About a week back I wrote about my terrible map reading skills. Yesterday, however, getting lost was not entirely my fault but Google Maps’. For the Bridges of Berlin series I prefer to seek out the more obscure bridges of the city (without getting arrested or into trouble) and they usually turn out to be worth the effort, provided a certain amount of research is done beforehand.
The Saatwinkler Steg, like a few other bridges in Berlin, is not of great historical significance, but it is interesting, has been planted (well, constructed) in an even more interesting location, and of all the bridges I have sought out thus far, the most difficult to find. According to the write-up, this bridge was along the Spandauer ship canal and Google Maps pointed to a particular spot. So off I went but there was no such bridge to be found where the map said it supposedly was. Looking up and down the canal gave me no further indication to such a bridge even existing in the area.
Out came the trusted mobile internet research again and I decided to approach this from a different angle. Aiming instead for the Canoe Sports Association of Berlin and the canoe water polo “field”, I ended up on the other side of the canal in Hasselhorst, amongst rows of quaint garden colonies. I knew that I was looking for a bridge open only to pedestrians and cyclists, so a certain amount of walking was involved, not to mention asking the sweaty cyclists peddling by.
Before long I ended up along a very idyllic part of the canal, with a few swimmers enjoying the water. Who could blame them? There was no traffic, no crowds, with only the occasional curse of lost cyclists who can’t figure out where to go next. Built in 1990, this bridge connects three long distance cycling routes: Berlin- Hamburg, Berlin-Schwerin-Luebeck, and Berlin-Copenhagen.
Was it worth getting lost? Always! Because along the way I ended up re-visiting my favourite bridge in Spandau, the Spandauer See Brücke, which I had previously photographed (and I still believe it is best appreciated by night).
FrogDiva Thoughts 