Mugglesee

Yesterday we went for a day hike around a lake called the Mugglesee. It's surprising how much green space there is in Berlin. From the center of the city you can ride the train for thirty minutes in pretty much any direction and wind up at the forest. I think that makes this a really livable city.

We took the train to a town called Friedrichshagen. Then we walked down the main street of Friedrichshagen, admiring all of the little shops, and stopping of course at one of about ten bakeries for some bread and a jelly doughnut. It was a good thing we did as we were sort of short on food for this adventure- we forgot to buy bread for sandwiches the day before.

At the end of main street we arrived at the mouth of a tunnel- it is pictured on the left. We emerged on the other side of the tunnel in the picture on the right. We felt as though we had gone through the wardrobe

and found ourselves in an enchanted forest. Granted, it was a humid, mosquito ridden forest but still really lovely.

We walked for several hours along the shore of the lake. It looked really inviting, especially when the temperatures started to climb, and it would not have taken much convincing to get me to jump in. There were people boating on the lake and swimming and lying in the sun on the shore. It reminded me a lot of Laurel Lake on a weekend only a lot bigger.

Finally we turned around and headed back the way we had come. We were sort of hoping to find some sort of bratwurst or something for lunch when we went back through town, but we discovered that everything closes early on Saturday (like at 1pm!). Oh well. We got back on the train, made a slight detour to the grocery store for bread, then came home. Today we're taking it a little easy, but we'll probably go for a hike in the forest near here a little later.