Wednesday, September 28, 2011 Berlin, Germany – Potsdam, Germany Bike Tour

We took a day trip to Potsdam which is about 25 kilometers from Berlin.  We took a train from Berlin to Potsdam then got bicycles and toured the gardens and palaces of Potsdam  about 16 kilometers with only a few gentle hills.and we also had lots of stops.  There are more than 20 palaces in Potsdam plus parks and gardens.  We didn’t see them all but you could spend some time if you wanted to see them all.  Also the WWII and Cold War meetings – the Potsdam Conference was held here in 1945.

     

They call it the Versailles of Berlin and it is about the same distance out of the city and an UNESCO World Heritage status. You can tell the Hohenzollern’s were in this area with the lavish gardens, parks and palaces

New Palace.  The largest built by Friedrick the Great for house guests.  How many friends did he have!!!!

  The Orangerie of the Sanssouci Park

        

 

   Old Windmill by the palace one of the few not destroyed in the war. They were used to grind grain.

Sanssouci Palace, the most famous of the Potsdam palaces.  The unique yellow color and at the top of Sanssouci Park it has a wonder view.  Frederick the Great new how to build palaces.

       gardens

  The grave stone of Frederick the Great

  The grave stone of Frederick the Great is with the graves of his 11 dogs.

  The swimming pool area for the palace

 

 

The Potsdams version of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin

  A communist statue

  The oldest of the City Gates in Potsdam

 

Swiss houses in a section of Potsdam

Map layout of Cecilienhof Palace

Cecilienhof Palace – the meeting place for the 1945 Potdam Conference with President Truman, Joseph Stalin and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

  This part of the building looks like a face – windows - the eyes, the nose and mouth.

We got to tour inside but no pictures.  They were watching in every room.

  Edward with the red star of flowers with white flowers as the circle

     

Riding the bikes along the river.

Glienicke Bridge – famous for spy exchanges in the Cold War.  Also the exchange of  Gary Powers, U2 pilot.