We hired bikes to explore Potsdam. Once it was the residence of Prussian Kings. If you’re in Berlin, it’s certainly worth to pay a visit. Plan at least a day to visit the parks, castles, villa’s and palace. You can easily go there from Berlin by subway (S-bahn S-7). There are 2 points where you can rent a bike: Griebnitzsee Station (S-7) Open from May 1 - October 31 weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekends from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. it's also possible to rent canoes or kayaks here Potsdam Main Station (S-7) Open from May 1 - September 30 weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekends from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Check the website for the prices (from € 8,50). Make a reservation for the weekends.

I always knew, that Potsdam was a quite important town, just few km from Berlin - it was residence town - there is a palais, a big park - but this facts knows everyone;)
I thought - it shoyuld be quite a big town (i mean - great buildings, large wide avenues and so on) - since it's almost like my city - but .... no, the city center - very cute - looks more like in a medium town - houses only of two floors make you feel to be in a relatively small town.
We parked the car in one of those small streets of the old town and went at a bar to have a coffe - it was about noon and so we enjoyed Milchkaffee - sitting outside - and looking the very few ppl walking. The second weird thing was there were very very few people on the streets - they all must have slept at that time still hahahaha.
But then we walked to the park and to the Palais Sanssouci - it seemed like the whole city were in the park hahahaha (kidding - there were many tourists, but also some bikers and joggers).
We visited the Sansouci an then headed to the Chinesisches Teehaus (Chinese Teahouse), which made this kind of great and weird imression - it was like u were in a different part of the world - and then i relized - how vain all the kings, princes and so on were! They let make such things while they nations were living in dirty holes;) tsk, tsk, tsk! But the place is really nice.

Then we visited the Palais Nouveau - ate something and get back to the town. We walked through the Holländisches Viertel (holland borrogh) -  straigh to the Nikolaikirche. Unfortunately the 'greatest' church was invisible - covered for restaurations and improvements - this huge building lets you hope for the great art works inside but is rather 'poor' like most of protestant churches. I was i bit dissapointed with this church, cuz we walked pretty long way to get there and see it. ;)
The neighbourhood of the Nikolaikirche is rather bad as well - commiblocks and similar awful buiding. This let us go back to the older part of the town, to the small nice streets.
Our way home was even better the the ride to Potsdam - we didn't stuck, didn't get into trobles just drove smooth to sweet Poland;)

Hello everybody,
We had a terrific day yesterday. We met up with Christian and Barbara (the good samaritans who invited us to wait in their garden for our Servas host) who wanted to show us around. This ended up being a real treat!

First we stopped to pick up their 1-year old boy from day-care, who promptly fell asleep in his car seat (awww...). Then we drove around awhile, with Christian and Barbara pointing out various fun things. The amount of history in a place like this is very different from home, where of course we are so young as a nation.  We stopped at a villa-like structure originally intended to be replica of an Italian summer palace somewhere, but was never completed. It is a remarkable place, and you can climb the tall tower to get a spectacular view of Potsdam with Berlin in the distance (pictures to come).

We stopped for lunch in a little bistro where we had great quiche and salads. Then we walked around a shopping district with a wide boulevard only for pedestrians, no cars. This took us to the Dutch quarter, where all the buildings were built in the style of Holland. Then back to the car to resume our tour, and we drove around for a while longer. The whole time we had expert guides in Christian and Barbara; the amount of history and stories they knew was just wonderful. I don't think we could do this for others in our home of Bloomington : )

We finished at their place, where their 4-year old daughter was playing with Grandma (Barbara's mother who is visiting them). We had coffee and cake at the traditional time of 4:00, and they were shocked to find we didn't do this in the US - it's the best part of the day to them. We talked for quite some time, enjoying sharing ideas and differences of culture. Barbara and Christian love to practice their English. Eventually we decided to make Chicken Wild Rice soup for them. We went shopping for ingredients (our first time in a german grocery), and found that we would have to make some slight alterations to the recipe, but it turned out pretty well. The kids went to bed, but we stayed up until 2 am talking (which for Jenni is quite the feat). They also invited us to come back in September before we fly home from Berlin, and we hope that we are able to take them up on the offer. It was just simply a wonderful day all in all, and we feel we have made some great German friends!

Our only reservation: how can the rest of our trip live up to the precedent that was set so early? We feel we've just had what surely will be one of the highlights of the trip, so we just hope it isn't all downhill from here ; )

til next time

We had a wonderful day yesterday. It was filled with a bit of excitement and nervousness, but turned out great.

When we got to the Servas house where we had arranged to stay and rang the bell, no one answered. We were not sure what to do, having walked a little over a mile from the train station with our 25lb or so packs on, and not knowing where to go and not having a phone. We waited for a little while until a man pushing a baby carriage walked by, and Jenni used her broken German to ask if he knew Herr Ulbrich (our Servas host). Obviously the German was a little too broken, because Christian switched to English, and said that we could come and wait in his garden until Herr Ulbrich got home.

So we went to Christian's house, and he brought us out water and offered us lunch, then brought his wife and daughter out to meet us and sit in the garden with us. Christian and Barbara both learned English in school and were excited for the opportunity to use it. Their daughter Fredericka didn't speak english (she's 4) but we were able to say a couple of things to her in German. Chrisitan called Herr Ulbrich (Uwe) and arranged for him to come and get us when he got home.

Our Servas host's name is Uwe Ulbrich and he lives in a suburb-like part of Potsdam. He has visited Minnesota a number of times, particularly Duluth, and speaks fantastic English. For dinner last night he made a wonderful spaghetti carbonara, and then we went for a bike ride. We saw a bunch of sites where the Wall was (Potsdam was essentially part of Berlin with a east-west division), and got to hear about how it was like. Uwe lived here when this area was part of East Berlin,  and he told us about his job and life in that time. It is really interesting to hear about the Wall from an East-Berlin perspective. Along the river is a house that President Truman stayed at during the Potsdam Conference. This house is the site from which he signed the directive authorizing the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (a sobering sight).

This whole area is teaming with bicycle riders. It is pretty flat and makes for an easy ride, and has many fantastic sites to see. In addition to the war and Wall memorial type things, there are many castles, historical houses, even different types of pavement that make it so much different than home.  We are really enjoying the peaceful-ness of the area here (compared to Berlin which was bustling around the clock).

Today we are planning on meeting up with Christian and Barbara who also want to show us around. We won't complain about that; we're tickled at having met these strangers who were so nice and eager to help us and get to know us. 

Til next time.

Wederom hadden we de wekker gezet om 7.30 uur en 3 kwartier later zaten we al aan de ontbijttafel. Het gaf ons weer een stevige basis voor de dag die komen zou.

Een uurtje later rekenden we af en vertrokken we met Jeanne achter het stuur. Eerst reden we naar Potsdam naar een winkelcentrum waar ik nog even naar de flappentapper ging en ook nog wat in een fotozaak moest halen. Daarna was ik helemaal klaar voor de komende dag.

Rond een uur of tien zetten we de auto op een parkeerterrein naast park Sanssouci. Hier zouden we de nodige uren blijven. Het eerste slot dat we bezochten was het Neues Palais. Hier hebben we op sloffen (ter bescherming van de vloeren) heerlijk rondgelopen en gekeken. Het hele complex staat tegenwoordig onder bescherming van Unesco en er moet nog een hoop gebeuren voordat alles weer echt netjes is maar er wordt hard aan gewerkt. Je zag de verschillen heel duidelijk.

Na een stukje door het park te hebben gelopen kwamen we bij Schloß Charlottenhof. Hier gingen we niet naar binnen maar liepen we alleen maar omheen.

Verder ging het via de Römische Bäder en het Chinesisches Haus naar het eigenlijke Schloß Sanssouci met de beroemde Weinbergterrassen.

Rond 12.45 uur namen we bij een kraampje een kom linzensoep die we ons goed lieten smaken. Zo konden we weer verder met de wandeling die weer langs de Orangerie liep

en uiteindelijk weer uitkwam bij het Neues Palais.

Today we checked out of our amazing Berlin Hotel, got the rental car, and headed southwest to Potsdam, just a little bit outside Berlin. One we were there we got lunch at the café, and waited forever! It took like an hour and a half to get our really easy food, it wasn’t even busy. Ahh well, the atmosphere was good. Anyway we went to Sans, Souci Park and saw the Schloss Sanssouci which belonged to Frederick II (or Frederick the Great) as well as his Neues Palais, the Chinesisches Haus, the Historische Muhle, the Orangerie, the Sizilianischer Garten and the Neue Kammern. It was a bit chilly, but it was still a really nice visit. I bet it would have been even cooler to see in the summer when all of the leaves and plants were in bloom, and the additional apartments were open. However, we did go inside the Sans, Souci palace and the Neues Palais. We didn’t get to see all of Sans, Souci, because the additional apartments are only open in the summer months, but I really liked the designs of the visitors’ apartments, they were elegant yet simplistic, and opened to the gardens with separate doors for the servants quarters and the closets which blended in perfectly to the walls. I didn’t really like the New Palace so much, mostly because it was all so much later (time period wise) and also because we had a German guide and an English sheet to read from, and it took REALLY long. The coolest room by far was the Grotto Room which had mosaic all over the place made of seashells and rocks and minerals and other things as though you were in an undersea grotto! We spent almost the whole day there, and then headed off down the road on what we thought was the road to Dresden. This was not the case. As you can tell, there is a lot of getting lost on my trips…hehehe. Anyway, we took the 10, which we were supposed to, but we took it in the wrong direction and didn’t realize it until after we had already circled Berlin on the entire north side. Let’s just say that our 2.5 hour drive to Dresden turned into a 5 hour trip, including stopping for dinner and trying to find the hotel. Tomorrow is Dresden and some sort of Silversomething Strasse…I dunno, but it’s supposed to be cool. Ciao for now!

I got up early this morning and met Skot, Jessica's new beau, for breakfast.  He had a sore throat, so was having hot tea with vinegar as a remedy.  It smelled horrid.  Hope it worked!  After a hearty breakfast, I was off to find my way to Potsdam.  I walked over by the Zoo again for a chance to see Knut, the polar bear cub, but the lines were huge and I decided to pass.  I was able to catch the S-Bahn train direct to Potsdam at the Zoo.  It was cheap -- 2.10 euros and a 35 minute trip.

Potsdam is West of Berlin and is where the Schloss Sans Souci (the Versailles of Germany) is located, and is also the place where Stalin, Truman and Churchill met to plan the occupation of Germany after World War II came to an end.  From the train station in Potsdam, I caught a bus to Sans Souci (the name means "without care" -- not sure why a German palace has a French name -- maybe something to do with French being the language of diplomacy).  Schloss Sans Souci was the palace of Freidrich the Great.  The grounds here are immense.  I walked for hours.  The palace itself is very ornate and filled with period furniture and art.  Immediately outside the Palace I found the tomb of Freidrich the Great.  Someone had left fresh roses on the tombstone along with potatoes.  Roses I get, but potatoes left me baffled.  I would not solve this mystery until another day!  The rear of the San Souci Palace has a huge set of steps down to a magnificent garden and grounds.  It has immaculate plantings, many statues, ponds, etc.  This was also once the Royal Hunting Grounds.

The Sans Souci is within a larger area known as the Prussian Palaces.  Various palaces and buildings are all over this area including the New Palace, the Oranagerie (for visiting royals),  Schloss Charlotenhof, the Chinese Haus, and the University of Potsdam.  It is very beautiful, and layed out  -- just a huge place to cover on foot!

After I finished touring the Prussian Palaces, I tried to walk to the Schloss Cecilienhof -- the site of the Potsdam Conference among the leaders of the Soviets, the British and the Americans.  It looked very close on the map, but it was not!  I was starving, and as I walked along, finally found a bier garten to stop and have some lunch.  It was delightful!  It was tucked away in a very green garden.  I had a blini -- a crepe with meat and onions inside topped with sour cream.  That and a glass of reisling, and I was ready to complete my walk to Cecilienhof!

Cecilienhof was the summer palace of Crown Prince Wilhelm and his wife, Cecile of Mecklenberg.  There is a fairly good representation of how Truman, Stalin and Churchill (and later, Atlee) met here to agree on how to carve up Germany and  Eastern Europe and how to deal with the issue of reparations for the war.  They seem to imply that Stalin got the best of Truman and Atlee, in that Roosevelt had died and Churchill was voted out of office -- and the two of them had the most experience in dealing with the War and Stalin.  I did get to see the table where the conference was held and the private quarters of each of the three leaders.  It's pretty eerie to see history up close and personal like that!

I caught a bus back to Potsdam Central and then the train back to the Zoo stop -- all pretty easy now that I have the hang of it!

Potsdam was possibly one of few major things left to see in the Berlin area, and I'm glad I've finally been there. It's a beautiful place, very up market and posh. The park in which Schloss Sansoussi lies, is absolutely massive, Micha and I almost got lost in it. Schloss Sansoussi itself is very impressive, it stands on top of a hill, with steps leading up to it, water features and lovely gardens.

We went to another Schloss, of which I can't remember the name. But it was a prime example of gothic architecture gone bonkers, it was massively overdone. There were statues literally, every metre, all the way around it. And that's a lot of statues, since it was massive.

The final thing we saw in the park was the Chinesches Tee Haus. Again, very overdone. Everything was green and golden, and I stepped over the fence to get a picture of me in its grounds without paying, which was perhaps a bit naughty.

At 1pm we had an optional excursion to POTSDAM to see SANSSOUCI PALACE and CECILIENHOF PALACE. And see was what we did in the front and back of Sanssouci. What a damn disappointment. Excuse my English. Evidently when our pamphlets stated SEE it must mean from the outside and VISIT must mean an inside tour. We had a nice guide but we thought we were to go inside but we only walked around the front and back of the grounds.  Southwest of Berlin, Prussian kings lived here and so there are a few palaces in this area. We SAW Sanssouci, also known as Schloss Sanssouci first which is a long, one story building and yellow in color. Being built in the 1740's, it was  the summer home of Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia. We saw the colonnades, gazebos, grave of Frederick and his hunting dogs and the terrace gardens.
Next we visited Cecilienhof Palace, also known as Schloss Cecilienhof which was built between 1913 and 1917 for Crown Prince Wilhelm. The Potsdam conference also took place here in July, 1945. To me, the outside looked like what I imagined a palace in Germany to look like; shades of tan and brown trimmed in black. The interior courtyard had red flowers shaped like a star. Inside we got to tour 9 rooms, including the room where the conference between Stalin, Churchill and Truman took place. Now the palace is a hotel and restaurant. On the grounds, there was a pretty windmill that was reconstructed by Friedrich Wilhelm II in 1791. We got back into Berlin around 5pm where we had dinner at our hotel. My meal of pork and potatoes in cream sauce was pretty good and just under 12 euros. An early night for us as we had a wakeup call for 0600.

Total BR fee for the day- 1.5 euros
Falls/trips/stumbles- NONE!