day 3 - even a castle needs a wash from time to time

greetings from germany!

now blogging @ my hostel room at Letterstrasse, which is a really hip cool district filled with bars, cafes and other intriguing shops. past two days have been really hectic and tiring, and the whole walking around berlin and entering single museum stint made me utterly tired by the time we reached back the hostel. -_-

aniwez today was Potsdam day, where we woke up early and took a train down to Potsdam to go see the San Souci Park. talking about trains reminds me of a few peculiarities i've observed about the Germans.

1. there are absolutely no ticket gantries in the s-bahn or u-bahn, u can get onto any bus or tram easily by flashing (possibly) any fake card or just going by the back door. basically, in Germany you probably can travel for free and get away with it. something i think the cheapskate linken in singapore would jump at.

2. Germans' favourite mode of transport however seems to be biking round town! everyone bikes, from old ladies with flowery dresses or working women in power suits!

3. it's now currently 9.24PM, and the sky outside looks deceptively like late 5pm in singapore. this means people are having al fresco dinner as though they are having tea and catching a 9pm bus looks like you are catching a normal daytime bus.

4. along with the topsy-turvy time comes a really power dietary habit of the Germans. they seemingly eat breakfast, lunch, then tea at 4, then dinner, then cocktail + more food at 9!!! and yeah, beer is REALLY cheaper than coke, much to my chagrin cos most of the local beers i've tried SUCKS. it leaves and bitter aftertaste in your mouth after a few sips.. hmmz

oh wellz.. so just an outline of today.. Potsdam, San Souci, Marble Hall @ Schloss San Souci, Grotto Hall @ New Palace, Chinese Tea House, Lunch @ Dragenhaus, Raphael Hall @ Orangery Schloss, Holocaust Memorial, East Side Gallery, Dinner @ Josef Dieter Roth Cafe..

hmmz.. tomorrow is time to head out to Bamberg. arrgh! too little time! Berlin really has so many gems, quaint cafes, bustling bars.. man..