Say It with Potsdam: Day 4

  Today was a special day. Today, we're going out of the city of Berlin, and into the neighbouring city of Potsdam. Potsdam is a 45 minute train ride away from Berlin, therefore we have to wake up extra early today.

 

The lovely and quiet city of Potsdam

  Potsdam was a huge change from the busy city of Berlin. There were way less cars, way less pedestrians, way less traffic in general. It was a very quiet town. 

  At first, we were wondering, why are we here? Potsdam is just like Berlin, but less "choices" (as Berlin is the capital of Germany), but then Dr. Buffinga brought us to a place in which Berlin does not have, and it was a truly amazing place. It was none other than, the Sanssouci palace. 

The palace entrance

  The Sanssouci palace was once the summer home of Frederick the Great. It was his go-to spot when he wants to avoid responsibilities and duties of the Berlin court, and relax. He usually holds party in this palace of his, and invite famous people of the time to his home, one of them would be the French philosopher, Voltaire. When he's not home (as in, not in the palace), it was sort-of opened for public. Basically, anyone who dressed well enough could enter the summer palace when he isn't present. (Even the king's quarters!)

  The entirety of the area consists of a few major buildings. There is the main building, the Sanssouci, the orangery, and the new palace. There is a huge garden separating all the buildings, making it a really long walk between all of the buildings.

A segment of the huge garden

  Dr. Buffinga briefly explained to us the thought process behind the architecture, and the gardening landscape of the garden. While English gardens strive for a more "natural" look, the Prussians went for symmetry. Almost every hedge, bush, tree, fountains, were symmetrical, as though that they were above nature and the Almighty.

  The past few days have been extremely hot. Now, our prayers have been answered, and a huge rain comes crashing down unto us. Like flowers to a midsummer's evening watering, we embraced the rain. We walked through the palace, soaked in sky juices, back to the train station. It was already almost 4pm by the time we reached the train station (we left our hostel at 9am), and we were all tired. The road (or rails) back to the hostel was a wet, tired, and joyful one. We shared stories on the train, a bit of banter here and there, some of us even took naps!

We reached our hostel, completely soaked. Despite our bodies completely wet, our humour is still dry. Why is the mushroom always invited to parties? Because he's a fun guy! Goodnight, as we all do our laundry, and probably have a very nice sleep tonight.

SOME PICTURES

Symmetry, in all it's glory