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!
The start of a new Grand Tour is always exciting and this one would take me through Berlin’s numerous parks, forests and along waterways using the official Grüne Hauptwege (Green Routes). The first route followed roughly the path of the river Spree to connect the west and east borders of Berlin. This was a lovely Stage passing through the old towns of Spandau and Köpenick as well as the hustle and bustle of central Berlin.
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.
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!
Stage 32 of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel led me to explore areas of German-Soviet relations, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the final visit to Tegel Airport.
Visiting many of the industrial areas in Berlin was the focus of Stage 25 of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel. Plus a stark reminder of the measures taken to control the Covid-19 outbreak with so many empty areas.