My day trip to Potsdam, however, did not run so smoothly.
The first problem was that the stop I needed to catch the train to Potsdam from - the station near the zoo - was being renovated. Seriously renovated. They'd closed off a huge chunk of the station, including most of the access points to the platforms, and they'd also taken down/turned off the electronic boards that give you arrival/departure information. So, me - unfamiliar with the layout - got off the metro and had no idea where to go. First train missed.
After doing a few laps of the increased distance (you now had to walk about three times as far as you otherwise would) working out where I had to go, I then realised that they'd also taken out any of the ticket machines on the train platforms - and I wasn't prepared to risk getting done for fare evasion, so off I trudged back the triple-the-normal distance to get one at the metro platform. A second train missed.
Eventually I was on the right platform with a ticket when a train going in the right direction left for Potsdam arrived. I was already in a fairly foul mood; this had cost me nearly an hour - a big chunk of time given that a) the weather was currently great but forecast to go bad later in the day, and b) there's a lot to do there and not that many hours in which to do it. My plan had been to get to Potsdam itself by 9.30 and be at my first stop - Schloss Sanssouci - when it opened at 10am.
So I was well behind when I arrived at Potsdam - but it only got worse from there as I left the station to look for either a tram or a bus to catch to where I needed to go; Sanssouci Park is a bit out of town, and too far to walk, particularly when you're pressed for time.
Now, what's the first thing you need to do to catch public transport? Get a ticket. Well, that's easy; just find a ticket machine. So, I searched the bus platforms. Nothing. Searched the tram platforms. Nope. Went back inside the station itself. Nada. What the actual fuck was going on?
Desperate, I found the tourist information office and got lucky - they said could buy a day trip ticket from them; after that I didn't really care all that much where else you might find them. They also told me the ticket I'd bought to get to Potsdam was the wrong one - I don't really know why; I did exactly what the machine told me to do - and sold me the one I needed to get home with. So at least that was sorted and I wouldn't have to worry about it later in the day.
Now I had my ticket, I consulted Google as to which bus to catch and where to catch it, and duly trudged to the platform to wait. I check every bus number that appeared at my platform; none of them were the one Google said I needed and was coming. After it appeared that I missed the one I needed to catch I went to look at the other platforms; lo and behold: they'd changed the platform my bus was leaving from. They put a sign at the platform they shifted it to BUT NOT THE FUCKING PLATFORM THEY'D SHIFTED IT FROM.
I was extremely close to calling the whole thing off and getting on a train and going back to Berlin. But I didn't. I pressed on, and when the bus I needed finally arrived, I got on it so I could go see Sanssouci Park.
Oh, and I found out why there aren't ticket machines around the platforms - because they machines on the damn buses/trams. The irony; if I'd been prepared to fare evade I'd have found that out.
This? This is a arrival/departure board. It's what the zoo station didn't have.
So, yeah. It's a staggeringly beautiful place. This helped my mood somewhat.
The brownish swan is, as I understand, an adolescent. They go pure white when they are adults.
They have a windmill. I didn't have time to see it properly, unfortunately.
As I've seen before, it was apparently fashionable amongst the European nobility/royalty to build things in a Chinese or Japanese style. This is the Chinese House.
The New Palace.
I went inside. They had all of about 12 lockers to put backpacks in; they of course were all full. So, I had to put mine on the wrong way round, which I hate. Asshats. That aside, it's quite an impressive stately home.
I've seen some impressive things in these sorts of places over the years, but this floor has to be up there. Bear in mind that a) this is marble, and b) it's on the second floor with very little support in terms of columns (the king wanted it that way). The audio guide went into some detail about how problematic it's been over the years, having had to constantly be repaired/replaced.
Back outside. There are other buildings around the place as well.
I'd gotten an allocated slot for my tour of the Sanssouci Palace, so in I went.
It wasn't terribly big, or significantly different from other such palaces - but it was nice to see.
I caught the bus back into town to see what else I could find.
Potsdam has a bridge, the Glienicke Bridge, which was part of the border between East and West Germany when they were divided. It's the bridge that the movie 'Bridge of Spies' refers to. It's a bit out of town so I caught the tram to go see it.
Back into town again. I decided to go wandering.
Saw a man with a husker.
Randomly came across a Russian Orthodox church.
Something called Belvedere on the Pfingstberg.
Saw a squirrel, so I had to chase it.
About as good a shot as I got.
Back into town.
Potsdam has its own Brandenburg Gate. It's a bit smaller.
Dinner at Das Wiener.
Currywurst for the last time.
Paying for the bathroom - yes, that's a thing in Europe, pretty much every country I've been to - is extremely high-tech at the Potsdam train station.
The day ended a lot better than it started, though I can't help but think of how much more I'd have enjoyed it if my journey there hadn't been so shit.
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