Nothing compares with the smell of spring in the air. Give me some rays of lights and a clear blue sky and I am instantly at the door ready to spend the rest of the day outside. In one of those days of the unusual early spring, we took a train to Kremmen, a relatively less known destination in the always surprising area of Brandenburg. In less than one hour we were at the train station, without too many people around, and in the middle of an old looking train station. At least, it was a colourful invitation to the bar.
Hopefully, there were a lot of arrows indicating the way to the main areas of interests and we took Berliner Chausee till the first stop: the Spargelhoff/Asparagus yard. I hardly knew what 'spargel' is till moving in Germany, except for the decorative plant with the same name. 'Spargel' is a national food, with various celebrations organized on the occasion of the first - and second, and third - degustation. As we are relatively out season, the area looked empty, except some accidental visitors (us included).
We made a little tour, had a surprised look at the big agricultural machines - the city girl doesn't have too many ideas what you can do with them - and tried to made a timid eye contact with the fury residents of the area, not yet ready for guests. 
Five minutes later, we were in the Scheunenviertel, a well preserved quarter of old peasant's houses - despite the frequent fires that affected it from time to time -, changed into location for different cultural and foodie attractions. It seems that here is the liveliest area of the little town, with many restaurants, coffees, dancing classes, art galleries and little antiques shops. Here is also a bar where the motor bikers area gathering, and we already noticed a couple of big metal machine monsters around. 
I preferred to stop at the Antiques shop, finding my way and the sense through the diverse pieces of furniture, from different stages of the history of interior design. 
The weather was so lovely that I didn't want to stop: we arrived at the central area Am Markt, with the small city hall, took the quiet street of Berliner Strasse, and after to Ruppiner strasse, where close to a war monument we saw a small barefoot path. Kremmen also has a spa/thermal center, closed till April.
Although Scheunenviertel offered a couple of foodie temptations, we decided to have a longer refuel stop at the former gingerbread factory - Zur alten Leibkuchen - for a coffee and more. The place looks a bit too crowded for me, with many reconverted pieces of furniture, but cozy and with a friendly service.
While we were planning the next stop while chewing the poppy seed cake - a bit too sweet, but lovely taste - and sipping the excellent coffee, one of the customers was reminding loudly his memories about the gingerbread factory as a kid. Somehow, knowing the local language always helps to get better travel stories.
With new energies, we were on the road again, direction Grosse Ziethen. The 5-km. walk is very easy, in the middle of a green scenery, with fields and farms. Accompanied by the birds returning back home the walk went faster and we enjoyed every breath of the new spring.
For those who dare to go farther by car or foot, there is a horse-back riding center, with beautiful horses getting ready for the high season.
At the end of the walk, there was a castle, Schloss Ziethen, nowadays an elegant hotel and restaurant. The garden is open to the public, and we continued our discovery of new spring signs. An art installation, by Janine von Thuengen, in the middle of the luxuriant garden, creates a certain feeling of unusual and unexpected.
But it was time to go back to our busy city life. The day was almost over but the spring air gave me more strength and an optimistic view for the rest of the season. When it's spring, I know that only good things can happen. If not sure, will take a new trip to Kremmen for the confirmation.
For more visual insights about Kremmen, have a look at the dedicated Pinterest board: http://www.pinterest.com/ilanaontheroad/kremmen/
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