Damn.... Potsdamn is gorgeous.

So on Friday (3/9), we had a program excursion out to Potsdam. It was insanely stressful, and exhausting, but ultimately well worth the trouble. My group was supposed to meet at 10:40, so I left for the train at 9:30, assuming that would be enough time. It wasn't. We had to take three trains to get to Potsdam, and randomly one made us get off, and transfer to another train to continue down along the same line. We didn't end up getting there until 10:50. There were even some people with us who were supposed to get there at 10:20. Needless to say, the 11:00 group was huge! We had to take two buses because we couldn't all fit on one! I was on the first bus, and we waited around for people outside of Rathaus Potsdam, which is gorgeous!

Outside the Train Station... so beautiful

Rathaus Potsdam

While we were waiting, we saw a couple who had just gotten married, and we cheered for them from across the road. She was incredibly preggers! Anyway, we made our way to another bus (this time we all fit!) and traveled down to Cecilienhof, where Truman, Churchill and Stalin had their Potsdam Conference in 1945. Cecilienhof is called a "schloss," or castle, but really, it just looks like a nice bed and breakfast.

Cecilienhof - twas boring.

It probably would have been more interesting if there hadn't been so much waiting around to see the place, or if we'd been told why this place was important before we got there. They charged 3 euro for pictures inside the "castle" and it was definitely not worth it. So no inside pictures, sorry!

After that, we made our way back to the downtown area of Potsdam and grabbed some lunch. We only had 10 minutes before we had to leave for our next Schloss, so I just grabbed a mozzarella baguette. It was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. It had mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar. Soooo good. I wish I'd gotten a picture or gotten the name of the cafe. Needless to say, I may find myself making my way back into Potsdam just for that sandwich!

Our next stop was Sanssouci, the palace of Friedrich II. It was his pleasure palace, and no women were allowed (I'll let you draw your own conclusions on that...), but it was absolutely stunning! Again, no pictures of the inside, though this one may have been worth the 3 Euro. Here are a few pictures of the grounds:

The Garden was phenomenal. See what I mean about

Potsdam being beautiful?

The Castle. This one was way more castle-y than the last

Gorgeous windmill

The Courtyard from the street

It was all-in-all a good trip. A little stressful at times, but the beauty at Sanssouci, and that delicious sandwich made it completely worth it. After we got back, we had a welcome dinner with the entire program. The food was delicious, and free! Everyone dressed up a little, and we were all happy to be fed after such a long excursion! The next day, I checked out the flea markets with Liva, so look forward to a post all about that!

Oh, and on Friday morning I'll be headed to France for the week, so don't expect too many posts. There will be tons when I get back though!