20 grüne Hauptwege: Trail 7 - Hönower Weg (23 km)

Trail 7 of Berlin's 20 Green Trails takes me to far-flung eastern areas of the city, yet again. This time, it is a trail that goes from Prenzlauer Berg, all the way to Hönow via Weissensee, Alt-Hohenschönhausen, Marzahn, and Hellersdorf. These are definitely neighbourhoods that I don't find myself too often.

The trail begins in a fancy part of town, the Volkspark Friedrichshain. This is an area that is getting gentrified, with brand new flats being built next to it, and people with a rather good income spending their weekends running on the park.

When I got out of the bus that took me to the beginning of the trail, I immediately saw this interesting piece of public art. I don't exactly know who made it, but it was arresting nonetheless.

The trail goes through the Volkspark Friedrichshain, starting from the Fairy Tale Fountain. I don't quite know what fairy tales are represented by this fountain, but in any case I just went through and followed the blue and white marking.

The trail heads north, through Prenzlauer Berg, taking me to Arnswalder Platz. This is where you can see the massive sculpture you see above.

It then passes through another park, the Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg this time. And then, it goes further north until it skirts two small bodies of water, the Orankesee and Obersee. I actually haven't heard of these two small lakes within the boundaries of the city, but apparently these two exist.

Come to think of it, I actually have been in this area once, a few years ago, when we visited the Mies van de Rohe Haus. The architect's house had a lakeside location, and this was the lake. I just didn't realise it until I passed by it while I was on the trail.

Eventually, the trail turns and heads east, going towards Marzahn and Hellersdorf. These areas of the city are known for their Communist-era high rise apartment buildings. It is not the most photogenic part of the city, so I didn't take many photos. At some point, I felt like I wasn't in Berlin anymore, but rather in a Communist city from the 1980s. It felt like I was on a small overseas vacation. But in any case, I reached the end of the trail at some point, in Hönow, and yes, there is a metro station. I took the U5 from the very end, and slowly made my way back to West Berlin.