Berlin

Ok, so we are going to learn to buy our tickets early. After two months in Italy and Spain where train tickets are relatively cheap, this was a shock to the system. We were prepared for some high prices but, 120 euro from Amsterdam to Berlin. Wow. Lesson learned, plan ahead.

So we arrive in Berlin and beer halls and Liederhosen this is not. The capital of the new Germany and home to the German avant-garde. It is a big and vibrant city with tons of history. We went to the Pergamom (sp?) the first night because it was free and it has an impressive collection of Greek, Egyptian and Islamic relics. Their is a whole island of museums which we could have spent days in, but this was definitely the highlight.

The next day we rode a bus around the main sights. The Brandenburg gate (the symbol of Berlin and home to the speeches of world leaders), the Reichstag (the impressive sounding and looking seat of German power) and finally Checkpoint Charlie. The checkpoint between the east and the west and the heart of the cold war. Why this checkpoint was more popular than the first two (Alpha and Bravo) we didn't really figure out, but their was a museum, which while although haphazardly organized told the story of all the players in the cold war. All the escape attempts and the slow process that would eventually unseat the communist regime were presented and was quite interesting. We spent a few hours at the zoo so Brooke could make a pilgramage to see Knut. Remember him, the adorable polar bear that you probably saw pictures of about 6 months ago? Well, he has grown up a bit and although he is popular, he is sort of a prima donna now. He was not as adorable as when he was a youngster and seemed disinterested in all the attention he still got. I think I saw him yawn on the back of his paw. It was still fun and the zoo is in a nice location in the center of Berlin, with a burned out, half destroyed church nearby which was left as a symbol of the price of war, as well as the corporate buildings of Merces and the like which are the symbols of the new Germany.

So we were finally in sauerkraut country and Brooke couldn't have been happier. I mean really, this was the girl who a few months after we met, ordered and ate a bowl full of saurkraut at a festival. Unfortunately the kraut here is not what she was expecting. It is almost exclusively served warm and (possibly as a result) is sweeter. Oh well, having some of the ubiquitous sausage, mashed potatoes and kraut is a good meal on a cold day. Currywurst is also really popular and possibly the unofficial national dish. Basically a sausage cut up, put on a plate and covered with ketchup and sprinkled with curry. Eh, not so exciting.

One night after we tried to find the SS museum, which was closed by the time we tracked it down, we ended up in the heart of the east. Now this is the part of Berlin that is just full of promise. It is the home to artists and musicians and holds all the promise of the new united Germany. A bit edgy with lots of leahter and spikes on the weekend, but also home to American Apparell and Starbucks. It is also adjacent to the Turkish part of Berlin. We were smoking the hukkah in another part of town and I asked the doorman where I could find the best Turkish food and he pointed us to this area. The Turks and Germans have a long history together and their are a lot of Turkish people here, possibly the most in all of Europe. So we were walking around this part and seeing all kind of Turkish restaurants and people and I was getting a bit nostalgic about my time in that country. We saw restaurants that advertised food from every local, Antalya, Izmir, Cappadocia, etc, and I was like, 'why is their no Adana restaurant, this sucks'. Well after wandering around in the cold for a bit we were about to give up and we turned the corner to find the holy grail, 'Adana Restaurant'. This was it, this was what I had been searching for. It was perfect and full of Turks, not some kebab stand, but a proper Adana barbecue joint with sweet, delicious Adana Kebab on the spits, with onions and sumac, served with cooked vegetables on delicious Turkish bread. I have gone on and on about Turkish bread and finally Brooke saw what I was talking about. These people take bread seriously. I really couldn't have been happier. I drank Efes (the Turkish beer) and a Yeni Raki (like Greek Uzo). Brooke ate a chicken kebab and got a great taste of the whole 'Turkish BBQ' experience. We both left happy and had some Baklava to end the night.

Berlin is huge and multi-faceted and we could have spent weeks here exploring the vast plethora of art museums and WWII/Cold War museums and memorials but it was time to move on.