Ich bin ein Berliner (or I will be in May)

Seeking suggestions for a late May couple of days in Berlin. Any must see, must eat, must drink suggestions? Time will be limited. Also, has anyone experienced the various airports. In the planning stage I may have a choice. I found reasonable flights from Orly to "Shoënsthing" (I don't have it in front of me).

Well, I suggest you eat a Berliner, a type of pastry. Some pea soup or a Bockwurst with potato salad would be nice, both enjoyed best curbsisde at the train station .

Maybe you should PM one of our newest members, Martin Barz, who cheffles about a restaurant in Berlin (http://www.berlinkitchen.com). I spent a good amount of time in Berlin a good amount of time ago and know it only as a divided city.

[Jenise]

Go see Checkpoint Charlie: it's a place you've heard about all your life, and the next time you hear about it it will be cool to have a real memory to resource. Of course, as with all things historically important, it's a lot smaller than you think.

Seeking suggestions for a late May couple of days in Berlin. Any must see, must eat, must drink suggestions? Time will be limited. Also, has anyone experienced the various airports. In the planning stage I may have a choice. I found reasonable flights from Orly to "Shoënsthing" (I don't have it in front of me).

I spent 10 days in Berlin 9 years ago (yikes!!! time flies!). I thought it was a great city with many restaurant options. I even found many good Italian restaurants. There is also a very famous mega store called KaDeWe (kah-deh-vay) where one could get literally anything. I was a budding wine geek then, but I do remember seeing lots of bottles of wine for purchase. I remember flying Lufthansa into Tegel Airport without any problems, but this was pre 9/11.

Garibaldo,

Is this the year of the pig???????

Garibaldo, Is this the year of the pig???????

Hey, I'm just a party animal. Why should the Democrats and Republicans have all the fun?

PartyAnimals.jpg

Must eat? In Berlin?

What about some Doener


Must see?

Since the wall is gone there isn`t much to see anymore I think
...but have a look here, there should be a bunch of suggestions for Berlin sightseeings etc.

At first I thought about writing down something about MacBurgers `n stuff

To be honest the only regional dish of Berlin that I know of is Berliner Spreegurke (Berlin spree (=river) cucumber but I didnt wanted to scare you that much. According to Wikipedia Berlins regional dishes consist mainly of things like this (klick for pic)

Berliner Schnitzel is another thing, the meat is from cow udders, I mean....whoever likes it...

Rollmops should also be frequent in this area but I would suggest to avoid it...but for sure there should be some nice (fish) restaurants in Berlin, or the unavoidable italian...

The Berliner should be named "Pfannkuchen" in Berlin

Currywurst is one german dish I can think of, but not limited to a region, I would suggest Konnopkes Imbiss if you like meat and sausages; as this looks pretty "original stylish" to me



Dishes like this always remind me why I`d rather get to South France (or anywhere else lol ) than to east germany.
(couldnt resist, sorry )

[Jenise]

At first I thought about writing down something about MacBurgers `n stuff

To be honest the only regional dish of Berlin that I know of is Berliner Spreegurke (Berlin spree (=river) cucumber but I didnt wanted to scare you that much. According to Wikipedia Berlins regional dishes consist mainly of things like this (klick for pic)

Berliner Schnitzel is another thing, the meat is from cow udders, I mean....whoever likes it...

Rollmops should also be frequent in this area but I would suggest to avoid it...but for sure there should be some nice (fish) restaurants in Berlin, or the unavoidable italian...

The Berliner should be named "Pfannkuchen" in Berlin

Currywurst is one german dish I can think of, but not limited to a region, I would suggest Konnopkes Imbiss if you like meat and sausages; as this looks pretty "original stylish" to me



Dishes like this always remind me why I`d rather get to South France (or anywhere else lol ) than to east germany.
(couldnt resist, sorry )

Richard, your reccos somehow compel me to realize that though I spent close to a week in Berlin, I don't recall a single meal I had there--and I'm someone who remembers meals. There must be some distinctive food there, but I didn't trip over any. The Babylonian museum was exquisite, though.

I'm convinced you need to know someone in the place you're going. I will be dealing with computer people, not necessarily the best examples of fine food and drink, but hey, when in Rome, I can get down with a huge stein of beer and some... oh no a pun just hit. This has to be the pubchline of a joke from the past:

Knockwurst? Dat vas de vurst food I ever tasted?

Like I said - look for Italian restaurants in Berlin!!!!!

I can get down with a huge stein of beer

I do like Berliner Pilsner, but it's not too different from any eastern European/Czech Pilsner. Berliner Weisse from Kindl is a great beer though (high acid and rather flemish-tasting). The Berlin custom of adding woodruff or raspberry syrup (Like stoplights) to it is a little bizarre. Where in Berlin are you staying? Prenzlauer Berg is my favorite part of town. Great little side-walk eateries and lots of diversity. Stick to the former East in any event. Some of the worlds finest museums and art galleries reside here. Really, the whole city is a walking tour of monuments and art exibits. It is the most electrifying city in Europe. Have a good time!

Here are several videos of Berlin Restaurants. Keep your eyes open for "Facil" and "AIGNER am Gendarmenmarkt".

http://www.luxity.tv/movie.php?id=1

Like I said - look for Italian restaurants in Berlin!!!!!

In all my time in Europe some of the best, modest restaurants I ate in were the Italian, Greek and, at the time, Yugoslavian restaurants in Germany. They had hearty and tasty fare which didn't cost an arm and a leg. The folks were also genuinely hospitable ... in a Cheers-like place where everybody knows your name way. I remember once at the Pizzeria Mini-Golf in Renningen (Baden-Württemberg), Germany, the Italian owner saw me, the fellow expatriot, American paesano, come in and was all excited. He had made something extra special. That much I understood. Unfortunately, at the time I didn't know the particular word for that something special in Italian. Well, it turned out to be marinated octopus ... big white chunks of it. It wasn't quite ready when I sat down to my so it stared at me from out of the deli case for a good hour. Then came the moment of truth. Me, Mr. I don't eat much fish no less raw fish, and the I don't want to offend my friend octopus chunks. I closed my eyes and dug in ... delicious.