Potsdam

Yesterday we went to Potsdam. Potsdam is the capital of the state of Brandenburg and it is know for its castles and Palaces. It used to be the summer residence of the Prussian king and it is about 10 km west of Berlin. After a slow morning, we were still kind of sore from the Berlin day, we took the S-Bahn (a kind of commuter train, like the metro link) to Potsdam. There we went after a short hello to an old friend of mine, to the big castle gardens. They are beautiful with a lot of straight, tree lined alleys and little houses and palaces hidden in the green. The main castle is very famous for its terraced gardens and its majestic view. After a little picnic with view up to the castle, we climbed the 132 stairs up and enjoyed the view down in perfectly trimmed gardens. The castles name is Sans Souci - without worries - and once you stayed there and looked down the hill, you understand why.
After the castle we walked or better strolled to the huge gardens on hidden path without meeting anybody on our way.

In the late afternoon it started to rain and we had to buy some umbrellas otherwise we would have been totally soaked.

We meet again with my friend for dinner and went to the dutch quarter for food and a lot of good beer - Ted was extremely happy that they served his favorite brew, Orval, for less than half the price than back home.

It cooled down a lot after the rain and after the long hot day I was kind of chilly, but the train back was still hot and stuffy.

We were back at 11 pm and after some chatting with Holm we went to bed.

Today I was in the library, that unfortunately didnt open until 1pm, because of a staff meeting. While I spent the rest of my day working, Ted stayed home and played computer - but he deserves it after two days of walking, and sun and a lot of touristy stuff.

More later.