Amsterdam via Potsdam
Berlin doesn’t have this wet season called Spring. We moved from gray winter weather, to one week of schizophrenic weather that included sunshine, hail, wind, blizzards, flurries, rain, blue skies, etc., straight into Summer. Ha ha!
While this week marks a “cooling off”, the sun is still shining, the trees in the park across the street are full of bright new leaves and the expected high is a respectable 18C.
With this turn of weather, Josh and I are eager to explore other areas of Berlin. We braved Spandau in the cold, but it’s much nicer being able to explore without wondering when the next cocoa break will be. This weekend, we went to Potsdam.
The Chinese teahouse of Frederick the Great in Sanssouci Park.Potsdam is just 20 minutes outside of Berlin by train. We took our bikes, ready to explore the palaces that fill Sanssouci park. It’s there that Prussian King Frederick the Great had his summer palace, gilded Chinese tea house and final resting place. There is also the New Palace, Roman baths, and history galore. It was where French philosopher Voltaire acted as guest, but really was a spy and where Truman, Churchill and Stalin met after the Second World War to discuss the realignment of Europe and Germany’s future.
Sanssouci Palace, summer home of Frederick the Great.
The front “entrance” of Sannsouci Palace. We went for none of these great reasons. We loaded the basket on my bike with a blanket and snacks, ready to site see.
A peak into the Roman Baths. I don’t think anyone really baths here anymore though. The park was amazing, with grand palaces around every corner. While those are under constant restoration, there are smaller buildings that dot the park, the summer homes of nobility that still exist. Many of the buildings, including some that look like they were stables once, have been converted into apartments and people still live in Sanssouci park today.
The New Palace. We enjoyed our picnic in the sunshine, complete with a mini bottle of Prosecco from the gift shop of the New Palace.
Josh and the picnic goodies. Potsdam also has a massive Dutch community, and we happened to visit the city during its Tulip Festival. Among the row housing typical to Holland, people walked in clogs (yes! real people wearing wooden shoes!), eating cubes of Gouda cheese, poffertjes and fresh stroop waffles. Josh enjoyed his first and here’s a photo to make Mom/Vera jealous:
Fresh Stroop Waffles! It was delicious.
Men making real! Wooden! Shoes! and some kids obviously skeptic of their practicallity and comfort.True to its name, the streets were full of tulips and we picked some up to plant on our balcony. By the time we got back to Berlin, the sun had already set and we were exhausted from spending a long day in it.
Heading to the train station with a basket full of picnic wares and tulips. 
