From time to time, I try to change perspective, especially when I have enough of town, concrete and road views.
What most cities have in common is that one does not escape its very urban perspective - which is what I love about the city but the single point of view can narrow your mind. As the horizon is usually only a few blocks away, the only piece of nature is the carefully planted trees, which are no more than a decoration for the surrounding blocks of concrete. The piece of blue, if one takes the head up, is actually the sky, which one can scarcely perceive from the street perspective. Clouds fly by, as if they were color shards on a canvas.
Time to change perspective, best quickly, without too much of an effort, but over the top impressive. :)
In the west of Berlin waiting for this purpose is the Drachenberg (dragon´s mountain), the little brother of the somewhat more famous Teufelsberg (devil´s mountain), a huge pile of rubble from World War II. What hardly anyone knows: You can go up to the Drachenberg within a very short time. From the road it is only about 15 minutes and you are already standing on the hill - which does not really offer much on first sight. Some Children with their kites and couples (who fight the wind) having rolled out their picnic blankets. The reason-why is not waiting for long though.
Just open your eyes and free your city marked mind to have look around.
Standing on the hill, you get an unobstructed 360-degree view of Berlin and the neighboring Grunewald. Just like that. For free. I love to lose myself in the wide view, to follow the cloud formations or simply to marvel at the huge forest area, which seems to be so much bigger than the whole city nearby. The air is fresh and clear, as almost nowhere else so close to the city.
The effort? From the S-Bahn station Westkreuz you can take a quick trip, which takes no longer than two hours. Perfect view, fresh air. No big deal.