Potsdam; Friday, 27 March, 2015

I’d stayed overnight at an airport hotel as it was going to be a relatively early flight, and I was very glad I did. When I got to the airport the queues were massive with long lines going to every set of desks. Clearly despite it still being term time until 3:30 a lot of children were either on inset days or off sick from school

Despite the queues I was through security within half an hour of arriving. The flight boarded on time and we pushed back just a couple of minutes late.

After an uneventful flight we landed into a bright and sunny Berlin. However, in the 10 minutes it took to get from the plane to the arrivals hall the weather had turned into a spectacular cloudburst which was soaking the city. Thankfully a covered walkway to the bus stop, and then a very quick leap onto the bus when it arrived ensured I stayed dry.

By the time the bus reached the city centre it was bright and sunny again. The bus terminated at Zoo station which was exactly where I needed to be to pick up the train out to Potsdam. Given it was a Friday and mid-afternoon I thought it might end up being quite a busy train, so rather than standing I invested in a €4 upgrade ticket which meant I could sit in 1st class. I was very glad I did as the train was already full and standing when it arrived and the platforms were pretty well packed with people waiting to join. In the end I only just got a seat in 1st class.

A smooth 20 minute journey late we pulled into Potsdam where I hopped onto a tram the couple of stops round to the hotel to checkin. After checking in I wandered across the road to the Alter Markt area to have a look around, including the stunning Nikolaikirche, the roof of which you can climb up onto for amazing views over the city.

Back down at street level with slightly aching knees I caught the tram round to the Hauptbhanhof to grab a very late lunch/reward for climbing, and then headed back into the centre of town.

I had a little bit of a wander in the fading daylight, found a nice restaurant and had a dinner little more than 90 minutes after lunch.

I then headed back to the hotel to rest my weary legs and get an early night ready for a long following day.