So having said all of that, I must now go on and complete the tales of our Berlin trip.
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DAY 3!!!
So fair warning - another day, another bike tour. And yes, more photos of yours truly!
The day started not so well, with the first true clutz moment. I was getting out of the shower and there was a lip.... of course you can all see what happens next. I kick the lip so hard, bruising all 5 toes on my left foot, and slaming my body into the bathroom door. Hmmm, luckily, my foot was ok, and I was able to get on with the day.
So clearly we are gluttons for punishment. We jumped on a train with the Fat Tire crew again and headed out to the southwest of Berlin, to a place called Potsdam. It is a city of its own, but it was where the Prussian royals would go during the summer. Thus the whole place is full of palaces and the like. You can imagine that it was just beautiful!
So today Michael was riding Chemnitz.
I had St Basils Church!
We started riding through the central part of Potsdam and within minutes we were greeted by these buildings.
Again - Michael likes to show off his talent for multi-tasking on a bike!
The township itself was just pristine.
A smaller version of the Brandenburger tor for the locals of Potsdam.
We soon came across the first main Palace. This was Sanssouci and the terrace leading up to the palace itself was just as stunning as the building. The view was spectacular from hundreds of meters away as we rode our bikes towards it. We got glimpses of gold through the trees.
Above: The guy in the white shirt is Blakely, our tour guide for the day. He was just as awesome as Cairán and Derick.
Of course we had to prove we were there!
This was the asian temple in the palace gardens. It looked like a very strange addition to the palace but you know... what ever a royal wants, they will get!
This was the view from the top of the palace - above the terrace.
This palace belonged to Freidrick Wilhelm IV. He was a really popular ruler in his time (unlike his father before him) and to this day, people still place potatoes on his grave as a gift to him. Apparently this is a really nice thing to do! If you look closely, you will see some potatoes even tied in gold ribbon!
I played hide and seek in amongst the columns that are apparently all a part of the 'Rococo' style.
We then cycled past another of Wilhelm's palaces. This was used more for his guests when they came to visit.
And directly opposite, this was the housing for the cooks and such that serviced the red palace!
These statues were all originally from the palaces, but we couldn't tell if they were being permanently removed, or just being given a clean?
We then rode through a quaint Russian Village.
We came across a beautiful garden. Blakely told us that the garden had not been in bloom all year, and that this was the first weekend that all the flowers were out in full colour. And that they won't last more than a week.
And colourful it was!
Proof that I did get the camera occasionally!
We stopped for lunch at a lovely beer garden on the lake. Their local brew was delicious.
This was our view at lunch!
Michael was bike wrangling.
One of the last main sights we saw was Cecilienhof. This was the building most famous for playing home to the Potsdam Conference in 1945.
It was at this table that Stalin, Churchill and Truman sat to discuss the fallout from the war.
The three men in the room in 1945.
The gardens showed a very Stalin influence...
And off we went again!
(Michael wants me to add here that you all must acknowledge his skills here. Not only multitasking, but taking a photograph looking backwards while riding... he is so proud of himself!)
The Glienicke Bridge is known for its role in prisoner swaps during the war. It was a Checkpoint into East Berlin and thus was known for its Cold War Spy Exchanges.
We rode back to the train station through beautiful parklands, and spotted the occasional castle...
And other unique buildings.
After 20km of riding, we thought we deserved an ice cream!
Once we had returned to Berlin, we decided to hit the town for our last night, and have a really nice meal.
We had heard about this place - having a very Hansle and Gretel feel about it.
The decorations were ... unusual?
But boy did we enjoy the food and the beer/wine! Our entrè was a mixed plate of little things, including caramelised goats cheese, smoked salmon, smoked turkey, and other yummy tasters. We have never polished off a basket of bread so quickly and that goats cheese was something out of this world!
My main was a Berlin specialty, sort of like ravioli, but not. Michael had a meat dish that melted in your mouth. We walked away so happy and full. And my german was never questioned by the waitress. She heard us speaking english and tried to talk to us in English, but when I spoke to her in German, she was really impressed. I was happy.
So before we went to bed, we ventured out to Potsdammer Platz and Brandenburger Tor because we wanted to see these both by night.
We spotted more bits of the Berlin Wall.
I found another bear to hug!
The Tor was so beautiful at night!
And you could even see the asparagus through the tor!
Well, that's it for day 3. I will leave it there - and thus, leave you hanging (on the edge of your seats I'm sure) for what will be an exhilarating day 4!
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