One thing we loved about Berlin was the range of affordable and delicious international food available. While we’ve clearly been eating well, we have missed our favorite Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Chinese dishes. Berlin had good restaurants specializing in all these cuisines. One favorite was Yumcha Heroes in Mitte, which served a wide variety of Chinese dumplings.
Continuing our legacy of eating all the things, we checked out Street Food Thursday while in Berlin. Every Thursday Markethalle Neun in Kreuzberg has many stalls of vendors selling snacks from all over the world. It’s pretty much exactly like Off the Grid, for you Bay Area friends. Nothing we had was a standout but it was a really fun scene and there was a ton to choose from. Definitely recommended!
These knödel (dumplings) were stuffed with spinach and cheese. They were ok, but really rich.
The East Side Gallery is a nearly mile-long section of the Berlin Wall that was painted by muralists in 1990 and is intended as a memorial for freedom. The murals have been covered with graffiti and though some restoration work has been done it seems like a losing battle. It is truly sad to see how the art has been disrespected. Still, walking along this stretch of wall is quite interesting and moving. Here are some favorite pieces:
Berlin was great for many reasons – art, food, cooler weather (wearing pants again!), seeing an old friend – but one thing that really stood out to me was the variety of ways the city remembers its past. By comparison, the US is pretty lousy at this, especially when it comes to taking responsibility for our actions. There are more museums and monuments in Berlin than a person could possibly visit in one trip, but here are some that stuck with me:
The Topography of Terror recounts the establishment of the SS and Gestapo in extreme detail. There are so many stories you can tell about World War II and the Holocaust. I thought this was a really interesting point of view.
We ♥ fromage. Cheese featured prominently in all of our dinner picnics in France and we’ve learned a few things about our cheese likes and dislikes. We are all about the runny, unpasteurized cows-milk cheeses that can be spread like butter and that used to be banned from public spaces because of their odor. We’ve listed our favorites below. Word of warning: keep these cheeses in a tightly sealed container or else your house will smell like feet!
We’ve compiled our favorite places, things, and food into city guides that we hope will be practical and easy to use if you’re planning a trip to Europe. Lucky you!
You can visit the main city guides page here. Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Paris are live. We will keep adding to this page as we have time, so check back in. Up next is Berlin!
We are very sad to say that Ian’s family lost the most wonderful and special dog yesterday. We will love you forever, Bodhi.
We took a day trip from Nice to visit Monaco and pretend we were billionaires. Or Bond.
The drive along the coast was stunning and if we’d had more time we would have explored any of the coves and beaches along the way. I think if you’re looking for a quieter and beautiful South of France beach experience, that stretch between Nice and Monaco (Villefrance sur Mer, Eze, Cap D’Ail) is probably the place to be.
Our first stop was the Monte Carlo. Because we were internationally renown secret agents, we figured they’d let us right in. Not so much.
Nice is pretty much French Miami, which turned out to be a nice (Nice!) place to spend a few days. I think you can see both France and Florida in the architecture:
Here’s a clue:
