Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Stueckrath & Schnell Vacation: Potsdam

I would never have known a thing about the town of Potsdam if it hadn't been for Rick Steves' 'Best of Germany 2013' (reason #560347 for why I love Rick Steves), and since we were saving most of Berlin's major sights for when we went back with the Stueckrath family, we decided to spend the day in Potsdam, just outside of Berlin, strolling around the Sanssouci Park and touring a bunch of palaces.  You can't go wrong with Rick Steves, or palaces, so I was excited!

I am sure the Prussian history of Potsdam is interesting, a city full of palaces must have an interesting history of some sort, I just haven't had the time...or desire, if I'm being completely honest...to research it.  I can't tell you why to visit Potsdam, just that if you did, I don't think you'd be disappointed!  

I'll just shut up and show you the pictures.



First, the historic mill of Sanssouci!  Isabelle loves museums, and especially interactive museums.  She's a hands-on learner and if you put her in an interactive museum she'll stay busy alllllll day!  I really love that about her little spirit.






The historic mill was in the backyard of the Sanssouci Palace, which then led to the Sanssouci Park, so we spent the rest of the day just walking.... we couldn't walk more than a block in any direction of this park without seeing a gorgeous palace!

The Sanssouci Palace: The summer home of Frederick the Great.





So we kept walking and then all of a sudden I saw the Orangerie Palace to my right:  MY FAVORITE!  Ohmigosh!  I saw this palace while we made our way to the New Palace and fell in love!  Just ask Isabelle, she was cracking up at my reaction... I wish y'all could see the Orangerie Palace!



This was my first glimpse of the Orangerie Palace from the middle of the Sanssouci Park we were walking in.  Isn't it stunning?!  If I had all the money in the world I'm not sure I'd build a house like this to live in though, even though I think it is probably the most gorgeous home I've ever seen.  It's too big to actually live in, you know?  But ohmigosh, I thought this place was just incredible!

Alright, so I'm just rambling....



I swear these pictures just don't do it justice!  From where I'm standing I couldn't believe how beautiful it was! 




We eventually made our way to the New Palace.  Eric's brand new shoes (which are super cute and stylish, and looked SO great with all of his new birthday clothes- but don't tell him I told you that because he doesn't think he's stylish and he'd role his eyes at me if I told him his shoes were "cute"), were killing his feet, and he was getting a little grumpy with all of the walking we were doing.  I had no sympathy for him whatsoever... welcome to my world, buddy- cute trumps pain!  Anyway, we eventually made our way to the New Palace.





And then there was this palace across the street from the New Palace but I don't remember the name of it....






A full day of grand, opulent palaces, and get bored?  Impossible!  Buuut, my tummy did get hungry, and if it isn't my uterus, it's my tummy running the show.  So, it was time to leave the Sanssouci Park, and all of those palaces, and get some food.  We took the hop-on/hop-off bus to the Brandenburg Gate and walked down the market area where Isabelle found the pants she's been wanting (pictures of the pants to come in my Copenhagen blog, which will hopefully be posted in the next day or so) and we got salad's at a nice eatery (I can't remember the name of it) where the guy was SO nice and patient with us trying to figure out his menu!  But, all I've got pictures of are the Gate...sorry,y'all...my tummy was on a mission.




I'm sure you can tell that the weather had changed... fast!  It was late afternoon by this point and the weather wasn't where we wanted to be outside anymore, plus I had gotten lots of pictures!  So after a great lunch and a great day, we headed back to our hotel in Berlin so that I could re-pack our suitcases for Denmark in the morning!  Aaaand the Stueckrath family were on their way to Berlin!! The Steuckrath's + Denmark... we were excited!!  *Stay tuned!!*

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