Arrival in Potsdam

Unbelievably, but we arrived in Potsdam! It seems to be so surrealistic - only a few days ago we were in busy, hot Taipei, and now we find ourselves in cool and quiet Potsdam. As quiet as the town may be, as busy we were in the last days! My parents were so kind to drive all the way from Innsbruck up to here to meet us, to bring us winter clothes and to help us (which was greatly needed!)! We found a nice flat on the very day we arrived here, rushed to Ikea to buy the most needed furniture (my dad and Kamil spending a great deal of time assembling the furniture) and moved into the place three days later. What a rush! But we seem to have a great deal of luck, as the flat is large and very nice and in a very family-friendly quarter of the town. I never seen so many baby strollers in the streets!
Here is a picture of the house we life in - it is the large yellow building on the left, and our flat is on the 3rd and 4th floor.


Here a view of our street. The whole quarter, the old weavers' quarter, is dominated by small houses. I definitely have to write a post about it, once I know more:


Cobble stones are very common on the roads and sidewalks:


And this is Anna's new limousine!


Nevertheless, after being carried around in the cloth sling in Taipei, our picky princess has to get used to it. So far, she is not as sound asleep in the stroller as she used to be in the sling, but I think she soon will feel comfortable therein as well. I love this stroller as it is very handy for our daily walks in the park. Being a three-wheeler, steering on rough terrain with one hand is no problem at all! A true geologist's baby stroller!
But instead of digressing more by highlighting all the amenities of our superb stroller, I rather come back to the park, of which I want to show you some pictures. The park's name is Park Babelsberg and is only 200 meters from our home! The park was planted in the 19th century by order of the emperor Wilhelm I and his wife Augusta. On the 114 ha wide hilly grounds of the park, magnificent old deciduous trees and bushes are growing high and higher, winding little paths lead to outlook spots with gorgeous views over the river Havel and the town of Potsdam, and fairy tale castles and towers are to be discovered here and there.
Here a view across the river Havel towards the center of Potsdam:


The old trees in the park:


A Gothic gatehouse at "our" entry to the park:


The "Gerichtslaube", a building for holding court, which once stood in Berlin, was re-erected here in the park:


And the 46 m high Flatow-Tower:


There are more buildings and enchanted places to be discovered in the park, but as I mentioned, Anna is not sleeping as long as before in her sling. So I limit our walks at the moment to one hour each day. But I am looking forward to visit all these other places in the next days. If the weather is fine, I will bring my camera and you will find more photos of the park here in our blog.