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 :: Saturday, 10 September 2005 :: Next

9. Berlin, Wansee

Photo Gallery

This morning I stopped for a look at the palace at Charlottenburg, and met a friend of a friend who lives nearby. As the weather was still absurdly hot and nice, we headed back towards Potsdam on the S-Bahn, but got out earlier, at the Wansee. This is a nice big lake, with some monumental Nazi architecture along its shore. It was good for a swim, not too chilly. As the beach is quite crowded, the Germans put up a wall to separate the people who like to take their clothes off (the "FKK", which has a long history going back to the end of the 19th century, apparently) from those who don't. Compared with such beaches in the US, you see a noticeably larger fraction of good-looking youngsters here, which is a pleasant thing indeed. On the other hand, I found it strange to be getting a lot of rather odd stares. Could they tell somehow that I was an American tourist? Later I realized: ah yes, circumcision is not a common sight here!

Back in Berlin we had wienerschnitzel, and I was a few minutes late for the Philharmonic, which meant I had to stand for the first 40 minutes — quite uncomfortable in the heat. But the performance was fantastic! They are supposed to be the world's most highly regarded symphony, and Sir Simon Rattle was at the helm. Later I talked with a young opera conductor from Australia at a bar, and he agreed that they're the best for all-around orchestral playing, though you might possibly find better string-playing in Vienna, for example. I felt lucky to have gotten tickets only a day in advance — next time I'd certainly book farther ahead.

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