Big day for me going off to Potsdam. It was something of an undertaking on a freezing cold morning with ice all over everything. Bus, train and then find the right bus to get you within cooee of Sans Soucci. I did it but then had a bit of time to kill because entry was timed and there was no way you were going to get in before your time. Mine was 11.20. So I wandered the gardens until my time and then in I went with my ‘group’. Well really it was hilarious. Those of you who’ve been there will know. You get assigned your own ‘Officer’ who takes you into a room and shuts the door behind you. She then patrolled for anyone taking illicit photos i.e. not having paid the extra to allow you to take photos. I hadn’t paid that and there is no way on earth I would have tried to sneak one (as I do in most places) some did and were immediately spotted and publicly humiliated. Then the door was opened and we were ushered into the next room and the door closed. We all had audio guides in the language of our choice so it was a very weird and isolating experience. Notwithstanding the palace sure is impressive. On the way in I had asked for a map and the man at the information desk said ‘WHY?’. It was actually so funny that I burst out laughing…oh no reason, just thought it might be useful!! So when I finished my tour of Sans Souci I had no idea in which direction to head to get to the next sight.
LPG helped a bit and off I headed for the 2 km walk to Neues Palais via the Chinesisches Haus (chinese House) and Schross Charlottenhof which added at least another km. But the bummer here is that it is winter and although your ticket includes all the Palaces etc in Sans Souci Park, they are mostly closed from the end of October. So it was look from the outside only. There are great art collections in places like the Bildergalerie and many others but no go in Nov. Still I have to say I couldn’t have taken in much more, the other side to that is that by 3pm you are an icicle and its starting to feel as if the day’s over. So I got to Neues Palais. It was also really fabulous and again a guide takes you through. This one was better if you are German speaking because she actually conducted a tour. But I got a boring old audio guide in English and had to endure the rest of the group laughing heartily and enjoying themselves.
Just back for a minute to the walk between the palaces. It was probably the nicest part of the day. The sun shone between 1pm and 2pm and you actually felt your bones thawing while walking through this magnificent parkland. The waterways were all frozen over and the grass was white with frost and didn’t thaw all day.
So finished Neues Palais..where does the bus leave from? How do I get myself back to the train station? To cut a long story short I figured it all out and got myself back. But I hadn’t eaten all day. It was 5pm and pitch black. So I took myself back to my Italian friends at the end of my street. It was warm, I had a hot meal and a glass of wine and finally completed the trip home. Phew!! A big day. And I barely scratched the surface of Potsdam, it definitely deserves 2 days, the town itself deserves a good potter, but I don’t think it’s going to get it from me. See below for confirmation of frozen canals and frost everywhere. By the way Friederich was crazy for vines…they are everywhere…inside (in the elaborate stucco and outside surrounding Sans Souci.
