29.8.96 (Thu)

I am now on the train to Praha. It will arrive there at around 1:30 pm. The weather is fine today. Cool with sunshine.

Yesterday was not a very good day for me. It was cloudy and it finally started raining around 6 pm.

First I went to Charlottenburg Palace. It was quite an ordinary palace. Not really impressive. I did not go in there, which housed several museums now. Instead I took a walk in the garden at the back of the palace. It was big, but not as big as the ones of Versailles or Sansouci. And it was not impressive. Many smaller trees (or maybe bushes) were planted in pots, not in the soil. I don't like them.

Then I took a bus to Bahnhof Zoo and then Bus 100 again. I thought it was a circular route and intended to finish the rest of the route (I jumped off at Alexanderplatz on Tuesday). But it was not a circular route. It took me to the far east end of East Berlin, with ugly apartment buildings and streetcars (trams) that don't run in the west side. I then checked one of my guidebooks and voila : Bahnhof Zoo was the start and end of Bus 100. I had to take another bus back to Bahnhof Zoo again.

Then I strolled along Kustferstrass, the busy shopping streets. It was OK. Nothing special. I went into the Kadewe Department Store, trying to find something for lunch on the 6th floor, but left soon with an empty stomach because I did not know how to order. I ended up having lunch in Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Then it was the Dahlem Museum. I thought it was in the east at the Museum Island so I took the U-Bahn heading east. But mid-way I found out from the map that it was actually in the west, quite far away from the centre. So I had to change to another U-Bahn line.

The museum was all right. It was quite quiet inside, no crowds, no tourists (except me). I think I visited only one of the many Dahlem Museums. The exhibits inside were not really interesting to me. What makes it even less attractive is that, unlike the Louvre, it is a modern concrete building, like one in a university (and I think it is). I don't think anything can compare to the Louvre. (p.s. But then I've found that there are other excellent museums, like the Ducal Palace in Venezia, the Uffizi in Firenze and the Vatican Museum in Roma.)

After Dahlem, I went back to Alexanderplatz. I tried to buy something for dinner but failed. I was so tired that I got back to the hotel and slept for about an hour. My feet (the blisters) hurt. When I woke up it was already too late for shopping. The only choice was the Burger King downstairs. So I had a salad there and an ice-cream next door. It was good to have a salad. I've been eating too much and too well lately.

Is it not a pity that I don't like Berlin. I spent three days there but still I don't like the place. I can't describe why. The atmosphere was cold (though the weather was not), the city was not beautiful (maybe all the beautiful things had been bombed), and the people were not particularly nice ( the people in Amsterdam and Wien were). But it was a convenient place with easy transport. Nobody ever checked anybody if he had a ticket.

I hope very much I'll like Praha, despite all the difficulties I could imagine. I hope I'll fall in love with the place. Well I always hope that I'll fall in love.

I feel much better on a train. Being on a train makes me feel that I am really travelling. And it feels good.

One more thing. I went to the train station early this morning to validate my Eurailpass. The lady at the counter simply pressed a chop on the pass and did not bother to fill in what was required on it. So I did it myself afterwards, ha ha ha.