Hokkaido

Pumpkin sold at Berlin street market

Turkish Wraps

Freshly made on the street in Berlin by these two lovely ladies. They had such a warm aura around them and the food looked and smelled lovely. We had just come from a large breakfast and couldn't fit anymore food in but will definitely have to try it next time.

PretzelPic of a pretzel seller on the street in Berlin. These pretzels were extra large and sold by a girl who epitomised the look of a German pretzel seller with her two braids, blonde hair and sweet Rapunzel look, like she just stepped out of a German fairytale.

Common around the southern part of Germany they are eaten as a snack, sometimes for breakfast and are made of simple ingredients: wheat flour, water, sugar & yeast along with large helpings of thick chunky bits of salt. The exact date and place of the origin of the pretzel is not known, but in 1111 the pretzel was an emblem on the bakers’ guilds in Southern Germany - only a short 896 years ago.

And did you know that within the Catholic church, pretzels are regarded as having religious significance and are particularly associated with Lent, fasting and prayers before Easter.

And in North America, fat bar goers eat lots of pretzels with beer, go the fatties!

Jam session
This lovely chap gave us the most in depth and detailed explanation of each of the jams he was selling - where they came from (the fruit all came from areas around Berlin), what they were made of and more. It was almost too much information! And, he had a million types so it was a long visit to this particular stall at the market in central Berlin.

The one funny comment he made was about one of the jams, I think it was a strawberry-rhubarb combination. He said this one was the best as the berries came from Sweden!

Street ArtI really liked this quote and the basil growing out of this old drinking fountain, a few metres away.

Strange German hot dog toppings

D enjoying his dog with some cheese that really looked like artificial marshmallows and some other toppings which I didn't bother to examine as it was a late night snack after a night out in Berlin. My hot dog which had lots and lots of onions, I think they were fried then roasted, which made them very crispy. My hot dog was also topped with cucumber, it was a good addition because I like cucumber, but very strange. Why sliced cucumber on top of a hot dog? And the crispy onions gave it such an odd texture.

OJ in the square

Cheeky oj makers in central Berlin, my memory fails me but I think it was in Postdamer Platz, where there is a weekly Saturday food market. For 1 Euro you got freshly squeezed orange juice which looked and smelled delicious but when you tasted it, it was extremely sour!

It took me about half an hour to finish a tiny glass as I thought my mouth would remain in a constant pucker but my travel partner drank theirs in one gulp! Was very happy I did not order the large glass.

The entertainment value was worth it, these boys were performing their oj squeezing with flare and were mucking around for the camera. The one shielding himself said his girlfriend gets jealous if other girls take pictures of him (?)

'Ich bin ein Berliner!' Yes I feel like a jelly doughnut today, had lots of great food and fun in Berlin over the weekend. Will post as soon as I can unpack and shut out the noise of the Notting Hill Carnival happening outside my window!

In Berlin they have this funny television tower which looks like the CN tower, except they love it more than Torontonians love the CN. It is on postcards, t-shirts, bar posters, graffiti, advertising and more. Our poor CN tower is left for tourists only, I think the city should make it cool like they do in Berlin - although everyone seems to be uber cool there - and very tall!