28.8.96 (Wed)

I am, again, having breakfast now.

My eye is much, much better now. So I guess the inflammation was caused by not enough sleep.

I went to Potsdam early yesterday morning. The map I bought there was difficult to read but I managed to get to the Sansouci Park somehow. The tram stopped at a place near one of the entrances to the Park, but it was not visible. So I had to spend some time to look for the way to get in. The park was huge. I met a man inside who asked me if I knew how to go to the Sansouci Palace. So I was not the only one who found it very difficult to locate the palaces in such a large park. I did not have a map of the park so I just followed the other tourists. Luckily I could find the New Palace, the Orange Palace and the Sansouci Palace.

The big park was quite beautiful. I appreciated the flowers, the lawn and the trees, which were very tall and seemed quite old. I however did not go inside the palaces. I just did not feel like it. Maybe I was tired and had no intention of prolonging the visit. I walked too much. I would not have so much exercise in one whole week if I were in Hong Kong. Well, it turned out that there was a blister on one toe of each foot, and they hurt.

I then visited the zoo. It was OK. Large, with lots of animals, of course. What I liked most was the wild cats. They looked exactly like big cats but had fur like leopards'. And I like the giraffes too. The aquarium however was a disappointment, though the jelly fishes and coral were quite impressive.

I also went to the Haus am Checkpoint Charlie. It was like some modern art gallery. I didn't like it much. But I got in without paying the fee because I got in from the exit, not the entrance (without knowing it at the time of course).

I tried to book hotels in Praha and Budapest. The hotels in Praha I chose from the guidebooks were full. I think I had made about four or five calls before I finally found one. It was called Junior Hotel Praha. It costs 1200kcs per night and I hope it is good. It was much easier for Budapest. One call and that was it, though I will have to take a double room.

At night, I went to Brandenburger Tor again, just to take some pictures. Unlike the Arc de Triomph, it was quiet around there. Actually, Unter der Linden was nothing compared to Champs Elysees.

And the TV Tower was another disappointment. I paid the DM8 fee, got in, took the elevator to the panorama terrace and got out in no more than ten minutes. Alas.