Arriving into Potsdam we were greeted by our youngest Warm Showers hosts to date, Elly and Thomas (they are our age). They very kindly invited us to join them for an impromptu BBQ and beers on the riverside with many of their lovely friends – which was a great introduction to this beautiful city. We had a fantastic evening chatting to everyone, enjoying the food and wine and we even felt a little wobbly on the short ride home!
The next day we set off on foot to explore the famous Sanssouci Park which is a spectacular place with a huge number of palaces and incredible architecture set in acres of parkland. The park was originally built around Schloss Sanssouci (Schloss means castle or palace in German) which is the former summer palace of Frederick the Great (the King of Prussia).
It was built between 1745 and 1747 and sits upon a terraced garden and vineyard with figs, plums and beautiful flowers, which makes for an attractive place to wander around and enjoy. The park is very large and it took several hours to make our way around it, taking in many of the follies and other Schlosses, such as Charlottenhof Castle and the Orangery. Eventually, the heat became too much and we left the park to walk into the town and get a delicious kebab (they had been recommended to us by our hosts) and an ice cream!
The town of Potsdam is pretty but cannot compare to Sanssouci Park and we decided to head to the nearby lake for a swim. We met Elly, Thomas and a few of their friends at the lake and it was a really lovely place to take a dip, surrounded by even more schlosses. The lake is called Heiliger See (meaning Holy Lake) therefore it is a good place to wash your soul clean of your misdemeanours and cool down too! It was clearly the place to be on a sunny afternoon as it was pretty busy.
After a very enjoyable day in Potsdam we wished our new friends farewell and set off on the short journey to the outskirts of Berlin where we were meeting an old friend we haven’t seen for a long while –Chris! Another Canadian, Chris moved to Berlin from London a few years ago and he and Andre were glad to be reunited! Chris took us to another beautiful lake where we went for another swim! The evening was warm even as the sun was setting and swimming in the lake was a great way to spend it.
We stayed with Chris and his partner Patricia over the next few days and spent it getting to meet and know their new son Julian who is only 5 months old and catching up in general. It was a lovely few days with delicious food and beer, lots of chatting and some fantastic coffee.
However, the peace was soon shattered when my two sisters arrived for a visit from England! Lianne and Nicole spent a few days in Berlin and it was great to see them and hang out.
We went picnicking and swimming at the lake, sightseeing around Berlin and sampling lots of the local culinary delights! One of the best things we did was a free walking tour, our guide was very knowledgeable and we learnt a lot about the city. I was happy to learn about some of the nicer parts of the city’s history as most of what I knew related to Hitler and the Nazi’s so it was great to hear about happier times too. It was a long tour and we all felt pretty weary by the end of it, thank goodness for the ice-coffee and teas that the girls bought (even if in doing so we almost missed the tour)!
Whilst in Berlin it was my youngest sister Nicole’s 21st birthday and we decided to celebrate in traditional German style at the oldest beer garden in the city – Prater, with a giant schnitzel, strudel and lots of wine and beer of course! The food was really delicious and the company was pretty good too! It wasn’t the usual get hammered and go to an all-night rave type of 21st birthday evening but I had a really great night and hope the girls both did too. The next day was Nicole’s actual birthday but also the day they were both leaving to fly back to England. We managed to squeeze in a smoked salmon breakfast and a dip in the lake (we even managed to get Lianne in for a swim briefly) accompanied by the finest Penny Mart Prosecco before they left for the airport. I was very sad to see them go, hopefully they will be able to fly out and join us somewhere else along our journey in the not so distant future.
Chris and Patricia very kindly put us up again for what was supposed to be one last night before we cycled out of Berlin towards Poland. However, the next day didn’t go as planned…. Our minor bike repairs resulted in Andre’s brake breaking and needing a new part to be repaired! This meant we needed to stay another night in Berlin before we could get Andre’s bike back on the road again. We did finally leave Berlin a day late but fully rested and bikes in tip-top shape. Our stay in Berlin was a week- long which is our longest stop so far but it was so lovely to spend time with friends and family, it is something we both miss and will miss more as the trip progresses I am sure.
So we bid a fond farewell to Germany but we are looking forward to heading further east and exploring Poland – a country neither of us have ever visited.
To see loads more photos of our time from Germany click HERE
LOVE seeing the mason girls on tour but I feel sad now because I am missing you xxx
Cool story bro ! ( loved it xxx)