I need to preface this by saying: this is not the same as where to eat in Berlin if you're a local. Living in Berlin I go out to eat a lot, but my go-to cuisines are Vietnamese, Greek, Italian, and Middle Eastern. Also, I mostly go out to eat in my (lovely) neighborhood, but unless you are a gay man, there aren't exactly many tourist attractions nearby. Also: in my view, the German dining experience is first and foremost about the experience - ambiance, decor, and coziness are highly valued. The food is secondary. Which is to say, the food is usually good but often standard, I don't see much striving for creative and amazing in the culinary department. But that's just the food snob in me talking. ;) My advice is to go with it - seek out the restaurants in a great setting with a cool scene, and just soak it in. There are definitely some vibes to be found that I have never experienced in the U.S. Eating German.Typical Berlin food Classic Berliner "cuisine" consists of currywurst and döner. Which is basically drunk food. But also legitimately delicious! You can find it everywhere, but there are some clear bests in this category. Currywurst is essentially a hot dog with (mild) curry ketchup. It might not blow your mind, but I find it to be pretty tasty fast food. The classic is Curry 36, with locations at Mehringdamm and Bahnhof Zoo (aka Zoologischer Garten). If you want to pay twice as much but feel good about eating organic, I can recommend Witty's at Wittenbergplatz (by Kaufhaus des Westens/KaDeWe). The best döner can be found at Mustafas, which happens to be across the street from Curry 36 at Mehringdamm. There is quite often a line, but if you arrive at a weird time or when it's raining, then you might luck out and not have to wait. If you do have to wait, do like the locals and get your beverage of choice (which probably should be a beer or maybe a Club Mate) to consume while you're standing in line.The meat at Mustafas is chicken, elsewhere it's more typical to find lamb. I've been meaning to try out a couple of other döner places by Kottbusser Tor - check out this list if you're interested. Warning for the faint of heart: Kotti, as it is affectionately known, is kind of dirty and trashy. Berliner hip kids love it anyway (or maybe because it is so trashy). Things get prettier a few blocks away, but this is not where I'd bring my family on a trip to Berlin. Other German favorites Maultaschen are the German version of ravioli, and I love them - especially because the standard version is filled with meat, not cheese, which means I can eat it! If you are hanging around Unter den Linden/Brandenburger Tor (which you probably will be at some point), I can heartily recommend Die Maultasche for a quick lunch. It is unassuming, untouristy, and authentic. Authentic southern German that is-- Schwabian to be precise -- this isn't Berliner cuisine. For a hearty dinner I can recommend Maultaschen Manufaktur, not too far from Potsdamer Platz and right next to my favorite dive bar Kumpelnest 3000. Beer and pretzels...sorry guys, you should really go to Munich for this. There is plenty of good beer to be found in Berlin, but it isn’t the traditional German beer you probably expect. (Bottled, you can of course get traditional southern German beer – my favorites are Augustiner and Rothaus.) I cannot drink the bigger Berlin beer brands, which include Berliner Pilsner, Berliner Kindl, and Schultheiss. I know I am a snob, but ick. The good news is, the craft beer scene is getting big in Berlin, but they are mostly producing west-coast style IPAs. So if you are visiting from the west coast of the USA...maybe this isn’t so exciting. Or if you are a beer connoisseur, maybe you can pick out the finer differences between Berlin hipster beer and west coast hipster beer, I don’t know. I really like Heidenpeters, which can be found in Kreuzberg in Markthalle IX, and sometimes elsewhere if you’re lucky. I’ve always wanted to go check out Eschenbräu, which I expect is less hipster. Or check out this guy's list of the best craft beer bars in Berlin. As for pretzels, they are simply better (and bigger) in southern Germany. If Munich is on your itinerary, get a pretzel and a Maß (1L beer) at the Chinesischer Turm in the English Garden, and the pretzel will be delicious and as big as your head. Other German restaurants to try in Berlin: Joseph Roth Diele. Not far from Potsdamer Platz, this place is supposed to be good. But it's not open on Saturdays or Sundays! Zur Letzten Instanz. Near Alexanderplatz, this place claims to be the oldest restaurant in Berlin. I've never been, but it's on my list of places to try out when visitors are in town. Mutter Hoppe. My (completely awesome) German hairdresser tells me this place is authentic "Berliner" food and great for guests. Also near Alexanderplatz, it's also on my list. Reservations recommended. Eating outside. If the weather is good, you should do like the Germans and consider only restaurants with outdoor tables available. Almost every restaurant that wants to have customers in the summer will have some sidewalk tables. That being said, there are some places where it’s extra nice to sit outside. Beer gardens The concept is simple, and awesome. Sit outside at picnic-bench type tables, and eat and drink. Beer Gardens in Berlin don't have the same traditional feeling as those in southern Germany, but they have their own flair. Food and drink are self serve. These are my favorites in Berlin. Cafe am Neuen See. In the middle of Tiergarten, a very leafy atmosphere complete with small lake and row boats. It’s lovely, and rather fancy as beer gardens go. Rather untypically, the go-to food here is pizza. Cafe am Neuen See also has an indoor cafe that’s quite cozy in winter, complete with roaring fireplace. Schleusenkrug. Also in Tiergarten, an easy walk from Bahnhof Zoo (Zoologischer Garten). On the canal, also very green, and a good place to watch soccer in case the German national team is playing. Wide selection of food that’s good for vegetarians, though prices are high by Berlin standards (which means normal by anyone else’s standards). This is my go-to beer garden, in part because it’s close to my house. ;) Prater Garten. Berlin’s oldest beer garden, located in Prenzlauer Berg. Ever so slightly punk rock, especially compared to the rest of Prenzlauer Berg. I don’t get here too often because it’s way across town for me, but I like it. Other Cafe behind Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures). Right on the Spree river, not far from the Reichstag, this is a nice sunny place for a beer or a snack. As a bonus, you can pick up tourist boats here which will take you into Mitte. Cafe im Literaturhaus. A bit off Kudamm, this is a quiet little oasis that’s great for a light lunch or coffee and cake. They also have an indoor “winter garden,” which is a little less casual. Cafe Einstein Stammhaus garden (in the back). This is in the style of a Viennese coffee house – the interior is quite nice AND a scene from Inglorious Basterds was shot here. My favorite place to sit, though, is in the back garden. The best thing on the menu is the Apfelstrudel, though they also do a beautiful-looking brunch. It’s slightly pricey (again, by Berlin standards). Prinzessinnen Garten. The real reason to come here is if you're a fan of urban gardening...this is a super cool and creative community gardening project. They also have a leafy outdoor cafe, perfect for a beer or a fruit juice schorle and cake. They serve one warm lunch dish each day and pizzas in the evening, and everything is vegetarian, with veggies from their own garden. A true oasis in the middle of Kreuzberg. Note that they are not open in winter (the season runs roughly from May-Sept.)
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Good friends of ours moved last year from Berlin to Helsinki, so of course we had to visit! Pooh-poohing the need for sunshine and warmth, we booked a trip for mid-April. It was a very relaxed weekend - hanging out, catching up - just what the doctor ordered. The best part (aside from sitting around the breakfast table and chatting for hours, which really was the best) was getting an inside look at Finnish culture from a rag-tag group (and by this I mean academics mathematicians) of "outsiders" living in Helsinki. These are a few of the things I learned.
I suspect that deep down I am really not a city girl - I'm too much of a nature lover (and no, city parks don't cut it, however nice they may be). But one great thing about living in the city is that I can discover new cultures (microcultures? subcultures?) right outside my door. Last weekend we somewhat randomly ended up with free tickets to an event that previously I didn't even know existed: chess boxing. Although I am neither a fan of chess or boxing, I found the whole thing completely entertaining and amusing. Basically, chess boxing involves alternate rounds of chess and boxing, each round lasting 3 minutes. It goes for 11 rounds, and is over when someone either gets a check mate or a K.O. In the case of a tie after all the rounds, the fighter who has more boxing points wins the fight. Let me tell you what it was like.
I am getting married, in Germany, and this means a small cascade of administrative tasks to tick off one by one. Today that brought me to the U.S. Consulate in Berlin, to procure a certification that I am not already married. This is how it went. Arrived at the consulate in the woods of Zehlendorf, where there is a line, and a security notice that says no one will be allowed in with electronic devices (including cell phones) or large bags. I have my backpack with lunch, bike helmet, and cell phone, so the solution is to go back across the street to the U-Bahn, where the nice older lady at the newspaper kiosk will watch your stuff for you for 1€ and remind you to take all of your paperwork with you. If Hannes hadn't told me about doing this when he applied for a U.S. visa, I think I would've been flipping out over the ridiculousness of this system, but being forewarned I found it rather quaint. Back at the consulate, I find another sign saying that U.S. citizens should go to the front of the line. Woowhee!
Inside I go to the room for U.S. citizen services, which feels just like a doctor's office waiting room. I see two people wearing American flag scarves - is this to suck up at the embassy or do they dress like this normally?? After a little bit of flipping through magazines promoting USA travel, I pay $50 and have what I need, which turns out only to be a signed and sworn oath that I am indeed not married. I had assumed the whole reason I needed to go to the consulate was that people there would actually look up and confirm that I am not married, but nope. Apparently it is important that I swear my single status in front of my countrymen. On the way out I talked to a guard, who told me that as a U.S. citizen I would've been allowed in with backpack and phone after all, and seemed genuinely sorry that I had given up my stuff like all of the poor non-American suckers. Moral of the story is, if you are American and headed to the U.S. Consulate in Berlin, bring whatever you want (okay, no weapons) and go to the front of the line. If you're there to apply for a U.S. visa, bring an old-fashioned book to entertain yourself while waiting! I really liked Athens, in contrast to pretty much everyone else I know. The advice I'd gotten from other people who'd traveled to Greece was: spend as little time in Athens as possible. Hannes also wasn't the biggest fan - he found Athens kind of ugly (think concrete, not cobblestones). But I really liked it. For me it had a South American flair - warm, a bit unstructured, with lots of white houses packed onto the hillside. We ate some really yummy food and found some cool bars - I guess that's all I need. Maybe my time in Berlin has led me to develop a fondness for cities that can't rely on their good looks to charm people. Or is it that I've been in the flat lands of Berlin for too long and I get really excited when there are hills?
I already posted pictures of our kayaking-around-Milos adventure, but we also had a couple of days to explore Milos "overland" - and mostly by foot. The hillside villages are ridiculously picturesque. Seriously, I felt like I was living in the Mamma Mia movie, and who doesn't want to do that?! We stayed in the tiny village of Triovasolos, which is walking distance from the super cute village of Plaka, which is great for tourists. I would recommend anyone visiting Milos to stay in this area or in another hill town rather than in the port towns (which are fine, just far more generic). I went to Oslo for a few days for work, so I left with only a marginally deeper understanding of Norwegian life and culture than what I came in with (which was almost nothing). I found Norwegians tall, hip and friendly. I'm already imagining a someday sabbatical in Oslo - in winter cross-country skiing out of my door; in summer hanging out on the patios of the hip Grünerløkka bars under the midnight sun. (Key to this fantasy is earning a Norwegian salary - the prices make it a tough tourist destination.) Here are a few more of the impressions I'll take home with me.
The beach house has been a part of my life since I was six months old. It is a place for swimming, crabbing, and jumping off the dock, and a gathering place for my mom's side of the family. I had some late-teen early-20s years where I was bored with the place, but now I am so glad that the family didn't give it up! Posting some 2014 pictures and already looking forward to next summer. As our last hurrah of summer, we spent 5 days kayaking around the island of Milos, Greece. The rhythm of our days went like this: paddle, stop at a beach, go for a swim/snorkel, have something to eat, maybe take a little nap on the beach, repeat. Sun, water, waves, sand. Not a bad deal, really. The original plan was to kayak around the whole island of Milos in 5 days, about 100 km in total. When we arrived, however, there were extremely high winds that were predicted to last the whole week. So our 5-day, 4-night trip got turned into into a 4-day, 3-night trip, plus a day trip at the beginning. This also meant we stayed on the east and southern sides of the island, where we had more protection from the wind. It was disappointing when we heard this would be the revised plan, but in the end I didn't feel like I missed out at all - we stopped at so many beautiful beaches, paddled through so many cave, past so many cliffs. Because we paddled only 60 km instead of 100, we had more time to lounge on the beach and play around in the water. We also used our extra time to practice new paddling strokes and skills - like how to paddle in high wind conditions (hint - don't stop paddling). Even though we stayed on the "sheltered" sides of the island, I have never before experienced such extreme paddling conditions. We'd paddle around a headland and boom - the wind would be directly in our face, and we'd be fighting it. We also got to experience the wind at our backs, where the paddling part wasn't even necessary - we'd hold the paddle up in the air and get pushed as if we were sailing. I hope I'm not giving the wrong impression - there were times when I felt resentful of the wind but a lot of the time it was FUN. Hannes and I were among the most casual of the kayakers on the trip - most of the others logged hundreds of kayak-kilometers a year - but I think we still managed to fit in quite nicely. The trip, which we did through Sea Kayak Milos, is considered an expedition, and did involve sleeping in tents and using nature as our toilet. But for an expedition, it was pretty cushy, I have to say. For instance, our guides did all of the cooking for us. This means we'd land at our camping spot around 4pm, set up tents, and then spend a couple of hours swimming/snorkeling/walking around/having a beer while dinner was prepared for us. (Dinner, by the way, always included an appetizer, main course, and dessert.) Such a luxury compared to my self-organized camping trips! Milos is a populated island with a mining industry, so it's not like we were in the wilderness, but often it still felt very wild...but then every so often one of the beaches we'd land on would have a bar - the perfect combination of nature and civilization.
I have promised not to complain, so I will just document. Leaving the U-Bahn. Arriving at the Ausländerbehörde. It is 5:30 am (the office opens at 7:00 am). There are about 100 people in line ahead of me. They are young, mostly students. They are probably used to standing in line for the Berghain at 4 am. New business idea: start a food truck that sells coffee and breakfast burritos to the Ausänderbehörde crowd in the morning. 6:00 am. They let us in the gates to wait in front of another door. 6:20. They start giving out waiting numbers. 6:45. I am #61 in the students/scientists category. Starting at 7:00 am, I wait in a room. It looks like this. 11:20 am. I pay 80 euros and leave with permission to stay in Germany another two years.
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