Potsdam

We had planned a nice picnic outing with our good friends Fionnuala, Wolfgang and their twin boys Danny and Theo.  They suggested a nice little area in Potsdam near a castle.  Marty and I had been to Potsdam before but the kids hadn't.

We hopped a train and then a bus and then walked up a hill (an actual hill - not Seattle hill but definitely more than we are used to) to meet up with them at the front of a beautiful castle.
We marveled at the outside of the beautiful building, took the requisite photos and then laid out our picnic spread in front of the castle (Schloss Babelsberg) and on the shore of the Havel River.  We sat in the cool shade of enormous, old trees on soft lush grass.  We all ate to our fill and then the kids ran around and explored and climbed trees and had a great time.

The adults just sprawled out on the picnic blankets and we truly relaxed.  Hours went by and we barely even noticed. It was one of the first times we have just truly relaxed.  It was SO so nice.
After hours of just sitting around we started walking around and climbed to the top of another castle and were treated to beautiful views of the river and of Potsdam.
It was quite warm so the kids decided to jump in the river and play for a bit before we headed home.

What an incredible, genuinely European, fully restorative day with lovely friends in our new "home" of Berlin.  Marty mentioned that if this whole move to Germany were a college class then this day was akin to our midterm -which included riding our bikes part way, taking a train and a bus and meeting friends at a castle, jumping in the river all while truly relaxing- and we nailed it!