1 hour away- the Paradise

April and May are months of holidays and visits.
I enjoy both and, motivated by curious friends who come to see something new, I push myself to get out and do some tourist stuff.Last week I discovered the Gardens of Potsdam.
“Discovered” might be a bit of an exaggeration when referring to worldwide known UNESCO heritage.
I did finally seen for myself how beautiful and calm they can be now in May, as well as that they are just 1 hour away with the S-bahn.
Signing birds, blooming flowers, the sun, shade of the trees, decorative romantic architecture, fountains and palaces, all guarded by the sculpture of their creator, Kaiser Friedrich der Große.

I was so enchanted by the scenery that I forgot to take pictures, aside of few not very good ones.
Which is why I recommend this website .

The mystery of Berlin’s pink pipes

pipe: close up

While still not seeing any spring signs, I came to wonder for the 100 and 1st time, what are Berlin’s pink pipes for.

They are a landmark of it’s kind, with it’s size and bright pink color perfectly underlining Berlin’s post punk street-style.
Is it an art project?
Pink DDR”s memorial?
Well, no.

After doing a little research I found a more prozaic answer.

take a notice of the weather: 5th April and still some snow here and there!

Pink pipe with the Old Synagoge in the background

Apparently Berlin was built on top of the swamp. From that reason, everytime some new building is constructed, there’s lots of ground water pouring into foundations. The pipes are there to take this water out.
I think it’s awesome that they are pink! And also, that this subject was stirring some interest before.

The answer for my question and more, I found in a really nice blog “Vive Berlin”.

I also found some great pipe- photos and even a satellite- picture of the pink pipes resting in their “place of origin” on the website of a visual artist and a photographer Robert Herrmann. Cool stuff.