Days 5-6, Berlin and Paris

Days 5-6

Berlin and Paris

Our last day in Berlin started by traveling from Hamburg to Berlin by train in the morning.  It was an easy ride to the train station with no international incidents.  

Once back in Berlin, Janna picked us up and took us to the Reichstag, the capital building where the German government meets.  Her brother-in-law works there as a representative from the northwest of Germany.  We got a special private tour of this historical and modern home of their government.

The Reichstag now has a special glass dome that sits atop the Reichstag which provides views of much of the city.  It was great having this special tour, a first for all three of us.

We were taken out for a farewell dinner in one of the old East German neighborhoods.  It is one of Philipp’s favorite restaurants, and we now understand why.  The place is called Frau Mittenmang, and the chef creates a new menu each day.  Most of the words on the daily menu were in German, and the few that weren’t were either Italian or French.  It was a little like a crossword puzzle sorting it out.  

We started with three great appetizers:  roasted jalapeño peppers called pimentos in Germany, raw salmon on asparagus, and seared venison.  All three were excellent tasting, and two showed the chef’s artistic side.

Notice the asparagus the Germans love so much in the salmon appetizer.

Our main courses were fabulous, but the lighting diminished to the point the photos are blurred.  What a sad finding!  I’ll add one to show my favorite main dish, one centered around a ‘flap steak’ (beef), a miso-hollandaise sauce, a 60 minute egg, yes, asparagus, and truffle dark potatoes. 

I did capture the dessert that we hope to make in our own kitchen.  It’s called a Pavlova which is made up of egg whites, sugar, and fruit.  Neither of us had ever seen it or heard of it.  I asked the restaurant owner for a recipe, but no luck for any of the dishes.  This was one of the best restaurant meals we have ever had, and just one recipe would have been nice.  So we invited the chef to St. George.  

There was one unusual specialty of the house:  A piano in the men's room.  Next in line had to play while waiting for their turn.  I was lucky enough to enjoy some live music.

Earlier in the day, this is what Lara would claim is a great desert.  I can’t argue with her.  Nothing like a good butter and sugar crepe.  I grew up on them.

What a nice send off by our friends!  

Day 6 was all about getting to Paris.  We weren’t watching the news for 5 days nor checking the weather at our next destination.  Were we surprised when we got here.

Some friends knew there were issues with too much water, something that has haunted us in past visits to Europe.  We did get some emails foretelling problems, but it became impossible to ignore when we learned some special sites were closed indefinitely.  Check out the river in the next picture, and notice that there is no dock at the bottom of the stairs.  Oh well, we have our umbrellas and we will deal with it.

We’ll have more Paris Photos tomorrow.