66 Seen Weg: the finish line

From Seddin to Potsdam

It’s my last day on the 66 lakes trail. There is a lot of stormy, rainy weather forecasted this week, but today is manageable. No rain, just a totally overcast sky that makes it feel a little muggy. To honor its name, the walk offers some final lakes to enjoy. From Seddin I walk on a pretty and enjoyable path through the quiet forest. At the Grosser Lienewitzsee I see some other people again, walking their dogs. Further in the forest I find the Caputher lake. There are several benches on the water’s edge and since my stomach started rumbling I picked one for a lunch stop.

The lake is right at the edge of the town Caputh. It’s not a big town, but it has a palace nevertheless. A quick detour takes me through the palace gardens and gives me a first look of the Templiner See, which is really quite big and continues all the way to Potsdam. I notice that I am in a popular area again. People are doing trips from Potsdam by bicycle and visit the palace. I continue through the town past the summer residence of Albert Einstein and then leave it all behind. I walk along the Templiner See and cross it over the railway bridge to walk on the other side of the lake.

I’m now at the edge of Potsdam and there are some training facilities for all kinds of sports. On the lake I hear the shouts of a rowing coach before I see the boats go by. On the track some kids are running. Further along there is a canoeing practise. The people that have joined me on the shared walking and biking trail are mainly elderly people enjoying some fresh air. After enjoying the lakeside for a while, the trail shoots off to the left, into the city. It finishes as it started, with a walk through the Sanssouci park, only now on the other side. Before I know it I reach the Brandenburger Tor. I give it a little pat, as a way to stress that I’ve finished.

When I started in Potsdam a month ago the city was in lockdown. The Brandenburg Gate stood at the end of a deserted shopping street. It was a sad and soulless image. Things have changed since then. Today the weather isn’t nearly as good, but the street is full of life. People sit on the terraces to have drinks, are enjoying ice cream and are running in and out of shops. It’s not “normal”, but at least people are out and about, not scared to live their lives anymore. And so I finish 420 kilometers of walking in brighter world and decide to join in and celebrate with some ice cream as well.