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April 07, 2005
WE'D LIKE SOME CHEESE WITH THAT
(It's not just wiener schnitzel... it's art, baby.)
On the whole, I'm digging the food over here. I'm still crap at ordering, and my German still stinks. But my charades is improving dramatically. I even got a coffee to go this afternoon. I'm not sure if the lady at the counter understood me, or if she just wanted me to get out of her store because I was scaring the other customers with my "walking away cup of coffee" mime routine.
We went to a Russian restaurant for dinner the other night and had herring salad with vodka. Being stupid Americans, we poured the vodka into the herring salad. Word of advice. Don't pour the vodka into the herring salad. Drink the vodka. Then eat the herring salad. It'll save you having to wash off your tongue.
lebensmittelgeschäft: a grocery store
The first time that I went shopping, I didn't have a German/English dictionary so I only bought food that was unpackaged (like oranges) or that had pictures on it. I mostly bought water, lunch meat and things for sandwiches. I did not know that I needed to bring my own grocery bag, so I had to put the groceries in my purse.
It still smells like salami.
The second time I went shopping, I had the dictionary and a tote bag. So I was feeling a little adventurous. That was the night we had hot purple glop for dinner.
And in the checkout lines, in addition to gum and candy, you can also get a fifth of Jaegermeister. Just in case you need a little chaser for your Snickers.
frühstück: breakfast
European people eat lunch meat for breakfast. Lunch meat, or as they call it here, "meat," is very good, but I have a very hard time getting excited about a liverwurst sandwich at seven thirty in the morning.
mittagessen: lunch
There are a million and two Doner Kebap stands all over Berlin. Doner Kebaps are sort of like pita sandwiches. Most of the shops I have seen have a giant leg-shaped pillar of rotating meat in their front window, and they shave meat off the leg for sandwiches. I have only tried one of these, and found it be awfully cabbage-y.
(The big hunk of meat is in the window just above the blue chair.)
abendessen: dinner
They also have a lot of currywurst shops. Currywurst is a cut up sausage with ketchup and curry on it. It's better than it sounds.
(I can't tell if there are 35 other Currystations, or if it's like Baskin-Robbins and they have thirty six currylicious flavors.)
(German tater tots are very fancy.)
Posted by tammy at April 7, 2005 10:20 AM
Comments
If you do get to england, we have doner kebabs and they are nasty.
Also meat and cheese for breakfast is kinda fun, to me. But probably only because you can fill yourself up on it and thus not starve because the people you stay with don't eat lunch and thus the next meal provided is somewhere around eight at night.
Have fun, and do come to England. You need to see the red phone boxes before BT does away with them all.
Posted by: hannah at April 8, 2005 01:08 PM
Love the post and pics. Some of the food sounds pretty good....
Posted by: Vickie at April 8, 2005 12:36 PM
Yes, Berlin is very cool. And Germans (but certainly not all Europeans) eat lunch meat (Aufschnitt) for breakfast *and* dinner. The pureed red cabbage is for lunch. I've been living in Germany for the past 15 years and the dog poop starts to get to you after a while. Hope you have fun.
Posted by: christina at April 8, 2005 10:35 AM
*laughing* Why would you put the vodka IN the salad to begin with? Waste of perfectly good vodka!
The only time I've encountered lunch meat was in Hong Kong (I guess they got it from the Brits) and was equally horrified. A thick glob of horrible sausage first thing in the morning.. Central Europeans must be nuts!
Posted by: a brown gown at April 8, 2005 02:51 AM
that all looks fantastic, although im not down with liverwurst for breakfast either. how is the cheese selection? and WHY ARE YOU THERE? besides being cool in europe of course...
Posted by: hannah at April 7, 2005 11:00 PM
Those tater tots are pretty! And the giant meat leg looks divine as well. :)
Posted by: Becca at April 7, 2005 09:10 PM
Doner Kebabs kept me alive when I lived in Trier one summer. Try it with the sauce ("saaw-sah") and no salat.
MMMMMMMMM.
Posted by: Leah at April 7, 2005 05:14 PM
Did I miss why you are there and how long you will be there? I love your take on things though! Legal Diva
Posted by: Legal Diva at April 7, 2005 05:01 PM
Wow. This is so nifty. Loving the travel and the pics. Stay warm (optional) and safe (imperative)!
I am such a jewish mother.
Posted by: Chi Zit at April 7, 2005 02:24 PM
Wow. This is so nifty. Loving the travel and the pics. Stay warm (optional) and safe (imperative)!
I am such a jewish mother.
Posted by: Anonymous at April 7, 2005 02:24 PM
Wow! What an adventure. My dad loves German food because of the cabbage. I myself could do with out it! LOL
Posted by: Dianne at April 7, 2005 01:11 PM
Gosh thanks so much for sharing your pics and experiences. I love learning about travels and other countries. So cool you get to experience a whole new culture.
Posted by: ani at April 7, 2005 12:16 PM
Those tater tots look fantastic!
Posted by: Bertha at April 7, 2005 11:27 AM