Avendi Hotel Am Griebnitzsee Potsdam

... audio guides.
New Palace had a new twist for visitors! As we were ready to enter the first room, we were asked to put on these huge slippers over our shoes. It makes sense to save the floors but the entire visit, you couldn't walk at more than a shuffle or the slippers would fall off your feet. What a riot. My slippers were misshapen so my heels kept sliding sideways off the back end. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle though the rooms and some of the rooms are ...

EST is 2:48 p.m. Tuesday and I´ve been up since yesterday morning at 9 a.m.  And I´m doing amazingly well all things considered.  The first thing that I noticed was how I had to orient myself to my new luggage and also to "life out of a bag." On the trip over I enjoyed Nick and Nora´s infinite playlist and even watched the girl with the pearl earring again.  Even though the seats had these neat things that folded ...

... After lunch I decided to see one more thing today, the Charlottenburg Palace. It was Built as a summer palace for Sophie-Charlotte, wife of the later King Friedrich. Completed in 1790. After the long palace tour I for dinner at a place called Ottenthal. It was a little expensive, but it was good. After dinner I headed back to the hotel. Total money: 5337.56 -18 -15 -37 -21 =5246.56

... just to check how they were now and check some new places on the way. Well, here we go: - Alexander Platz: completely changed since last time I saw it in year 2000. There's a huge mall there (Alexa) with lots of security, Brazilians would love that place! One cannot say if it's Berlin, Sao Paulo, Tokio or New York. Gosh, I hate malls! - Berliner Dom and Museuminsel: they are still the same, even though some of the museums are being ...

... tour, but since we were the only two people who showed up (and they needed at least 4), we just did it on our own with the help of the audioguide there. Fortunately, the guide was nice enough to put us on the proper train and give us specific directions as to how we would get there. As my second experience at a concentration camp, it was really different than visiting Dachau last year, but definitely no less powerful. Sachsenhausen was ...

... Euros for a small bottle (a half liter of beer is much cheaper!) of this is why when at a train station find the local Aldi or other supermarket and buy the biggest bottle of natural water you can find. It's much cheaper and you can fill up your bottle with hotel tap water. It's clean and safe to drink. Plus you'll have more money to spend on other liquid refreshments at the end of the day.     Dr. Toro is the leader of this expedition for the day; he warns us ...

... it could be a bit dicey, but it is also my last night in Berlin. I have decided to go on to Cologne for two days, then back to London. I'm going back to London earlier than planned, I have decided that I want to be someplace where I understand what is being said! I want to hear English, not feel perpetually confused by what is going on around me. So, I make my way West. Once in London, considering a day or two to another city in England, but not sure which (E mail me a suggestion!).

Got up and got ready early for the 'free' three-hour walking tour of Berlin....the catch is that if you enjoy the trip, you are encouraged to tip the guide for his services. We began at 11am with our guide at Brandenberg Gate explaining the history of the gate and the general area over the centuries. Excellent guide....enthusiastic, knowledge-able and very easy to talk to. As we approached the gate to go through, we re-visited those charming ...

... areas. Our German must have been 'nicht ernsthaft genug' as everyone just rattles off in German at us. The tourist bureaus told us there was a campingplatz in Hornburg (30 mins or so South), so we decided to head there rather than turn back to Wolfsburg. - The German countryside is either little towns, or rolling hills and farmland - so many farms, the land is still bare after a long winter, but the crops are just starting to appear from the soil. We ...

... steps to the observation deck and it was a lot of steps!! This is a church that was bombed during WWII, but they decided to keep it as is and build the bell tower next to it. It was beautiful at night with the illumination. October 18, 2005 (Tuesday) A day for us to head home... We went to Berlin ...