We are ready for the World Cup !

A day out in Berlin (Part II)

Yesterday was another fun day out in that fabulous city that is Berlin. A fun but long day (getting out of bed at 4.00am is never easy!).

Actually most of the day was spent out at Potsdam visiting Sanssouci park and the accompanying Schloss Sanssouci (literally translated as the "Palace of No Worries" - perfect for those Aussie visitors LOL). Potsdam, the capital of Brandenburg state, is not actually part of the city of Berlin, but at a distance of only 24km from the capital it is one of the most popular day trips from Berlin.

Most of the many sights in Potsdam were built in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the city was the residence of Prussian kings. During the reign of the "Soldier King" Friedrich William I, Potsdam became both a garrison city and a royal seat of the Prussian kingdom. His son Friedrich II built the famous Sanssouci palace and the Neues Palais (new palace) in the Sanssouci park.

Although Potsdam was heavily damaged by allied bombing in 1945, most of the palaces and "attractions" in the Sanssouci park remained unscathed. Attractions in inverted commas because some of the buildings scattered throughout the absolutely massive park are pretty tacky! The gardens themselves are beautiful, especially the impressive terraced vineyard leading up the hill to the palace. See below for a few photos to give you an idea.

We also managed to find a bit of Holland whilst in Potsdam! During the 18th century the city attracted a large number of foreigners. Some, like the French Huguenots or the Jewish community, were religious refugees. At some point, one third of the inhabitants were French. Others, like the Dutch, Flemish and Swiss, were attracted for their craftsmanship. For the Dutch immigrants, a settlement known as the "Holländisches Viertel" (Dutch quarter) was built. This area of the city is made up of 134 typical Dutch looking red brick houses, and is apparently very popular with tourists ;-)

And back in Berlin we paid a visit to Tempelhof Airport. Although ceasing operation back in 2008 Tempelhof was, back in 1936 when it openend, the biggest airport in the world (funnily enough accompanied by the world's smallest duty free shop!). It was also the world's first airport with an underground railway station, now called Platz der Lutfbrucke after the Berlin airlift. There is also a memorial at the entrance to the airport to the 39 British and 31 American pilots who lost their lives during the air lift operations between 24 June 1948 and 12 May 1949. During that period over 200,000 flights were flown, providing 13,000 tons of daily necessities to the people of Berlin living under the Soviet blockade.

Today the airport buildings are closed except for special events, but the runways and surrounding fields were opened to the public in early May as Berlin's largest public park, known as the Tempelhofer Feld; and between now and 2017 the city plans to spend an estimated EUR60 million on further developing the park. Must admit it was REALLY weird to wander out onto the old runways amongst the joggers and rollerbladers. Weird but also really cool !

Alli xxx