Potsdam

The 18th of July we decided to go for a short trip to the city of Potsdam. We had tried to go there previously when Emily was in town but were thwarted by cold temperatures and rain thus making the trip quite brief. However, on the 18th, with sunny skies above we ventured out via subway to the well known residence of the Prussian royals as well as the location of the 1945 Potsdam Conference. Upon arriving, we walked to the primary location of the royal palaces-the large parks of Sanssouci and Charlottenhof. Schloss Sanssouci was the first place of visit for the two of us as we had read that it was one of the most popular locations to visit and should thus be seen earlier before the larger crowds of tourists arrived. This palace was the home of Frederick the Great and looked impressive sitting up on top of a large number of terraces. Behind the king's home was what appeared to be ruins of a medieval castle. However, we were told that these castle ruins were actually built for viewing from the palace and had never been of any particular function other than aesthetics. After touring this palace whose interior was as ornate as the exterior, we moved onto viewing of another palace. The 2nd location was the Orangerie. This building was built for Fredrick Wilhelm IV and supposedly has lots of Italian influences. There was even a room inside full of copies of Raphael paintings. Finally we toured the so called Neues Palais or "New Palace" which was built in the 18th century for Frederick II. This was our favorite site as the inside was beautiful-especially the "Marble Gallery". During the course of our few miles walk back to the train station we "enjoyed" some nice German rainfall. Apparently the Potsdam weather isn't a fan of us. However, it was fun to enjoy each others company under a number of well placed trees. After riding back to Berlin we found a restaurant very near our apartment that was quite good. It was a typical German biergarden in which Sarah had a good pizza margherita and Ryan had a currywurst mit pommes. The best part of the dinner (and possibly the day) was the desert of apfel strudel. Mmmmm....

At the local S-bahn station ready for our trip to Potsdam!

A beautiful woman in a beautiful park

Schloss Sanssouci sitting on top of the terraced vineyards

Looking down from into Park Sanssouci

With matching green outfits we toured the many palaces of Potsdam

This is a palace that I currently do not remember the name of

Here is the impressive Orangerie built in Italian style.

Here is the New Castle which we particularly enjoyed visiting. 

Ryan in front of the New Castle. The dark clouds behind him are nearly as intimidating as he is.

The happy couple after touring the New Castle and before getting rained on.