Sans souci (without worries)
(Looking up at the Palace at Sanssouci: Potsdam, Germany)
Whilst in Germany last month, I finally visited Potsdam for more reason than a trip to view the facilities at the film school there. That’s what I did the last time I was in Berlin – it was minus twenty degrees celsius and I had to keep moving constantly in order not to seize up. It appears to be a town stuffed full of imperial German monuments and palaces, not least of which is the arresting Sanssouci that you can see a portion of here. Ying and I spent a diverting afternoon in the grounds, complete with purpose built ponds and follies; Ying thought I was joking when I mentioned they were built in the last couple of centuries to look ancient. However, when we noticed that one of them consisted of three huge Romanesque pillars, built in brick and coated in plaster, they were slightly less believable as antiquities.
What you can see behind this alabaster white nude is the palace itself and nestling beneath it, terraces of grape vines. More odd was the full size, apparently fully functional windmill that we discovered to the left of the palace. Further into the grounds we found what to all intents and purposes is a coliseum type affair. There was a deep pool in the centre of it, covered in pondweed and dripping with ducks of all descriptions. The whole area is quite otherworldly; we were especially lucky to have such glorious sunshine in Berlin, but particularly here at Sanssouci – it made everything radiant.
– Today Rosie is travelling northwards from southern to northern England, UK –
