I should have noted one more thing about my diet the other day - I forgot to say that one can easily find first-rate, moderately-priced strawberries and cherries at fruit vendors' stalls all over the place in Berlin (and, as it turns out, Potsdam). The one disadvantage to buying fruit from vendors is that one is constrained to either carry it around all day or eat it at once, which is not such a big deal: half of a kilogram of cherries or strawberries is not too much to consume at once given one's hunger for fresh fruit, and it only takes around two hundred milliliters of water to wash it. Wasting water to wash fruit was not a big deal as recently as a week ago, when I often drank less than a liter of water per day (having gotten used to the heat, presumably), and, paradoxically, wasting it in the brutal Berlin heat is also not a big deal. A hundred milliliters of water here and there will not make a difference between one's having too little water and having enough: if such small quantities of water enter one's thoughts, one has far too little water to last the day in any case. I left the hostel today with two-and-a-half liters of water and was, for the first time since I got here, sufficiently hydrated all day without having to buy anything. But I have, as usual, divagated from what I was originally discussing. Fresh fruit is great, and it is an important part of my diet (both in daily life and right now).
I do not remember which city I last called a testament to human greatness, but, whichever one it was, Potsdam is greater. One quickly runs out of adjectives with which to describe cities of fantastical historical interest once one has visited a few of them, as they tend to contain many of the same things: town halls, churches, museums, cathedrals, statues, fountains, plaques, and other structures that our predecessors saw fit to build, and which we consider important monuments. What makes Potsdam special is the unbelievable number of palaces, castles, historically-interesting buildings, and royal gardens in and around it; it covers such a large area that it would take three or four days to see it all by foot. Today was, perhaps, the only time when it would have paid to take a guided bus tour around a city, as Potsdam is far too large to cover in one day, but I did not want to dole out the money to do so, and I like being on my feet and being able to decide where to go and what to pay attention to. I had an enjoyable but tiring day touring Potsdam, and I realized that travelling is a little like going to a restaurant: one cannot order everything on the menu. This struck me today in particular because of the impossibility of seeing all of Potsdam in one day, and, while I am fond of trying as many different dishes as possible, to overextend my metaphor, I realized that overdoing things today would not teach me any more, really, about Potsdam, German history, or civilization as a whole, and so I contented myself with seeing what seemed most unique and most characteristic of Potsdam. I have little more to say about it except that it is even more impressive than Berlin itself and that it is worth visiting more than once.
My final note for the day is that the Berlin subway, as it turns out, sucks; it is even worse than the one in Moscow. Although the trains here are quiet and relatively clean, the machines from which one buys tickets do not accept bills; there is almost no signage in the subway stations; stops are announced quietly and unclearly; and there are no maps, or at least no maps of a reasonable size, that show one where one is going: the only way to know where one is going is to get a map in advance (as I did because of staying in a hostel) or to have ridden the subway since childhood. I found the experience of riding it frustrating and disillusioning, but I do not expect to have any problems getting to the airport tomorrow, as I now know what to expect, and I know exactly where I have to go.
At this point, I have run out of things to say; I can only hope to have a more fruitful day writing tomorrow. I expect to be able to keep up my blog while in Leiden, but I may find it tougher than I have done, as I will be staying with people with whom I have a mutual interest in interacting, and I will probably only see them for substantive periods of time in the evening, when I usually write. On the plus side, I can always write notes to myself and finish them later, and I do not spend more than an hour or so per day writing anyway, all told. I tend to spend as much time as possible unwinding after days of tourism and often do not start writing my letters until I have spent some time on the internet or, in the case of the last two days, watched at least part of a movie. I should have time to see another movie or two tomorrow before departing for Leiden, as I will have a large chunk of free time before heading to the airport and do not plan to wear myself out. I am going to visit a small section of town that should be historically interesting and will then spend the early afternoon at the hostel. I really need to take a shower now. Sweating all day is disgusting!
I do not remember which city I last called a testament to human greatness, but, whichever one it was, Potsdam is greater. One quickly runs out of adjectives with which to describe cities of fantastical historical interest once one has visited a few of them, as they tend to contain many of the same things: town halls, churches, museums, cathedrals, statues, fountains, plaques, and other structures that our predecessors saw fit to build, and which we consider important monuments. What makes Potsdam special is the unbelievable number of palaces, castles, historically-interesting buildings, and royal gardens in and around it; it covers such a large area that it would take three or four days to see it all by foot. Today was, perhaps, the only time when it would have paid to take a guided bus tour around a city, as Potsdam is far too large to cover in one day, but I did not want to dole out the money to do so, and I like being on my feet and being able to decide where to go and what to pay attention to. I had an enjoyable but tiring day touring Potsdam, and I realized that travelling is a little like going to a restaurant: one cannot order everything on the menu. This struck me today in particular because of the impossibility of seeing all of Potsdam in one day, and, while I am fond of trying as many different dishes as possible, to overextend my metaphor, I realized that overdoing things today would not teach me any more, really, about Potsdam, German history, or civilization as a whole, and so I contented myself with seeing what seemed most unique and most characteristic of Potsdam. I have little more to say about it except that it is even more impressive than Berlin itself and that it is worth visiting more than once.
My final note for the day is that the Berlin subway, as it turns out, sucks; it is even worse than the one in Moscow. Although the trains here are quiet and relatively clean, the machines from which one buys tickets do not accept bills; there is almost no signage in the subway stations; stops are announced quietly and unclearly; and there are no maps, or at least no maps of a reasonable size, that show one where one is going: the only way to know where one is going is to get a map in advance (as I did because of staying in a hostel) or to have ridden the subway since childhood. I found the experience of riding it frustrating and disillusioning, but I do not expect to have any problems getting to the airport tomorrow, as I now know what to expect, and I know exactly where I have to go.
At this point, I have run out of things to say; I can only hope to have a more fruitful day writing tomorrow. I expect to be able to keep up my blog while in Leiden, but I may find it tougher than I have done, as I will be staying with people with whom I have a mutual interest in interacting, and I will probably only see them for substantive periods of time in the evening, when I usually write. On the plus side, I can always write notes to myself and finish them later, and I do not spend more than an hour or so per day writing anyway, all told. I tend to spend as much time as possible unwinding after days of tourism and often do not start writing my letters until I have spent some time on the internet or, in the case of the last two days, watched at least part of a movie. I should have time to see another movie or two tomorrow before departing for Leiden, as I will have a large chunk of free time before heading to the airport and do not plan to wear myself out. I am going to visit a small section of town that should be historically interesting and will then spend the early afternoon at the hostel. I really need to take a shower now. Sweating all day is disgusting!
I found these castle ruins north of Potsdam's most famous castle.
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