Day 23 - Thursday, August 22nd Berlin & Potsdam

Thom wanted to show me Potsdam which is located southwest of Berlin and located in the state of Brandenburg. If you are a fan of history you will know that is where the victorious Allies met at the conclusion of WWII to decide on the future of Deutschland, less what the Russians were going to decide was their spoils. Of course, the Russians created East Germany and East Berlin.

Another beautiful day; sunny and warm. We walk over to the local tram stop which means you walk out into the middle of the street when the tram appears. You buy your ticket after you board from a ticket machine. The tickets are good for the trams, buses and trains within the city. Within Berlin, you have a choice of buses, trams, trains and bicycles.

Tram in Potsdam

Wanting to find a bathroom/washroom/toilet while in Deutschland? Here you go. WC stands in english for Water Closet, but the Germans use the english variation for the first letters in both words. I think the vast majority of people would figure it out....

As Thom predicted, it took about one hour to make it to the train station near Potsdam. We transfer from the tram to an S Bahn train for the majority of the journey. Thom has been to Potsdam a couple of times and done a guided walking tour. He has a lot of knowledge of this city and its history as he is a history buff. You don't actually arrive in Potsdam as you need to cross the river to be in Potsdam a short distance away. Apparently, during the Cold War captured spies were exchanged between the USSR and the USA. Gary Powers the U2 spy plane pilot is one example.

First stop is St. Nikolai Kirch (Church). It has been rebuilt on a number of occasions and most recently after 1945. 5 Euro each to climb the spiral staircase to get to the roof of the church. Not too difficult of a walk although you can get dizzy coming down. Interesting, that they have machines where you use your ticket to get access to the stairwell. This is to prevent you from being stopped from going up or down by other customers. Pretty smart machine as it won't let you enter until the stairwell is clear. The machine reads Bitte Warten = Please Wait. You get a green light when it reads your ticket and the stairwell is clear.

 St. Nikolai Church

View from the roof of St. Nikolai Kirch

Common sculptures in this area of faceless torsos.

We walk in the city and come across an area that is described as the Dutch Quarter. The largest collection of Dutch buildings outside of Holland. These red brick buildings were originally built in the 1700s and have been renovated since.

The most famous attraction in Potsdam is Schloss Sanssouci and its grounds that are gigantic. I think you know Schloss means Castle? It is a World Heritage Site since 1990. The original palace was built in the 1700s as a summer retreat for the King could relax and get away from Berlin. Sans souci means "without care" in French. I have been to Versailles and that blew me away. Schloss Sanssouci doesn't have its grandeur, but its grounds are beyond any scale imaginable. You could spend a couple of days of sheer walking to cover everywhere.  This is the link to a good site:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanssouci

We started at a corner of the estate that has the chapel. As you can see there are even swans in the pond. You can see the palace down one large boulevard in the distance from the chapel area, but it seems so far away. The estate has numerous other castles, fountains, lawns, ponds/pools, statues, hedges, fish in the ponds, trees, forests - get the picture? For each of the attractions around the estate they will charge an entrance fee. This massive property must cost a lot to maintain and renovate and the tourists flock here. At the Schloss Sanssouci itself there was a long lineup to get tickets to see the interior of the palace.

Swans on the pond.

Belltower at the Chapel.

 Schloss Sanssouci incredible trees and plants are behind the fountain and quite the impression on the viewer from a distance and up close. 

 Each of the trees/plants/bushes are protected like this and in the winter are closed up to protect from the cold weather.

 That sculpture on the lawn is a prize. The building in the background is another castle called Orangerie. Basically, they housed orange trees inside in pots and then brought the orange trees outside in the summer. 

Chinesisches (Chinese) Haus and yes that is gold. Apparently, the Chinese made quite the impression on the King in the 1700s. As well, they tried to copy their intricate porcelain. Inside, there was quite the collection of porcelain from China. You can't take pictures inside, unless you pay 3 Euro earlier and get a tag to wear. 

You might describe the estate as eclectic. Various styles and many different attractions all around the estate including a faux representation of Roman ruins in the distant:

Walked off the estate and into the city area to get some lunch. Stopped at Steinberger Restaurant under an umbrella in the shade. 

 Local specialities of the region which we ordered. 

 Yummy jellied pork knuckle! The potatoes were delicious. 

 Sausage board with delicious German mustard. German bread supplied as well. 

Schwartzbier (Black Beer) that Thom loves. I concur very good taste and no bitter after taste. Even come with their own glasses.

In Deutschland, Thom told me that when you are finished your plate in a restaurant, you indicate you are finished by crossing the fork and the knive over each other. Of course, you always need to ask for the bill. There are various ways to do this and there is a German word for the bill as well. Can be frustrating, but their reasons are that they don't want to rush you.  

Next stop is Brandenburger Tor (Gate). Quite dramatic and stealing from Paris?

 Thom taking a picture.

Picture taken by Thom....as you can see it was sunny!

Walked down Brandenburger Strasse which is filled of course with tourists, restaurants, stores, tourist collectibles and shoppers. Almost every German town worth any size has this main street that they keep  as authentic as possible and take as much money from tourists as possible. You can't blame them as tourism is a major industry. 

Walked back to the train station to wait for the next S1 Bahn train to Berlin. 3.20 Euro for the one hour trip back inclusive of train and tram. In some parts of Germany, you need to validate the S and U Bahn train tickets with a smaller machine that time stamps the date and time. You have two hours from that time until it expires. The German transit system is the honour system in many places. You could take your chances, but if you don't validate your ticket and you get caught you are fined. We are on the S1 as of 3 pm. We reach Thom's apartment by 4:15 as we get out early and walk rather than catch the tram. 

Thom has German lessons three times each week. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights from 5 pm to 9:15 pm. He has advanced to Level A.2.2 so is doing very well. Most of the costs of the classroom are borne by the government as they are encouraging the immigrants to learn the German language and integrate better/get jobs. From his own pocket, Thom thinks it costs him about 1 Euro per hour. Quite a deal, but you have to take it seriously. You qualify to move up to the next level by passing a test before the class starts. German is a very difficult language to master, but Thom is focused on improving. He won't be back until around 10 pm tonight. Before he leaves he gives me a present. Wow, much appreciated as I am a big fan of Bayern München football team.

I complete the blog entry for yesterday. Do FaceTime with Lana and then Renée/Georgia given the wifi in Thom's apartment works so quickly. Then off to a restaurant located in the Rosenthaler Platz. I find a bar/restaurant serving German food. Sounds surprising that it is difficult to find German food in the city. The reason is that Berlin is so big, multi-cultural, multi-national and cosmopolitan that there are many ethnic restaurants catering to this population. Plus, the tourists of course.

I choose Fabisch as it is pretty much the only place with a German menu. Many locals and tourists in this very busy area of Berlin. To drink I have an organic raspberry-blackcurrant lemonade. For dinner I have a plate of Multaschen which originated with the Swabians (German grouping). It is like a German ravioli that can be filled with many things. In this case, it was filled with spinach. Definitely mediocre at best. I should have known, given there was only one other table eating dinner. ;-) On the other hand, I had a table looking at the street and behind open windows that had a fantastic cool breeze wafting in. Plus, playing American 60s and 70s music selections. 15 Euro for plate and the lemonade.

Thom lives across from a park. I decided to walk into the park. Still light out around 8 pm and plenty of people in the park. Many couples and friend groups sitting on the lawn soaking up the warm night with food and drinks. Pond in the centre. Some street people drinking and sleeping in their own smaller section of the park benches. Very relaxing in the green calm beside the busy and noisy city streets.

Good day and not too busy. Thom is back around 9:30 from his German lessons. Good discussion about how creative they are with the lessons using a number of methodologies and strategies to maximize learning of this difficult language. Getting late, yet still fairly warm tonight. My last full day in Berlin as tomorrow early night I am on a train to Hamburg.