Tom`s travels: Lindow (29/06/2024)

On a sunny day, Caroline, Ania, and I decided to do a day trip north of Berlin. We met up at Berlin's main station and from there headed on to reach the town of Lindow. An Instagram acquaintance of mine lives there so I decided to contact him and meet up. Once we reached our destination, we left the train station and headed northwards to reach Lindow's old town. It is situated in a lovely location on an isthmus between the lakes Gudelacksee and Wutzsee. Having reached the Markt, the main square, we met up with André who then showed us the surroundings. We first reached the nice viewpoint of the Wutzsee with a statue of a nun, and then nearby the Kloster Lindow. This Cistercian nunnery was built around 1230 and comprised a cloister surrounded by the convent buildings in the east and west, the cloister church in the north, and a smaller structure on the southern side partially opening towards the lake. During the Thirty Years' War the monastery, as well as the town were pillaged and burned, from then on the place never recovered. In fact, today the monastery stands mostly in ruins with only foundations and parts of some of the buildings surviving. Once we walked around the complex we thanked André for his time and friendliness and let him go to get ready for his paddle surfing while we headed on to hike around the lake. We headed east following the northern bank of the Wutzsee, initially walking on the lower path but eventually finding it too full of mosquitoes and so deciding to move to the upper one. We walked through a mostly forested landscape with the occasional views of the lake to our right, eventually reaching the end of the lake. Here we continued on through the forest and after a bit more reached another lake, Huwenowsee. At its western end, we found a small opening in the trees with a small beach. We set ourselves in the shade, a bit further from two other couples there already. We took out our lunch and started eating. Before eating I decided to have a refreshing swim in the lake and then headed to join the other two. After the lunch break, we continued on our hike and started following the northern bank of the Huwenowsee. At its eastern end, we then arrived at Meseberg where the famous Schloss Meseberg is located. This Baroque palace is the retreat of the Chancellor of Germany and the official state guest house of the German Federal Government. We passed it and then circled around the lake following its southern end and heading now westwards. We made a complete round of the lake and then continued on through the forest until we reached the other lake, Wutzsee. Here we followed its southern bank and halfway along its length stopped once again. I had another swim, and the water was even nicer here. After the break we got back on our feet continued westwards and eventually came back to Lindow, having walked around two lakes. Once in town, before heading home we decided to walk to the western side and reach the Gudelacksee, the largest of Lindow's two lakes. Compared to the other one, which was wilder and forested, this one, at least in its eastern part was more developed, with a pier, a cafè/restaurant right by the water, and quite some boats anchored as well as sailing by. Finally, it was time to head to the train station, we walked the path and eventually reached it to take our ride to Berlin. Unfortunately, only once home I found out I had left my swimsuit drying on the bench next to the lake.