It’s quiet. All I can hear is the sound of wind whizzing by my ears and the ticking of my rear hub as I coast along a paved path into the countryside. The lush greenery and forests flitting into my peripheral vision from either side of the mostly asphalted path, interlaced with occasional crushed limestone, trick me into thinking I’m hours away from the city.
But the fact is, I never left. In reality, I’m cycling along the scars of one of the most infamous, deadly paths created in the history of humankind. This is the Berliner Mauerweg or Berlin Wall Trail - a 100-mile path that traces the remains of what was once a heavily fortified military barrier that turned West Berlin into a political island for 28 years. Now, what remains of the purpose-built wall designed to prevent people escaping from East Berlin to the West during the Cold War is a veritable hidden gem right under the nose of anyone visiting the German capital.
