Anyway, decided to take Beast (the car) to Potsdam; which is about 30 kms from Berlin. It was a fairly easy drive...BR is in charge of Beast and I navigate and keep BR on the correct side of the road...a perfect combination. Found a parking station and set about exploring key sites in the area. Started at old Market Square which was bordered by St Nicholas Church, the Old Town Hall Building and what looked to be other municipal buildings. The buildings copped a lot of damage during the war but the obelisk out the front has been there since the mid 1750s. As we were leaving we saw a very appropriate plaque set in a rock. See the photo for the inscription.
Continuing up the road we passed a very old looking Catholic Church and in their grounds was a market with an array of goods...food, fruit and veggies, leather goods, crocheted items etc. After 6 years of travel and many adventures later I retired the pink Phuket hat and BR bought me a straw one. Also had a yummy German sausage in a roll...who can't resist a BBQ sausage?
Headed on to the Dutch Quarter to see the famous red brick houses built around 1740 by Dutch craftsmen. It is supposed to be the largest collection of old Dutch style homes outside the Netherlands. They were really cute with their gables and shuttered windows. Wandered through the mall back to the car and drove to Sanssouci Park which houses a number of castles, churches and gardens. Most of the palaces were shut today...except for the New Palace. Began by walking through The Church of Peace...it was very open, with corridors, arches, statues, fountains etc. Really lovely. Then on to the pump house...which also looked like a palace...its function is to pump water to all the fountains etc in the park. It was powered by a giant windmill. As we continued to the New Palace...about another 1.5 kms at this point, I knew it would be a struggle. After going so well in Russia, my knee has not been good.,barely made it to the palace...many stops. The Palace however was magnificent...huge. Also undergoing renovations. Despite the fact that I could no longer walk, it had been worth the grind. There was no way I could make the 2.5 km walk back to the car so BR discovered that part of the buildings in the grounds were a university so I sat in the student cafe with a latte, whilst BR walked the 2.5 kms, found the car and then drove around and rescued me. New name today...Super Rick.
Drove home and after BR's nightly ritual of Camembert cheese, crackers and beer, we headed to a restaurant down the road. O MG...our dinners were huge...even BR did not finish. Drinking way too much beer...it's the only thing to quench your thirst. Back into Berlin tomorrow.
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