Berlin III

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Berlin - Day III



The sun is shining beautifully, it is a warm day. A perfect day to visit Potsdam, an independent city bordering Berlin. We decided to have a "Schloss" day - to see those several gorgeous castles in Potsdam and Berlin.


It tooks us an hour to get to Portdam from our hotel. We took the Berlin circular train to Schöneberg station and continued from there with train S1 to Wannsee. We had to switch in Wannsee to train S7 to get to Potsdam railways station.

Potsdam is the capital of Brandenburg with almost 140 000 inhabitants. It suffered badly during World War II when the Allies bombed the town's centre. Today Potsdam is one of the most interesting cities in Germany. It has the royal park of Sanssouci (287 ha / 700 acres) and palaces such as the Marmorpalais and Schloss Cecilienhof. Also the Neuer Garten and the historic area around the Rathaus are worth strolling around.


We walked from the railway station to the nearest tram stop and took the tram to near Park Sanssouci. We walked from northern part of the park towards Orangerie and Schloss Sanssouci. Orangerie is a Neo-Renaissance palace, the largest in the park. It was built in the mid-19th century to house foreign royalty and guests. Schloss Sanssouci has a beautifully terraced vineyard that creates a gorgeous approach to the castle. We sat by the waterfountain and had a little picnic - snacks, wine, fruits, and biscuits - with a magnificent view over to the castle and its vineyard.


After the break we walked through the park Sanssouci towards Neues Palais. There are a few smaller buildings in the park - Chinesisches Teehaus (The Chinese Tea House), Schloss Charlottenhof and Römische Bäder (The Roman baths) - that you can see while walking through the garten. We saw all of these buildings from outside but didn't go inside. Neues Palais was in the end of the main path through the park and looked magnificent in the sunlight. It is an imposing Baroque palace with a western facade entrance. Inside the palace there are hundreds of sculptures and more than 200 richly adorned rooms. It is one of Germany's most beautiful palaces.


Behind the Neues Palais there are a pair of two-storey pavilions linked by a semi-circular colonnade. This is the Communs. It was used for servants' quarter and the palace kitchens. Today the rectors' offices of the University of Potsdam are located in the Communs.


We were tired after walking so long time (the park is huge!!) and decided to start heading towards Potsdam railway station and Berlin city. Somehow the train trip back to Berlin seemed a lot shorter than the way to Potsdam! We stopped to have a Lammkuchen, a traditional German dish, near Schloss Charlottenburg. The castle was already closed so we couldn't visit it inside but we walked around it and through its garden. We followed the suggested walking path of our travel guide book and found the park quite beautiful. It had a Neo-Classical mausoleum that was built for Queen Luise. We walked to Belvedere, a summer house in the Schlosspark. It was a gorgeous three-storey building with light blue roof top. It served as a tea pavilion for Friedrich Wilhelm II and, in times of war, as a watchtower.


After walking so much we needed a drink. We had the drinks by the river Spree in Nikolaiviertel but were too tired to continue to Berlin night. Tired but very happy we headed towards our colorful hostel. What a day!

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Comments

[Kale]

Hi Hao !
Greetings from Beijing ! Here I am againg . Now supervise TETRA system for preOlympic Games. Olympic stadium " Bird's nest " very close. Very hot and dirty weather. Beijing is Beijing. Taste there " eisbein und sauerkraut " it is my favourite. Zuss ! Kale

[Axu]

Hello Beijing!
Great to hear from you!! You are far away from home again. Eisbein (knuckle of pork) yet to taste, sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) is good! Ilkka and Aulikki visiting me at the moment. Take care out there!! Assi