Potsdam park
The grounds around Frederick the Great’s palace of Sans Souci are enormous. When we went to visit the park today it was ready for winter, with many statues protected by tidy matching grey sheds to prevent frost damage, flower beds empty and some lawns newly re-seeded. The vivid autumn autumn hues of the trees were beautiful, and it was lovely to walk along through the rustling leaves with a gentle fall of old leaves falling round us.
There are many interesting buildings as well as the palace: an ornate Chinese tea house, an enormous Orangery much of which is closed for repair for the next few years, a nineteenth century “Roman” baths, a windmill and various grand Italianate buildings.
Fredrick the Great’s tomb stone is a very simple affair, and someone had left potatoes on it, apparently something he was very keen on having introduced them to Prussia. Germans now have a lot of good potato recipes, potato restaurants, and the markets usually sell several different named varieties. (Our favourite is “Linda”.)
