Category Short Hikes

The First Snow (07.04.2021)

soleil Leave a comment

Hello everyone, long time no see, no read. I have been craving to post here for months now, sad to have something come in the way all the time, BUT here I am! Yesterday was a day that had to be shared, a quite simple day in itself, but a very meaningful one for me.

The simple reason: yesterday it snowed!
And it was my first time to see snow this Winter, for I had been in Cairo these last few months. I was quite sad to have missed the most Winter-y days, for I knew I’d have drowned in making photographs, walking through the forests covered with snow… but it’s okay. I had a tiny glimpse of that yesterday! And Spring is on its way… who can complain???

So yesterday… I was working on something and just out of nowhere, I saw snow falling outside.
Oh my God, I’m getting a chance to see it this year after all!

After a few minutes by my window, I realized it’s too warm for it not to melt. I decided to enjoy it from the comfort of my little flat. But after an intense hour of watching it fall outside, sharing videos with my loved ones in Egypt, who couldn’t believe that this can happen in April, I decided that I have to head out!

But entirely alone like that? With your camera? Aren’t you going to feel awkward?, I hear my brain trying to do damage-control before any damage has even happened.

Yes, absolutely. I will feel awkward. I will feel shy. But I’m gonna do it. Yes.

Before I know it, I’m getting dressed, just putting on the warmest clothes I can find, still not grasping that I am doing this. A little background check to make it clear why it causes me a share of anxiety: traumatizing moments of getting into trouble in Cairo for taking photos on the street. Any kinds of photos. (Police-)Men appearing out of nowhere, asking me all sorts of questions, shooing me away for no valid reason whatsoever. Having to pay for their irrational fear of my extremely harmless little camera that just wants to capture nice things. <3

But no place for negativity here. It was a beautiful hour to spend taking photos on the street outside. It was wonderfully empowering for me, even though it is so simple in itself, and I have a lot to show. :)

Snow in Westend, Berlin
The view outside my window – snow that makes you feel like a happy little child!
One of my pots on the windowsill filled with leftover soil that is receiving some snow magic right here.

I first go out to the backyard garden, having been tempted by the white grass I caught a glimpse of through the back door on my way out. White grass… so much white. I look around, I feel the quiet, I hear the sound of snow hitting things around me… like very very subtle rain. I smell the air. It’s so fresh. I feel the snow crunching under my feet.

Snow on leaf in Westend. Berlin
I decide to capture this little blossoming tree detail, enveloped by that cold white.
I capture a little Wonderland, begging me to drown in its beauty.
Snow on conifer in Westend, Berlin
My God!
This little tree detail amazes me with its color – the light in the background gives it such a magical glow.

I realize that there must be so much more outside awaiting me. I happily head out… stopping in front of the door already to start taking more photos… capturing this magenta bush:

And I keep walking…

It’s like the water drops enhance its glow – it’s so beautiful!
Kirschenallee sign in Westend, Berlin
One of the streets crossing with my home street. I loved the way this old sign looked in front of this background. It made me feel like I’m existing in another era.
Aren’t these mushrooms cute?
I love such calm moments.
Branitzer Platz in Westend, Berlin
This was my almost daily go-to place in the Summer. To have my morning coffee in my portable mug, to read mind- and soul- expanding books, to share a few words with sweet strangers… It’s one of my favorite places in this neighborhood – equally beautiful in times of snow.
When I see such miniature landscapes of snow, it feels like someone took powdered sugar and poured it all over these leaves.
Snow on ivy
I so love ivy.
Powdered sugaaaar!
Not forgetting to admire the details above, too…
A little dream.
A little dream of other worlds – and their strange creatures.
Gaaaah! It’s like that leaf was teasing me with this tiny bit of snow on it. Look at me, look at me. Take a picture of me.
Music.
I had to revisit those tiny mushrooms on my walk back.
And just like that… the sun started to shine. I felt so overwhelmed with beauty.
A beautiful chaos of beauty.
Kirschenallee and Ebereschenallee signs in Westend, Berlin
Someone was saying hi. I had never spotted that little creature before.
I had to really squat down for that one. Speaking of awkwardness… but it was so worth it!
A lavender bush – even though it’s not blossoming right now, I could still smell it so strongly! This bush is surrounded by bumblebees in the Summer.
And my bike greeting me after my little Tuesday trip.

The funny thing is I didn’t even walk that far. I walked about a kilometer overall or something. I would’ve found so much more had I been in the forest or something… but I’m very happy. There’s so much beauty around. It was calling for me and I am not one to not respond!

I’m so excited to share more soon – Spring is around the corner!

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Autumn, I have hereby embraced you.

soleil 1 Comment

Over the last couple of months, right after the time I went on my solo hike in late Summer, I had the motivation to rediscover specific Nature areas around Berlin. My heart was breaking, as I kept missing out on several chances to do this and to take proper pictures, but thankfully over the last 2-3 weekends I managed to do what I had wanted to do.

I also had another aim, other than simply rediscovering the areas around. I wanted to really track my hikes / bike tours, in order to remember in the future which areas I liked and why.
The reason for that is that I keep finding myself in situations where I am spontaneously at a specific place, and I start remembering that I had been there before, but get lost in rebuilding a proper memory. Or, I remember a beautiful place, I crave to see it again, and I have no idea where it was anymore.

Now I want to change that – and this is me trying to change that. :) Here is to finding beautiful places and noting them down for future references. :D

I’ll start off by not only uploading photos taken on my hikes, but also by sharing the specific areas on the map.

The last few weekends I had been to:
Grünau (my favorite place of all for some reason, probably because I just have such an endless amount of memories there),
the forest area between the Große Krampe and Seddinsee waters,
the Nature Reserve Löcknitz,
and Grunewald.

The trips are not shared chronologically.
I simply shared them the way it felt right to me.

1. Grünau (31.10.2020)

This is roughly the way we walked (marked in yellow), starting at the station S Grünau, walking into the forest to the East, then towards the North towards the Dahme river, and then back.

It was a very calming and beautiful walk that day. It was cloudy and humid, but not yet very cold. The forest was calm, there were little people… I could enjoy taking my time photographing the details that fascinate me. <3

No, the leaves were not indeed shining in that color, but I sure like to dream…
I was lucky to walk with my cousin who had a lot of patience with my photo craze, allowing me to keep taking photos of her as well.
Tight, tight, tight, we stick together

It was one of the very few times in my life to see this fog over the water, which mesmerized me. I had to remember days where I came to this lake, to this spot, meditating, thinking, writing my thoughts away, enjoying a very rare smoke, crying my heart out, praying for the water and the trees around to take all my pains away, at my lowest times. And looking back I can feel the healing that was occurring, even though it was almost invisible at that time. As I said before… I love this place and something very deep and fundamental connects me to it.

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2. Between Große Krampe and Seddinsee (14.11.2020 + 15.11.2020)

We cycled all the way from the station S Köpenick down to Müggelheim, and then started walking to the South, through the trees, till we overlooked Große Krampe. As it started getting dark, we had to cycle back, along the Gosener Landstraße, through Gosen, and then up to Erkner, where the train was awaiting us. :)
A closeup over the area we walked and cycled through. This is a rough estimate, drawn in from memory, as I wasn’t recording our path.

Sadly, that day I made no photos at all, but I was in such awe by the beauty around us, that I had to come back a couple of days later. And I sure let myself go taking photos, which more felt like a dream…

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3. Löcknitztal Nature Reserve (08.11.2020)

We had to take the car to reach this area, parking at Klein Wall, and exploring the rest by foot.

This place was also really beautiful. It takes about 40 minutes to get there by car, if you start your trip from the East of Berlin. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to get there by anything other than the car, but fair enough… it was worth the ride and felt like a little, very refreshing break from the density and loudness of Berlin. Add to that the extremely natural setting by the water – a real beauty worth exploring more than once. Add to that: it was so sunny!

I was told this is a Pfifferling… I still need to get into the world of mushrooms.
I love the feeling of moss on the hand :) This moss made the tree bark so soft that all you had to do was grab it softly with your hand and it would fall of with the tree bark…

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4. Grunewald (01.11.2020)

Last but not least, I’d also like to include Grunewald to this collection, despite it being only three photos that I’d like to share. I always have such mixed feelings about Grunewald, despite it also being so beautiful. Maybe I don’t like that it’s incredibly hard to find solitude there. It’s always so full of people… I think you could say if you live in Berlin, you must have been to Grunewald at least once. But well… I still can’t deny when there is beauty.

A rough estimation of how we walked that day. Again: I had not recorded our path, so this is just a guess from memory.
These little mushrooms were growing between the moss on trees!


I finally want to emphasize (mainly for my future self reading this and remembering the state I was in at that time) how much I appreciate the possibilities I have here, how much I value the freedom of the possibility to explore these natural places, to move freely, to sit in silence, to sit and read, to walk, to swim, to cycle, to wander, to wonder, to listen and to breathe… it is a freedom I’d wish for everyone to have. It is a freedom that heals.

With a lot of excitement, I can say: to be continued!
Winter is coming…