~a fruit tree in winter~

January 17th, 2010

“I’m going to take you on The Walk of Boredom.” is how Alfonso introduced our miles of hiking through the snow among the conifers and betulaceae. What he meant was “You and I will create new and splendid memories of one of the more dreaded walks of my childhood.” And so we did. We’ve seen the Grunewald in autumn, and we will return in spring. Until then, here are some wintery pictures for you, and a quote from Goethe to ponder, Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.

We saw deer, a pony-drawn sleigh, and had hot chocolate at Nikolskoe, a Gaststätte (log cabin) built in 1819. In the corner a large group celebrated a birthday with harmonica and singing: Hoch soll sie leben!/Hoch soll sie leben!/Dreimal hoch! (Long may she live!/Three cheers!)

Alas, the Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island) was inaccessible, as the Großer Wannsee lake was rather frozen. However, as dusk fell, the sounds of birds calling filled the pitch black night with utterly errie and comical sounds–like donkeys, cats, hyenas, and 14-year-old boys imitating all three. Listen.