Does Mary think I am a sweet guy? Or a salty one?

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Geo: 52.5235, 13.4115

There were numerous business-types in the hostel this morning - the whole European mentality towards hostels is completely different than in North America. In Europe they are seen as budget accommodations, not merely as a haven for poor backpackers.

I wanted a bagel this morning, but the place we went to was closed! Should've double checked the opening hours listed in the guidebook. There was a second place listed that served bagels ... and it was even closer, so we should have gone there instead.

We strolled down Oranienburger Strasse in search of breakfast but didn't find anything too appealing. So we continued to wander towards Unter Den Linden - we eventually settled on a bakery. The sausage croissant was pretty average, but the Danish with pineapple, strawberries, peaches, and almonds was pretty tasty. Especially nice with a cappuccino. Breakfast was pricey - almost $10 CAD for my share.

The plan today was to visit central Berlin. We started at Potsdamer Platz, considered the Times Square of Berlin. Just outside one of the train station entrances was a wall memorial - it showed the plans for the remaining parts of the wall. Most of these areas will be turned into parks. After, we checked out the ultra-modern Sony Centre, browsed at some of the shops, and were off to a museum.

Mary asked which museum we were going to see - I joked "The Museum of Gigantic Sausages". Mary Moment #58: "Really? That'll be more entertaining than any art I've seen so far!" she replied, giddy as a schoolgirl.

Mary was crushed when we arrived at the Gemaldegalerie to find only exquisite paintings, and no gigantic sausages. The Gemaldegalerie attempts to re-unite the art collections of East and West Germany. There was an included audio guide ... I usually find these bad things because they tempt you to see every piece of art. You end up exhausted by the end of it all.

We spent far too much time gawking at the mediocre medieval art. By the time we reached the good stuff at the end, we were too tired to appreciate any of it. There was a rather large section of Rembrandts, and also a large collection of Battistas. I'm not sure why, because none of Battista's work appeared to be any good.

We backtracked to the Sony Centre for lunch - I had the big meat borek, an Eastern European pastry that had a chance to be good ... until it was flattened in a panini press. The bad thing is that it didn't sufficiently heat the borek. I would have preferred a cold but non-crushed pastry. A little more meat would also have improved things.

Mary had a kebab - we noted how much smaller it was in comparison to the ones in the Baltics. Apparently, it wasn't as tasty either. We saw a stand selling freshly-squeezed juices so we grabbed some mango OJ. I couldn't really taste any mango.

Next up was the Museum of Musical Instruments - it was part of the Kulturforum ticket to, including admission to the Gemaldegalerie and a host of others. It was pretty boring so we decided to skip the other museums.

The Topography of Terror was next - an outdoor museum along one of the few surviving stretches of the original wall. In the Baltics, all we saw were occupation museums and here it's all about wall museums! Still, it was fairly interesting.

I was starving, so I picked up a schnitzel sandwich at a grocery store. I gobbled it down in record time - Mary was shocked at the speed. Served only with butter and lettuce, it was nothing fancy - but it was much-needed sustenance. Truth be told, I was still pretty hungry after the borek I ate a few hours before - but I'm reverting back to my old ways of not stopping to eat properly.

Next up was the Gendarmemarkt square - notice the half-French, half-German name? Well, this square is flanked on either side by a French and a German cathedral. I really couldn't tell which one was which. It's a beautiful square, but a little dead.

Mary-ism #29: "I smooch off people." Well, Mary ... exactly what are you smooching off of people? I think she meant "mooch", but "smooch" results in a much racier story.

We had dinner shortly after in Prenzlauer Berg. It's a cool area with tons of restaurants and bars. It's currently one of the trendiest areas in Berlin, as Berlin's uber-cool crowd migrates eastward.

We decided that hitting a beer garden was a must in Germany - tonight, it was the Prater Biergarten. This was one of our best meals in a while, and was surprisingly much cheaper than an equivalent meal in Calgary.

Mary-ism #30: "You're a salty guy!" How does Mary know this??? She then said "But it's actually sweet, you know!" Again, how does Mary know??? Is she finding these things out while I am sleeping??? I feel so ... violated ...

Our discussion went back to the dunes of Nida, on the Curonian Split. Mary-ism #31: "I loved it because I've never seen sand on the ocean like that before!" Uh ... I seem to recall us visiting several beaches on this trip ... and the previous trip ...

After this rapid combination of Mary-isms in such a short time span, I hobbled back to the hostel clutching my aching stomach. If nothing else, Mary managed to keep me in stitches for the duration of this trip!

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Photos

a
Potsdamer Platz.

a2
In Potsdamer Platz - this section of the wall marks the spot where the first chunk of the wall was removed.

b
I wanted this knife holder so bad ... but I had to settle for a similar toothpick holder.

c
I don't know how, but we couldn't find the Gemaldegalerie and somehow walked right by this giant sign! Must be our tiny Asian eyes ...

d
What the heck kind of musical instrument is this??? More like instrument of torture! Mary was strangely amused and intrigued ...

f
The Topography of Terror - one of the few remaining stretches of the wall.

h
The first evidence we have seen of a strip joint here in Berlin! This is unlike the Baltics, where they were around every corner.

i
French Cathedral? German Cathedral? Who knows, and who cares?

j
A new kind of Kinder treat. It was so cute ... I cried a little when I bit its head off ...

k
Mary Moment #61: Not content with stripping inside of a sacred house of worship in Gdansk, Mary saw the perfect opportunity to top that - stripping in a square opposite TWO houses of worship. Gotta admire the girl - always pushing herself to new heights. Or depths, depending how you look at it ...

l
The Berlin Symphony's concert hall.

m
Fassbender & Rausch, supposedly Europe's biggest chocolate store. Inside is a 55' long buffet of chocolatey gourmet goodness. I think I've finally found what I've been searching for my entire life ... I feel ... complete ...

m2
Since I was a young child, my dream in life has been to eat a chocolate truffle that was larger than my head. Today, that dream came true ... I'm so happy ... sob sob ...

t
Mary Moment #60: One thing that makes Mary an awesome travel partner is her willingness to pose for stupid pictures without question. All I had to say here was "Mary, go squeeze those teats hanging from the cow's udder" and she was all over it. Tonight, she gave new meaning to the term "double fisting".

u
Mary Moment #61: Mary hugged this giant sausage without me even asking!

w
Finally, a place where I feel I belong ...

x
Dinner at the beer garden - we started with the chanterelle soup. Good flavour, but surprise - no cream! The accompanying house beer was a little bit bitter.

y
Tiny girl + two large beers = Mary-isms + Mary Moments

y2
Tiny girl + two large empty beers = craploads of Mary-isms + craploads of Mary Moments

y3
Mary Moment #62: After downing those two large beers, Mary peed herself (again). But this wasn't a bad thing - because of these many pee incidents, I've learned to say "Excuse me, but do you carry adult diapers?" in Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, and German!

z
I had the veal meatloaf with mashed potatoes (not smooth, but chunky and still yummy). It was stuffed with hardboiled eggs, and topped with a chanterelle cream sauce (you can only escape cream for so long in this part of the world!). Hearty, good, and extremely filling.

za
Mary had the duck with dumplings and red cabbage. The dumplings were huge blobs of dough, reminiscent of the canederli I had in Bolzano last summer (see Euro 2006 blog entitled "At least the cheese didn't taste like Dinki"). The duck was good, but I prefer duck with crisper skin. It was also a little dry.

zd
Mary-ism #32: "Wow! It's huge ... I can't even grasp it with one hand." Thanks Mary, that's quite the compliment! What was she talking about? I had a massive craving for apple juice, so I bought a 1 L glass bottle of it. Upon hearing me remark about its girth and weight, Mary couldn't resist touching it!