Retreat in Potsdam

It was super nice to get out of the Berlin bubble. Last weekend, I was in Potsdam, an hour train ride away, for a women’s full moon art and yoga retreat.

I stayed in the Dutch quarter.

There are exactly 134 red, two-story brick houses, arranged on four squares. Known as the Holländerhäuser (“Dutch houses”), they were built for Dutch immigrants by the architect Jan Bouman between 1734 and 1742. They make up the largest exclusively Dutch housing development outside the Netherlands.

Potsdam was beautiful and I was reminded that exploring Germany outside of the crazy hustle and bustle of Berlin is one aspect of our move that we haven’t taken advantage of — at least not yet.

{morning walk by Schloss Sanssouci}

{rainy evening walk by Brandenburg Tor, stumbling across a Bierfest}

The retreat was nice. It was mostly in German with some English translations by the leaders. I was able to understand quite a bit, ok, maybe just a bit. But more than I would have two months ago and it felt good.

{view outside my window}

It was nice to get away, but it was even nicer to be greeted by Dave and the boys when I returned home.