So I said I’d write about something frivolous but, that is not quite correct. Maybe flamboyant is the right word. These events are not in chronological order because we were flitting about on the U-Bahn and S-Bahn and various buses and trams, and through the ages metaphorically too.
Firstly let me tell you that Lees mum (Linda who is reading and commenting on the blog) gave him some ideas of things to do/try. These included having Sanhe coffee, getting a photo with the Golden Angel, eating bratwurst and to smile in a photo!
Ok so far, no Sanhe Coffee but we did get sahne cream in a milkshake which was lovely and I could feel my arteries hardening as I drank it! Bratwurst sausage is everywhere although here there are many different sorts. So far Lee tried the bier bratwurst, I had another type with sauerkraut and finally today we got the Berliners favourite Currywurst, it’s a bratwurst sausage with a curry ketchup which was surprisingly good! He’s failing on the smiling for photo though hahaha!
Now to the flamboyant.
The Golden Angel, The Victory Columb sits in a traffic roundabout in the Tiergarten park. It towers over the park and can be seen at a distance from the Brandenburg Gate. The Angel is Victoria (Roman Goddess) a memorial to the victory of Prussia in the German-Danish War 1864, the German War 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War in 1870/71. You can climb the tower she stands on but, as Lee has all kinds of metal in one of his legs he didn’t feel it would be a good thing to climb 285 steps especially on a day of 27 degrees celsius.
I’m not kidding, while everyone in the UK is being battered by storm Lilian, Berlin is having a heatwave.
Further Flamboyance was found in Potsdam, a City on the edge of Berlin, separated by a forest and a bridge. We took the train and had a day to explore.
The city is over 1000 years old and known for its palaces, its lakes, and its overall historical and cultural significance. It includes the parks and palaces of Sanssouci, Germany’s largest World Heritage Site, as well as another 17 palaces all in a relatively small area.
Prussian Kings made it a pleasure ground and then later a military town.
In the second world war it was bombed but, it was also the place where the famous Potsdam Conference (9 weeks after Nazi surrender) was held in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17th to August 2nd 1945, where the three leading Allies planned the postwar peace. Present; General Secretary Joseph Stalin, Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee, and President Harry S. Truman. We didn’t visit the Cecilienhof Palace where the conference was held as I’ve been before.
Anyway we visited the Sanssouci Palace. On previous visits to the area I had tantalising glimpses of the tiered vineyard and gardens. Oh my goodness it’s absolute opulence. Built by Frederick the great ( there were a lot of Frederick’s) between 1745 and 1747 as his summer palace and dedicated to music and the arts it is a light a beautiful place. Apparently it was a place Frederick the Great escaped to to take his mind of war!
I would have liked to have spent more time in the gardens but that will wait for another visit I think as there is such a lot of it!
The Travelling Bee 