Potsdam

We were all up sharp as we were getting the train to Potsdam via Alexander Platz where Mirjam would join us. The train journey was uneventful, though the train was busy, but it didn't seem long before we arrived. It was very overcast, slightly drizzly rain and quite cold, Anne was cold so I gave her my Rohan body warmer, which I had fortunately put in my daypack.

Potsdam is a very beautiful place, apparently apartments here are much sought after although very expensive. Apparently a billionaire who grew up here has been rebuilding the town in all its 18th Century European glory, and to me it looks like money well spent. We wandered around the main square and went into the Church of St Nicolas, it was very beautiful but the interior was more reminiscent of a Greek temple than a church.

Wandering onward we found ourselves in the area known as Holländerhäuser (“Dutch houses”). Designed by architect Jan Bouman between 1734 and 1743, they were built for Dutch immigrants an comprise the largest exclusively Dutch housing development outside the Netherlands. It was like looking at Amsterdam, the buildings were all very well preserved considering their age, and as we walked around I noticed there were quite a few arts and crafts shops, galleries, antique dealers and cafés, a pub called the Flying Dutchman of course, and hilariously a House for fallen women.

From there we went to Sanssouci park, it was enormous and contained no less than 5 palaces all built by the Prussian King Frederick II as a summer palace. It was very beautiful and a powerful reminder of the inequalities that have always plagued humanity. The wealth and power necessary to construct a place like this is difficult to contemplate, but in its own way no different from the extravagant lifestyles of billionaires today.

We walked for quite a while around the park, but eventually we were getting hungry so headed back into town, on the way we passed a fantastic residents street market than went on block after block. It was a good example of the second-hand, use and re-use culture in Berlin. We settled on a Georgian restaurant (a first for me), the food was very good and not expensive.

We caught the train back to Berlin and returned to the apartment, tired but happy. Since the leftovers were no longer left over, we decided to go out for dinner, and there was a small Italian restaurant just 5 mins walk away. Despite a mix up with Anita's order, the food and service were excellent, and again, not expensive. The rest of the evening was spent in pleasant conversion in the apartment. Anne was able to confirm that the owner was happy for me to stay in the apartment until mid-afternoon.

It had been a fantastic week, but it had passed all too quickly and tomorrow we would all be saying our goodbyes once again, I didn't want to think too much about that, and so I was off to bed.Read more