Ich bin ein Berliner

As some readers may know, for most of August the family is going to be in Germany and Austria. For the first nine days we are staying in a nice flat in Berlin, nearby the Brandenburg Gate and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. We have been doing all sorts of fun things, of which I have no doubt Aleah and I shall write about, forced or not. However, in this post I will talk about something that has become almost a tradition for the Blomshield Nomads. In almost every new country we visit, one of the first activities booked is a food tour. Our Berlin food tour was very fun (and delicious!) so I thought it was the perfect subject to do a post on. 

Our tour took place entirely within the neighborhood of Kreuzberg, which is located in almost the exact center of Berlin. We met our guide, Juan from Mallorca, and a 15 year Berliner, in front of a beautiful church from the late 19th century. Juan told us that a simple way to know if a building is from the late 19th century while in Berlin is that it is made of red bricks, which were popular at the time. A short walk away from the church we had our first snack stop. We walked over to a covered market, one of only a small amount still left in Berlin, although it’s appearance had changed quite a bit since it was built a few hundred years ago. 

Taking a seat at the tables, we only had to wait a few moments before Juan brought out some interesting food. The three snacks were some absolutely delicious rolls, along with two different kinds of meat, which I believe were called leberkäse and hackwurst. They looked similar to meatloaf, but tasted much more like sausage. Once we had finished gobbling up those treats, Juan produced two jelly donuts, the famous “Berliners”. As we dug into the delicious pastries, Dad asked Juan about JFK’s famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech, and we were informed that people from Berlin don’t call the desert Berliners, and therefore no one in the crowd was actually confused. Once everything was in our bellies (and that didn’t take very long) we began walking to the next destination, although this time it was a bit further, and we took a longer, but more scenic route. Along the way, many examples of wonderful Berlin architecture were shown to us, including one of the city’s old water towers. We also saw the courtyard of one of the many apartment complexes in the area. 

After this enjoyable trek, our second stopping point was reached. This time, instead of somewhere to eat, we were shown a beautiful landmark on top of the largest hill in Berlin. Juan asked whether we would like to climb to the top, and as all of us were feeling pretty fresh, we agreed. It was a very short hike, but the views from the top were super cool and we were able to see almost all of Berlin. After the short walk back down the hill, we were only a couple of minutes away from the next few delicious treats. Juan showed us to a table at a bar, and ordered us some “Berlin-Luft” a kind of alcohol. While we enjoyed that (well, Aleah and I didn’t), he also brought over one of Berlin’s most classic dishes, Currywurst! Currywurst consists of a sausage, with or without the skin, covered in ketchup with a sprinkling of curry powder on top. It originated in 1949, during the Berlin airlift. One of the supplies that was delivered was curry powder thanks to the British, and so one enterprising woman came up with this dish to have some sort of use for it. As with all the food, the entire family found it delicious, and would have eaten it all, except that we knew more food was coming. 

Fortunately, our next spot was right next door, or else I’m not sure I could’ve made it with how stuffed I felt. KFC is very popular here, although it’s Korean fried chicken more than Kentucky that is eaten. A few bites of from Seoul and we moved on to Istanbul. One benefit of being in such a multi cultural city as Berlin is that the ethnic food is very good. The Turks are the largest minority group in Germany, actually being the largest population outside of Turkey itself. Because of this, I would say the easiest type of restaurant to find is a Döner kebab restaurant. A Döner kebab looks sort of like a gyro, except it’s different in some way unknown to me. Regardless of what the difference is, they are delicious. Once we had eaten all of the Döner kebabs we could put in our overstuffed stomachs, it was time for our last treat. We aren’t newbies to food tours, but we still manage to be stuffed before all the food offerings are over. 

Berlin may not be known for ice cream, but there are some pretty good places, as Juan showed us. The rest of the family bought cones, but I had to be difficult and got a bowl, which was gone in a matter of seconds. Vanilla & Marille is known for handmade ice cream and sorbet with only fresh ingredients, and we could taste it! The entire family enjoyed the tour, and I am no exception. The food was absolutely delicious, and Juan, our guide, had so many fun facts and cool stories that made this a great welcome to Berlin.