City-bound and reliant on trains, my pulse quickened when Kristina mentioned she had a friend's car and wondered if there was anywhere in Brandenburg I cared to explore? My mind darted in a thousand directions at first (Buckow, Gut Osgrosen, Schloss Marquardt and Rheinsberg, for a few). We ate olives and leafed through Zitty's atmospheric guide to the countryside surrounding Berlin before honing in on the lakes near Potsdam. The next day, we set off south.

Reflected light off the Schwielowsee dappled the veranda at the Fährhaus Caputh. I had lamb heaped with chanterelles, mopping up the gravy with the Wickelkloß  (buttery layers of steamed bread flecked with marjoram).

As we ate, we watched the tiny ferry (Tussy II !) ping back and forth across the lake. When we were done, we got into the car and drove aboard for the minute-long ride to Geltow.

They've been handweaving cloth at the Handweberei Henni Janesch-Zeymer since 1939. There's a museum with looms dating back a few centuries, a little shop with rainbows of dishcloths, and a summer cafe serving cake and coffee. We arrived just as they were closing, but we had a peek in the workshop and I plucked a few raspberries before we went back to the car.

I don't know what made us happier at the Foerster Stauden: the fragrant, overgrown flower garden surrounding the old country house, or the freezer full of tubs of Florida Eis (I choose chocolate and mint).

We ate our ice cream as we walked the grounds of Schloss Marquardt, then settled by the banks of the Schlänitzsee to warm ourselves in the sun. 

This dilapidated old manor house will surely become something very dull and very grand one day, replastered and painted in some lurid shade of peach (see mock-ups here) — unless someone stages a Chipperfield-style intervention. For now, the wedding parties, film crews and we all enjoy the grass growing through the roofs of the outbuildings.

When we left, the sky was going gold, and we reckoned it was time to head north. We made more stop before we found our way back to Berlin, but I'll tell you more about that in the next post.

 

Fährhaus Caputh, Straße der Einheit 88, 14548 Schwielowsee (map)

Open Jan-Feb Saturday & Sunday from 12pm to 8pm, daily March-Oct

Tel. 033/ 209 70203

Handweberei Henni Janesch-Zeymer 

Am Wasser 19, 14548 Schwielowsee OT Geltow (map)

Open Feb through Oct Tues-Sun; Nov through Dec Tues-Fri: 11am to 5pm 

Tel. 033/ 27 55 272

Foerster Stauden, Am Raubfang 6, 14469 Potsdam (map)

Spring to Autumn Mon-Sun 9am to 7pm & Sun 11am till 2pm

Tel. 0331/520 294

Schloss Marquardt, Hauptstraße 14, 14476 Marquardt (map)

Comments

[kristina - no penny for them]

what a perfect day it was - seeing your beautiful pictures of it takes me right back!

[multikulinaria]

I love that area near Potsdam, too. Did you also head into Caputh itself? There is a lovely small Schloss and a stylish restaurant by the lake.
If ever you want to explore the Southeastern part of Berlin, I'd happily show you around. I'm no driver, though. :-|

[schlachtplatte]

Thanks so much for this post! It came right in time as I had planned to rent a car to explore the surropundings of Berlin. I would have never found the café at the Weberei without you and actually also had to blog about it...
A year ago, I had been to the Fährhaus but didn't like their food at all. It tasted convenience, pre-cooked all the way to the potatoes. Did they have a change of owner? Another great place in that area is the barock café to the left of the entrance to Caputh castle. They have very decent home made cakes (nothing facy-schmancy though) and it is always a nice place to stop for a piece of cake when you take the boat from Potsdam to Caputh and back.