Berlin - April 6

My host took a day off work and we headed out to Potsdam (about 30 km out of Berlin) ~ it is also known as the Berlin Hollywood because of all the movies filmed in the area.  We got tied up in a traffic jam as police detoured vehicles over a large area for a bomb disposal.  We heard later on the news a 250 kg bomb from WWII was found in a residential area, requiring clearing the area while the specialists defused and disposed of the bomb.  Apparently it is not uncommon to still find bombs even 50 plus years after the war ended. Definitely an unexpected experience, and not on any tourist information.
We eventualy arrived at the magnificent palaces of Schloss Sanssouci (French for 'free of care' or as Siegfriend put it 'No Worries'). It was a summer home for the Prussian Kings with the first palace built in the mid-1700's for King Frederick (he is buried there with graves of his favorite dogs) 'without pomp and splendor' as the king had requested.  On his humble grave slab were raw potatoes, a reminder of his legacy. The story goes that he ordered the farmers to grow potatoes but they did not want to change their way of farming. So the king had fields planted and guards posted to protect the precious potatoes (though he told the guards to look the other way if 'thieves' came to steal the potatoes).  And the farmers did come and steal the king's potatoes and start growing them and they became a food staple.
Over the years additions to the palaces, more gardens, vineyards and new palaces turned Sanssouci into a huge complex...fountains, windmill, Oriental pavilion - so the visit involved a lot of walking and the steps up to the original palace finished off my legs.  We caught a public transit bus back to the parking lot and headed home.
The evening was highlighted by a 'Bavarian Feast'and of course the local beer.  The platter for two had enough meat for a week - crispy pork shank, wursts, roast, chicken, potatoes, cooked purple cabbage side and coleslaw plus...though we tried valiantly we could not eat it all and had a big doggy bag to take home.