Contents

  1. Preface
  2. San Francisco
  3. Amsterdam
  4. Amsterdam, Helmond
  5. Amsterdam, Zandvoort, Haarlem
  6. Amsterdam, Bruges
  7. Bruges, Brussels, Cologne, Berlin
  8. Berlin
  9. Berlin, Potsdam
  10. Berlin, Wansee
  11. Berlin, Prague
  12. Prague
  13. Prague, Karlstejn, Vienna
  14. Vienna
  15. Vienna, Salzburg, Füssen
  16. Füssen, Neuschwanstein, Munich
  17. Munich, Innsbruck
  18. Innsbruck
  19. Innsbruck, Zürich, Lauterbrunnen
  20. Lauterbrunnen, Jungfraujoch
  21. Lauterbrunnen, Schilthorn
  22. Lauterbrunnen, Spiez, Zermatt
  23. Zermatt
  24. Zermatt, Martigny, Chamonix
  25. Chamonix, Mont Blanc
  26. Chamonix, Mont Blanc, Courmayeur, Aosta, Turin
  27. Barcelona
  28. Barcelona, Sitges
  29. Barcelona
  30. Milan, Venice
  31. Venice
  32. Venice
  33. Venice, Milan, Cinque Terre
  34. Cinque Terre, La Spezia
  35. Cinque Terre, Pisa, Lucca, Florence
  36. Florence
  37. Florence
  38. Florence, Siena
  39. Siena, San Gimignano, Rome
  40. Rome
  41. Rome
  42. Rome, Sorrento
  43. Sorrento, Vesuvius, Pompeii
  44. Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello
  45. Sorrento, Capri, Naples
  46. Naples, Bari
  47. Patras, Athens, Mykonos
  48. Mykonos
  49. Mykonos
  50. Mykonos, Paros, Santorini
  51. Santorini
  52. Santorini, Athens
  53. Athens
  54. Athens, Amsterdam, San Francisco


Prev :: Friday, 9 September 2005 :: Next

8. Berlin, Potsdam

Photo Gallery

This morning it was necessary to do the laundry. I stuffed it all into my backpack and rode north to the nearest laundromat. They're generally totally automated, and once you figure out what's going on, it's easy. In hindsight it's funny how I was a bit stumped at first by the process, but by the end of the trip I was quite good at it.

Potsdam makes a convenient day-trip from Berlin, just a short ride on the S-Bahn. I should have taken my bike along for this trip. I wasn't sure of the policy on the S-Bahn, but I did see others with bikes so I think it's allowed (possibly you need to buy an extra half-fare, but anyway ticket inspectors seem to be exceedingly rare on metro systems throughout Europe). It's a bit of a walk over to the Schloss at Sanssouci, and an even farther walk all the way over to the New Palace at the far end of the park. You're only allowed into the Schloss on a tour, and I had about 45 minutes to wait before I could get an entry time. This gave me time to walk past the Orangerie, but only part way to the New Palace. The Schloss is a beautiful place where Frederick the Great liked to hang out with his music, visits from J.S. Bach, and French philosophers. Interestingly, the wife wasn't allowed. After the tour, I walked south to the opulent round green and gold "Chinese" house, apparently a fashionable thing to build at the time. Then I followed a lovely pedestrian street east through Potsdam before heading south back to the train station — much nicer than walking along the main bus route as I had earlier.

The KdW department store in Berlin is an impressive place to visit if only for its top-floor food market. I bought just an apple pastry, but it was very good. A Turkish woman talked to me in the square outside; there are quite a lot of Turkish immigrants in Berlin. They're very friendly, and I find it surprising how much they seem still to like and to get excited about the United States — certainly more so than most Western Europeans, let alone most people from Muslim countries these days! Probably Turkey will be a good place to visit on a future trip.

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