Last Saturday, Berlin was miraculously blessed with awesome weather for what will probably prove to be one of the last times for the next 4 or 5 months. I knew it was time to head out and grab some sweet shots.
Destination of the day: Charlottenburg Palace, first built from 1695-1713 as a summer residence for the Prussian Queen, Sophie Charlotte. As far as palaces and castles go in the city of Berlin, this is the only major one.
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One can still find the symbol of the Prussian empire, an eagle
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The palaces' gardens are extensive and well-renowned
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| Boy do I love to see a blue sky. This is the Karpfenteich |
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| Lots of fall colors to be had |
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| I shelled out an extra 3 euros to be able to take photos inside. Always worth it |
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| The whole tour was in German, so it was hard to concentrate on what the guide was saying while also taking pictures. But I know these tapestries were made in Berlin and took 3-4 months each to make |
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| The castle was 70% destroyed during WWII |
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| After the castle was damaged, some of the ceiling murals were lost and never recovered or restored. This is not one of them |
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| SC = Schloss Charlottenburg |
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| The paintings make the roof look higher than it is |
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| The royal Schreibtisch (desk) |
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| This room in the private apartments of King Frederick I is called the Porcelain cabinet, and was one of my favorites. An unholy amount of porcelain pieces from Asia line the walls - 2,700 to be exact |
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| A chapel for the royal family. Note the enormous crown |
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| Complete with an organ |
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| But wait, there's more - the 2nd floor |
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| This is called the Green Room - can you tell why? |
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| The Charlottenberg City Hall illuminated by the afternoon sun in the distance |
After an afternoon full of running around some peaceful gardens and an impressive palace, I wasn't done. I had seen lots of pictures of Berlin, always from the same awesome viewpoint. I got on google maps, triangulated the position of building from which all these pictures were being taken, and went there myself that day. I had done some digging and found out it was an apartment building, so a determined photographer like me could just follow a real resident in and find the perfect balcony. I headed there in time to follow a resident into the building, head upstairs to the right balcony, and catch the dusk light. The view was incredible! It was the perfect end to the day.
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| Sweet! |
Next up - more Berlin Wall history! One can never get enough of that in Berlin. Bis dann!
