I think one of my new favorite things when traveling is to take a food tour of the city to learn more about its history through its cuisine.
So today I sampled Berlin over three hours and 10,000 steps in a tour led by Julie, a Frenchwoman who moved to Germany for her studies and fell in love with Berlin and stayed.
We started at an Italian vegan bakery. I’m new to vegan food but ever since I discovered vegan chocolate ice cream in Den Haag it’s opened my eyes to what’s possible (and delicious). This Girella pasty had a pistachio filling that was amazing. It was not health food and I did not care.
Next was currywurst, which was invented in Berlin in 1949. It’s a sausage with curry ketchup that usually has a side of fries. It’s estimated that 800 million currywursts are eaten every year in Germany — 70 million in Berlin alone.
Later we had Doner kebab sandwiches, which are hugely popular in Germany and much of Europe. Popularized in the 1970s in West Berlin by Turkish immigrants, kebab stands are so ever-present now that there’s huge competition that keeps them very affordable.
We ended the day at a pastry shop for some delicious cinnamon rolls. Here’s a group photo of our gang, which included folks from Scotland, Ireland, and a Chilean couple now living just up the road from me in Leiden. (We’re going to get together in January :)
In the evening, I decided to wander out and have a late dinner and grabbed some pork schnitzel and beer at a very old-school tavern.
Tomorrow? Thinking about going to nearby Potsdam during the day to tour the castle and then doing a Christmas market tour that night.