berlin with ideal conditions.
A beautiful autumn day was ideal for visiting all 8 of Berlin’s mills. This was a lovely loop in the city focussing on buildings not really associated with big cities! The back stories, as well as the current uses, of these mills is also very interesting – featuring a “Murder Mill” going up in flames, World War II and people getting caught in the vanes.
Stage 56 of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel took on five bus routes around eastern Berlin. A cultural stop at the Schloss Biesdorf and lakeside stop at the Müggelsee were a great relief after car-bicycle tensions earlier in the Stage.
Stage 55 of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel toured the northeast districts of Berlin and beyond. On the way back to central Berlin, a stranger stopped me for advice of buying a bicycle – the perks of wearing all the cycling gear.
I finally completed all of the S-Bahn routes during Stage 53 of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel. This was the S3 running from West to East and I took in some brutalist architecture and cycled through the long stretches of forest. There was also a refreshing summer rainfall too on the way back to central Berlin.
Stage 52 of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel was a bit of a sweat-fest. But I saw cats and sheep, a waterfall and some of the best buildings Berlin has to offer!
Stage 44 of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel focused on the tram routes that run through the eastern part of Berlin. After a non-start in the previous Stage, this time my special guest was plagued by chain drops!