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We spent our time in Potsdam strolling the grounds of Frederick the Great’s summer palace.  Frederick the Great certainly thought BIG!  It took a couple of hours to just walk the grounds, and we didn’t even take the tour of the palace itself.  I think there is over a square mile of hedges, walking paths, duck ponds, fountains, and statuary.  A very nice place to visit and stroll.  I could see why a garden like this would be great for the king and his guests to get away from the hassles of the court and sit peacefully by a fountain, under a tree, or by a lush green hedge.  While Suzanne and I took in the great statuary art, the design of the grounds and the architecture, the kids liked the ducks.  Alex told me to stop taking pictures of naked people.  I tried to get them interested in what I knew of the history of the place – I failed miserably.

Anyway, I learned some new stuff about the king they called Fritz.  For example, he considered himself a philosopher king along the lines of Marcus Aurelius (the last “good” Roman Emperor).  He was a Free Mason, he personally wrote over 100 musical arrangements, played the flute, and was one of the best military tacticians of all time (Napoleon even said so, and I think Napoleon had a “healthy” ego himself).