After too much work and whirlwind we needed a weekend away. S cycled through the puddles, befriended the farm cat and did her best to go down a slide that had been engulfed by an apple tree.
I thought Brandenburg would let me pretend Berlin had never changed but the people in the garden cafe were speaking Spanish, English, Russian. It's not a bad thing, of course, but it surprised me.
We sat in the sun and pulled pears from the boughs above our heads. We ate Zwetschgen by the dozen, shared bowls of pumpkin soup and bought loaves of bread baked in a clay oven. When the bread went hard, we added milk, eggs and elderberries plucked by the lakeside, then baked the mixture for a nursery supper. It's so definitely autumn now.
On the last day, S shared her morning Milchreis with the cat. We said goodbye to the horses, then it was time to take the S-Bahn home. I'm dying to return soon with friends. Friends, will you come?
Biohof Ihlow, Ihlower Ring 14, Ihlow-Oberbarnim (map)
Tel. 033437 89789
it looks like such a magical place...
Posted by: kristina - no penny for them & mostly berlin | 18 September 2011 at 12:28 AM
Yes, friends will come. : ) It will be so strange to go from this heat to Autumn. Shock to the system. I have to buy Layla shoes!
Posted by: Suzy | 18 September 2011 at 10:16 AM
BTW, that first picture of S. It looks like you have clipped a photograph to the branches, so surreal.
Posted by: Suzy | 18 September 2011 at 10:18 AM
such a smile on s. :)
Posted by: jonquil | 18 September 2011 at 02:32 PM
Ja!!
Posted by: Luisa | 18 September 2011 at 08:02 PM
It seems like life is so chaotic and stressful- what a lovely and relaxing time that seems.
Posted by: G | 18 September 2011 at 10:30 PM
This looks wonderful! You should come visit us in the country sometime... maybe next summer when it´s less chaotic around here. It´s lovely in the south of Berlin as well!
Also, your new apartment looks great. Good bones from what I can judge!
Posted by: Katrin | 19 September 2011 at 11:56 AM
Kristina, you would love it, I think. The village has an enormous secondhand bookshop tucked into an old barn too!
Suzy & Luisa: Yay!
Jonquil, I took a whole series of her tossing apples down the slide, pulling branches down, etc. Happy day!
G, it seems to be the trick to staying sane!
Katrin, would love to. I've had a few daytrips to the Spreewald and always come away wanting to explore more.
Posted by: Berlin Reified | 19 September 2011 at 07:55 PM
Your weekend sounds and looks lovely. I don't usually get to discover places like that in Brandenburg since we have relatives there and we always head for their places, but that has its benefits too (see my own weekend report ;) This place sounds really magical.
Do you do yoga? My yoga teachers in Berlin have moved out to the Strausberg area and just opened a wonderful little yoga outpost between the Strausberg Nord station and the lake, in an lovely old brick building. They have yoga for kids, too! (and their own great kids). http://www.yoga-lotos.de/
A combined trip with yoga in Strausberg and a bookbarn-browse in Ihlow would be wonderful, no?
Posted by: Leslie | 21 September 2011 at 02:59 PM