11 July 2016

Berlin Blogging: Schloss Sanssouci


I went to Potsdam twice on my trip. Seeing the Sanssouci palace and gardens was just that splendid! In reality, I went the first time with two of my classmates for one of our assignments and the second time with a few of the Berlin lolitas.

Before I got here, I was worried about getting to Potsdam from Berlin. As it turns out, you can easily get there with just an extension ticket from your normal transit pass (although I found out on my second trip that I had been getting the wrong extension and thus paying twice as much!)

Although Schloss Sanssouci, meaning without worry in French, was obviously beautiful and memorable, I think the Neues Palais two miles down the sprawling gardens was my favorite. You can see the front of the Neues Palais in the photo below. It is in my top favorite palaces. Only preceeded by Schönbrunn palace and Empress Sissi's apartments in Vienna...


The first visit to the Sanssouci Gardens was perfect weather, so we spent a few hours strolling around the gardens. We also managed to tour the Orangerie, the Chinese House, and the New Quarters. These gardens used to be orchards and orange groves for Frederick the Great, so the intricately floral version of Rococo decoration and architecture could be seen in every building. I had never heard of Frederician Rococo before, but it is amazing to see. I wish I could show you the photos I took inside each building, but I was only allowed to take them for personal use...

The gardens are so numerous that you could spend a full day walking around in them. Some of them are spacious lawns with fountains and stone benches; some are simply gravel paths weaving through tall grasses and trees; some are elegantly filled with flowers that remind me of one of the favorite movies The Secret Garden.


The second trip was much more sunny and hot, so we didn't spend too much time outdoors. One of the girls was late, so we sat chatting in the shade until she arrived. We only ended up having time to see the Neues Palais (Potsdam has nearly two dozen different castles, churches, and historical buildings you can visit with your 19 euro tour pass).


Funnily enough, I got most of my souvenirs for family at Sanssouci. Most shops have really tacky, kitschy things. This shop had much more "classy" but expensive souvenirs.

From top left to bottom right: 
  • I got one of my grandmothers a blue-grey peacock thing; I cannot tell if it should be a kitchen towel or decorative table cover but she can use it how she likes.
  • I got one of my aunts a colorful peacock thing, much like the one above. 
  • I got my mother a microfibre peacock sunglasses pouch. I'm not sure why Sanssouci loves peacocks so much because we didn't see or hear anything about them there!
  • I got one of my grandfathers a small bag of floral tea. I could only read half of what is in it, but what I could translate in my head sounded lovely.
  • I got myself a cheap paper fan because there is no air conditioning here! I also grabbed a wipe for my glasses; this is probably the most practical thing I could have gotten.

02 July 2016

Berlin Blogging: Chocolate Afternoon


I am so happy that I was able to meet with a few Berlin lolitas while on my trip. Marching_duck reached out to me on Instagram, seeing I was here, and organized a mini-meet for me at a cute café. Since I wasn't too familiar with Berlin's transit system, she took the time to meet me near my hotel so I didn't get lost.

I am blown away by these girls' hospitality and kindness!

We ate on the upper floor of Rausch Schokoladenhaus, which was amazing. I ordered an Eisschokolade (thick, chilled chocolate with vanilla ice cream) and a Schwarzwald-Becher (black forest sundae). The four of us split a small tower of truffles. We were so stuffed, we couldn't finish the truffles! I did manage to eat one that had sea salt and one with passion fruit. 
 I really loved how derpy these girls are, it made me feel welcome. Nothing was awkward about the trip, I had such a good time!

After a couple hours in the café, we took a stroll around the plaza chatting and taking outfit photos in front of this building. I assume it was a church. Here in Europe, anything decorated seems to be a museum or a church.

An older English woman offered to take our photo for us, but it didn't turn out so well. With my camera, she got her thumb in every shot and with Kia's polaroid we were all so washed out it was pretty much a waste.
Outfit rundown:

  • Blouse is from Infanta
  • Jumperskirt is handmade by my mother; I had her line it with thin cotton for the summer heat
  • Hair clips are from Innocent World; I wear them so seldom I forget I own them
  • Everything else is offbrand; I didn't want to risk losing my brand in travel.