Today we did a Fat Tire bike tour of Potsdam. Much of Potsdam history is tied to Frederick, Son of Frederick, Frederick the Great, and etc., all of whom were Prussian. It was interesting, but not as compelling as the history recounted yesterday. Potsdam is a large city and is the home of Schloss Cecileinhos where the negotiations for the Potsdam Accords were conducted. The palace was named after Cecilie who was the wife of the last member of Germany's royal family, Crown Prince Wilhelm. They have the table where the Potsdam Accords were signed in the summer of 1945, which were the first step in the eventual partition of Germany, due to the laws of unintended consequences.
We had lunch at a delightful lake side restaurant, which used to be in the death zone. The wall ran along the lake on the Schloss side, and the lake had been fouled with construction debris and barbed wire. People who wanted to escape could not get across the water. The lake is well on its way to recovery.
We had a bodacious thunder shower of epic proportions on our way back to the train station. It was short lived, but we were all totally soaked.
Palace in Potsdam - Sans Souci. Where the royalty went to chill out from the rigors of kinging.
Rowers on the lake that was previously part of the death zone (or strip, as Jim keeps telling me) behind the Schloss.
The rhodies in Germany are magnificent.
Tomorrow we plan to go to a couple of museums. Friday we're out of here, heading for Dresden and hopefully better internet.
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