Berlin - Potsdam day 3 jan 2016

Today we are going to take the train to Potsdam , which is about 40 minutes on the "s" bahn line.  As usual its raining!!!!!!!    So its not going to be good to photograph the palaces and gardens unfortunately.
After a nice train ride through the German countryside we get off in Potsdam Haupibanhof.  and started walking towards the Brandenburger Tor , Yes another one!   lol     we have come across this....

Must go and have a closer look :)

           Looks like they are still building around this square , and it all appears newly renovated.

               And next door ,  this courtyard with a FLAT" 3 d looking dome :)   very strange

         Now we have found the Brandenburger Tor , much smaller than the main one Berlin centre.

 Walking down the main shopping rows , beautiful buildings, would look great on a sunny summers day i guess :)

                                                    Ooops  we are in another pastry shop :)

                                      Jan is at it Again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!      just cant keep her hands off   Lol

 

The Palaces and Gardens next,  its is getting very overcast and rain in the air .

The main Sanssouci Palace and Gardens look spectacular , but probably not today in these conditions.

Walking along the main  Hauptallee we come to the first fountain pool and formal gardens in front of a big palace.   all the statues are covered in wooden crates , there must be hundreds of them in this park!!!!!!!!!

 

 The Palace of Schloss Sanssouci INFO HERE

 

                                   The terraced vineyards lead up to the single level Palace

Spectacular even in the rain!

Continuing the walk around the back of this palace and it has started chucking it down!

There are a couple of these amazing gazebo structures at either side of the palace.

Around the other side of the Park , a main entrance structure :)

 

                                                                    and another Gazebo :)

 Back around the front and walking down the vineyard to the main centre path  to continue towards the New Palace.

 

                                                                      A Windmill!!!!!!!! 

                                                         and a Chinese Teahouse :)

                                                                        New Palace.

 Most of  the statues and stone walls are covered, some look like they are being cleaned or renovated.

We must get a move on now, its starting to get dark and we are a long way from the station..

But around the back we come across this..............

WOW!

This is Potsdam university, this image lightened to show it properly, it is getting quite dark now

 It is chucking it down , i have taken a load of phone shots but have to try shooting with camera, even though it is very dark and i haven't brought my tripod today!  high 3200 iso the only option .

Its a pity we didn't come here earlier, if we had known!   its amazing architecture

 I have processed these as b&w , as its too dull to show any colour now, Jan has already started walking towards where i think there is a tram stop.

Time to go, its horrendous now and we are in a big rain storm and  have no shelter or idea where to go to nearest tram or train stop!  thankfully i have google maps on my phone :)

Eventually after seeing a tram in the distance , which we miss . i have found a train station is only a short walk away and goes straight to Potsdam where we can dry off and get some dinner.

the end of a soggy day !

Berlin january 2016 pt1

We are on our way to Berlin to visit Jan's daughter and grandson in Charlottenburg.   I have never wanted to visit Berlin but Jan has persuaded me to come, and the weather forecast is looking awful :(
Anyhow we are nearly there now, and there is a great sunset looking out of the plane window.

After a taxi ride we have arrived and settled into their apartment , the forecast for Monday is low cloud and foggy drizzle :(    not a lot we can do about that , i have worked out roughly where and how to get around tomorrow.

Its Monday morning and we are going to take a short walk to the nearest train station which is "Theodor-Heuss-Platz"  after getting tickets out of the machine we take the first train heading towards the City centre , we will be getting off  at "Zoologischer Garten"    the zoo in English  lol .
We are now walking past the zoo entrance to walk through the park to the  "Victory Column"


                                                               Misty on the canal

                                                        Passing the zoo i take this shot :)

 The paths in the park are treacherous!  all the recent snow has turned to ice and its really difficult trying to walk without slipping over.  Arghhhh      through the trees we can now see the monument.

                                                                          Stunning!

This in in the centre of a large roundabout , one of the main roads goes straight to the Brandenburg Gate, our next destination.

      After a nice 1 mile walk we are at the Gate ,  its a bit small and dull was my initial thought   lol
                                      Hopefully it will look better all lit up this evening!
 

 Going through to the other side, i take a long exposure image so that all the people will Ghost out and not be seen in the final image .

                            Just around the corner outside the gate is the "Reichstag" building.

       Now for a walk to the Holocaust Memorial which is the opposite side of the gate from here.
                                          A Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe.
    its basically square blocks of concrete arranged in rows over 4.7 acres , 2,711 blocks in total.

          In this image i have converted the foreground to b&w as a stark contrast to the coloured buildings behind. on the sloping ground its almost impossible to walk down the rows from this side.

               Next stop is for something to eat ,  in my case a Curryworst sausage and chips :)

 Now its time to walk down the main shopping road towards "Museum island" and the Berliner dom, the Cathedral in the square :) .
                             Look what Jan has found!   and as usual she just has to touch it    lol

                                                                      Cathedral in the fog

                         The Cathedral in the fog and ice  ,   its a bit grim here now unfortunately.
                                                              and its slippery as hell!!!!!!!!

 Just round the back there are bronze statues...............

                                       and we all know what Jan is going to do dont we!!!!!!

 We are walking around the different museums in the rain now , then head back to Brandenburg Gate to photograph it with the lights on :)

                                                            Jan is pushing me now :D

                                       After a drink and some wonderful German Pastries :)

     The lights are on and its the "blue hour" just after sunset , as i set up my gear Jan shoots me  lol

 I have only managed this one "Blue hour" image , i was too slow setting up and this is a long exposure to Ghost out all the people that are milling around taking pictures . 65 seconds  f8

Eventually i have managed to get this image !   Its really busy with people taking photos and walking through my view constantly!!!!!  Arghhhh    
To combat this i have shot long exposures to Ghost out all the people , even doing this i have had to use multiple exposure frames combined in photoshop.


                6 , 212 and 307 second frames  with Lee Little Stopper :)     = No people :D

                                               Tomorrow we are going to see the "Wall"