Berlin is one of my favourite cities, despite the fact that our city tour guide was telling us that Berlin is a relatively young city compared to the rest of Europe, there was a ton of history & so much to see and take in
Brandenburg Gate and Schloss Charlottenburg
Holocaust Memorial in Berlin and Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp (approx. 1 hour out of Berlin)
Berlin Wall
Picture on the right was near Checkpoint Charlie and Picture on the Left is from the East Side Gallery (an art exhibition on the remains of the Berlin Wall)
Time for the food pictures:
The Berlin Train Station
It's huge and it's amazing that some of the stores are open at 5am in the morning (thank goodness for all the bakeries and restaurants otherwise it would have been a brutal overnight trip since we didn't eat dinner before we hopped on the train in Utrecht)
My friend got this pastry (no idea what it's called) for breakfast. There's custard on top and it was really quite good. On the other hand, I got this really gross strudel (that I thought was made with chocolate but it ended up being this weird paste that looks like chocolate). (Aug 29, 2012: Update - it was a poppyseed paste!)
Before we left for Europe, we tried to get food ideas from people who went to the countries we were planning on going to - one of the recommendations was currywurst! And luckily for us, there was a Currywurst fast food place in the train station that was open at 6am.
From the left: Pomme Frites Sauce (aka Mayonnaise), Ketchup and Mustard (in a blue pump...very curious)
Our Regular Currywurst Breakfast: Sausage with ketchup and curry powder on top
Unfortunately, we can't say we were super impressed by this as the sausage wasn't that great, the ketchup was Heinz and although it was interesting, I think we were expecting like wurst sausage with curry inside of it kind of like the cheese sausages you can buy in Canada - but maybe curry and cheese together? Maybe our hopes were too high
Nante eck - a restaurant on Unter den Linden
Perfect spot for people watching on Unter den Linden (which is a main boulevard in Berlin)
Our two coloured beers. We felt we had to drink in Germany otherwise we were out of place.
Schweinshaxe - German Pork Knuckle
WOW this was SO GOOD and it was so reasonably priced (at €11) compared to the rest of Europe. I think Germany probably has the biggest portions of food for the cheapest prices - talk about value for money! I wrote home raving about how great German food was! This pork knuckle was absolutely great - tasty, huge with a ton of meat and the sides of mashed peas, sauerkraut, and potatoes were really nicely done! It's a pretty mean feat if they could actually make peas that I like and am willing to eat - because I detest peas! I really tried to clean my plate here because everything was SO GOOD but I felt that it was still a huge accomplishment when I finished half my plate.
We really enjoyed German cuisine at Nante eckt, but after eating dinner there for two nights, we decided to go try something else. On our way from our hostel (Heart of Gold Hostel - we really recommend this one!) to Unter den Linden, we found:
Treffpunkt or Alt Berliner Kneipe, Treffpunkt
Currywurst again!
We decided to try the currywurst here to see if there was a difference between the franchise Currywurst and the authentic German food currywurst. This one tasted a lot better, but at the end of the day, it was still a wurst sausage with ketchup and curry powder on top.
My friend ordered duck and it was tough and salty until we realized that it was probably pork instead. The sides were mashed potatoes and mushrooms in some heavy cream sauce.
Schweineschnitzel...yum!
I love German portion sizes! Schnitzel was hearty and filling, but not as much flavour as I would have liked it. Definitely can't quite compare to
Schnitzel Queen in Toronto. The potato salad at Alt Berliner Kneipe Treffpunkt was creamy and nice.
Döner Kebabs were another item on our to-eat list that we wanted to do in Germany.
Luckily, there's döner kebabs almost everywhere in Berlin.
On our way to West End station from Schloss Charlottenburg, we saw a shop selling Döner Kebabs with drinks for 3.3€
These Döner Kebabs were bigger than our hands and absolutely delicious. The Single Best Value for Money meal in our entire Europe trip - even long after we left Berlin, we CRAVED Döner Kebabs (because they were cheap, filling, great tasting and convenient).
The Fladenbrot (Flatbread) was kind of crispy on the outside from the toasting and soft inside. Then the cook sliced the lamb meat from the spit and stuffed it deep into the flatbread corner. From there, he then added the chopped lettuce, cabbage, onions, cucumber strips and tomatoes to make the colorful delectable meal you see above.
I seriously recommend trying Döner Kebab in Germany - it's the best less than 5€ meal you'll ever get.
A McCafe in Berlin near the East side Gallery - can you believe it? They have desserts like actual cake and cupcakes! McCafes in Europe are amazing! The Paris ones even have Macarons!
KaDeWe (German Department Store)
One of the first things I bee-lined for (after the chocolate section) was the baked goods section! And Lo and Behold, Baumkuchen! Of course I had to go try it, so I bought a ring to take back to my hostel and try.
What a terrible experience, I learned the hard way that baumkuchen that's not fresh is NOT worth it! So I spent 6.67
€ on a terrible baumkuchen ring that I barely ate. The baumkuchen was crumbly and quite tasteless compared to other
baumkuchens I've had in
Japan. It was such a disappointment.
Recommendation: Don't buy the Baumkuchen from KaDeWe in Berlin!
On the other hand, the chocolate section was great! I got a strawberry kiwi marizpan bar and there was an abundant selection of chocolates here.
This store really reminded me of the big department stores in Japan - Mitsukoshi, Daimaru, Printemps, Matsuya. There was such a huge selection of everything that you could possibly think of and it was all under one roof!
