Stunning scenery on a walk through beech woods around 50km north of Berlin. Normally I'm a keen cyclist, but there are days when you just have to hoof it.
Grumsin Forest in the Uckermark region has just been awarded World Heritage status by the UN's cultural arm, giving the woods the same ranking as the Great Barrier Reef and the Grand Canyon.
The forest has an interesting history. Once the favoured hunting ground of the kings of Prussia, in the GDR years it was appropriated by the hated head of the Stasi secret police, Erich Mielke, as his own private backyard.
Two paths lead through the woods, which are otherwise out of bounds as a protected area. A promised guided tour never materialised on the day we visited, but we walked anyway, and only took one wrong turning.
The beeches are around 150 years old, mixed in with oak, pine and maple. 6,000 years ago 40% of Europe's land mass would have been covered with this type of forest.
Fallen trees are left in place to help revitalise the landscape for the enjoyment of generations yet to come. And needless to say, even today the woods are a photographer's dream.
