Potsdam - Perfectly Charming

Our exchange hosts told us we had to see Potsdam, especially the Sanssouci Park and Palace It was created in the mid 1700's by King Frederick to spice up the bored lives of Prussian royalty.  It is definitely a town and huge park for walking, so we waited for a beautiful sunny day.  Turns out Berlin's amazing S and U-bahn systems extend the 20km to Potsdam.  So we hopped on the S7 line and arrived there in about 45 minutes, no driving, no parking, no hassle.

Potsdam is  a perfectly charming little town, with its handsomely restored buildings

And it has in the old square some very nice buildings and an obelisk, which on a nice sunny day made for excessive picture taking

The dome of the above Nikolai-Kirche was very nice, if you like perfect symmetry.

Dome frescoe 

Almost everything looks to be under construction, under reconstruction or has just been finished.   We didn't get to see the Landtag, the City Palace, because it was totally masked for renovation. But the old Royal stables, now the Film Museum was all sparkly.

Park Sanssouci is vast, about a 40 minute walk end to end.  We spent about three and a half hours wandering around.  One begins by walking up a lovely tree lined road

passing the Peace Church 

A very serene place.

Further up the road you got your nice villa.

Bit just around the corner is the piece de resistance,

These landscaped terraces are really terrific, as are the statues that surround the fountain.

There was a lovely, I guess it is a gazebo to the right of the palace for the royals summertime dalliance. 

The place on a sunny day was showing its assets at their best.  

It certainly seems to fulfill King Frederick's need for a private residence where he could relax away from the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court. The palace's name emphasizes this; it is a French phrase (sans souci), "without concerns",or "carefree".  (We are sure the hard working subjects were happy knowing their King could relax properly.)

Other attractions in the park are the L'Orangerie

even better from below.

and the sun light provided this added cheap little thrill.

At the far end of the park is the new Sanssouci Palace. I guess these royals tired of a palace quickly, as it was built only 20 years after the old Palace.  Just tax the peasants a bit more and you can have another monument to your glory, and a tourist destination for generations to come.

Oops here is where Paul finds out his lens has been scratched.

Heading back we were in for another great site, Chinesisches Haus, below.

Heading back into town, slightly chilled from the cool winds, we were lucky to come across a cozy little cafe for tea, espresso and a nice cherry cake. The place was put together with a lot of care, antiques and little lamps with fringe. Very sweet. 

Back through town, we came across a startling sight.  Paul couldn't get his camera out in time  to get this mom from the front, but the rear view will give you an idea

She was in all black leather with her face covered by a white veil.; were we in Potsdam or SoHo? 

We were brought back to reality by the St Peter and Paul's Church -really impressive brick details as with many large older buildings.  Employment for lots of craftsmen.  .

Then back to our S-bahn train home and a very nice dinner at Noto (North of Torstrasse, everyone has their cute abbreviations); stand out dishes: cream of celery soup with suckling pig cheeks, and veal ribs.