What to Do in Berlin in 2 Days: Check out the Fernsehtum

What to Do in Berlin in 2 Days

I love Berlin and this was my third trip to this grittily artsy city, still emerging from the everything, all these years after 1989. 1989! I still remember my German aunt, married to my American uncle, convinced that the world was going to end the night the wall came down.

I went to Berlin for the first time in 1993. What I remember most about that visit is the massive cranes, hovering above the rooftops. They were everywhere.

This time around, I met up with my friend Karen. We got our MBAs together at the University of Chicago back in 2004. She lives in Geneva now with her husband and two kids, but she had a weekend free and asked me if I knew what to do in Berlin in 2 days. I told her I didn’t really know but that I wanted to find out! So we made plans to meet up.

The German language was what had brought us together in the first place. I had studied at the Uni Innsbruck in Austria many years ago. (20 years ago?How did that happen?) She, Freiburg. Not that speaking German matters anymore in Berlin. Everyone, and I mean everyone, speaks English. And so much better than I do German, despite my many years of superintensiv Deutsch.

It was hot when we visited. So hot. 100 degrees Fahrenheit, plus some. Words cannot explain. So don’t got to Berlin when it’s hot. Most restaurants don’t have air conditioning, and public transport doesn’t either. But also remember that I am American and I’m sensitive to a lack of AC.

But go to Berlin for all the other reasons. This was the Paris of the East then. This is the City of the East now. This is a big city, a large city…a London, a New York. The public transport is awesome and amazing and efficient. The city is massive and sprawling and beautiful. Everything is gorgeous. Berlin is gorgeous. Gorgeous and efficient! I want to live there. I think I might live there.

So if you too are wondering what to do in Berlin in 2 days, here are our suggestions…

Day 1 in Berlin…

What to Do in Berlin in 2 Days: Visit the Longest Remaining Stretch of the Berlin Wall

Take the Discover Berlin Half-Day Walking Tour

Start your first day in Berlin with this good value walking tour and get your bearings. But careful…taking a walking tour of Berlin when it is 100 degrees Fahrenheit out like we did is not a wise idea. We loved our tour guide Philippa (a Brit expat) who took us all over the city, from the Berlin Wall to Unter den Linden and then onto the Brandenburg Gate. We also stopped in front of the rebuilt Reichstag and the Holocaust Memorial and heard the amazing stories of Cold War Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie. This was a really great, comprehensive tour of the city.

Have Lunch at Schwarzwaldstube in Mitte

This is simple, hearty delicious German food served in an environment somewhat akin to your elderly aunt’s front room. I loved it here and could have sat there forever, watching the people go by. Very relaxed, very perfect. (And yes, it is sort of funny that we went all the way to Berlin to eat food from the Black Forest but we didn’t really care about that.) Don’t fill up too much because there’s more food to come today…

Experience a Kreuzberg Food & Street Art Tour

Take a break for a few hours and then get ready for your food and street art tour of Kreuzberg. I am a huge fan of Urban Adventures, the tour provider. You’ll get a chance to experience Berlin’s multicultural food scene and taste Berlin staples like currywurst and doner kebabs while you discover Kreuzbergian street art and hear stories about Kreuzberg’s wild past and present.

Have Dinner in Friedrichshein

Dinner at Alarabi in Friedrichshein

After taking a break after your street art tour, head over to Friedrichshein for dinner. Check out Alarabi, a Lebanese restaurant. Friedrichshein is rocking late at night so enjoy the vibe along with some delicious Lebanese wine. Alarabi is a nondescript place on a street crowded with restaurants. You will enjoy the quality, the value and overall, the taste. We had a great time here which just goes to show you…don’t judge by appearance alone. After dinner, check out some of the other bars in Friedrichshein! This is a great neighborhood to explore if you are wondering what to do in Berlin in 2 days.

Day 2 in Berlin…

Visit The DDR Museum

Start your morning by finding your way to the DDR Museum, which is dedicated to life in East Germany before the wall came down. If you like old-school branding, this is the place for you. The museum also gives you a good sense of the surveillance state and how people lived and shopped. I loved it here and it only took us about an hour to absorb everything. After the DDR Museum, you will be right on Museum Insel so take your pick of visiting the Berlinerdom (the cathedral), the Altes Musuem (Greek & Roman), the Neues Museum (Egyptian), or the German Historical Museum. Honestly, you could spend all day here, there’s so much to see!

Have a Late Lunch in Mitte

Delicious Lunch at Murat La Barba

Whenever you are ready, head over to the lovely Murat La Barba in Mitte: for some excellent Italian cuisine. I had a huge heaping plate of pork medallions and delicious mushrooms, all washed down with some lovely Italian rose. I liked the simplicity of the space and the friendliness of the staff and would gladly eat here again and again.

Check out Markthalle Neun

Markthalle Neun

After lunch, do some window shopping in Mitte and then head over to Markthalle Neun, a really nice food market in Kreuzberg. Check out the great beers at Heidenpeters and have some delicious snacks from the many vendors. The only downside is a lack of seating. Be ready to stand, a lot. (Which is a German thing. They love the tall tables.) Check the opening days and hours before you go as this seems to be only a Thursday/Friday/Saturday thing. Thursday night, in particular, is the big night so if your’e in town on a Thursday night, this is a MUST.

Enjoy the Wine and Food at Ottorink Wine Bar

Ottorink Wine Bar in Kreuzberg is a great place to have dinner and experience German wines. While we were there, we asked the barman how old he was when the Berlin Wall fell and he shared his amazing stories of the day. We liked it so much here that we went back to our hotel to cool off for a few hours and then came back for dinner.

Seriously, guys, I had such a great time in Berlin even though it was 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Imagine how much fun I would have had if it were cooler! It is a great city and one I can easily see myself living in. Enjoy your time here!

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Still Wondering What to Do in Berlin in 2 Days? Check Out These Tours…

The post What to Do in Berlin in 2 Days first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Napcabs Munich Airport: The Munich Airport Sleeping Pods

Review of Napcabs, Munich Airport Sleeping Pods

Napcabs Munich Location: Terminal 2, Gate H32

The Victim: Me

The Background: I think I will start a new blog. The Travel Sagas blog. Where people like me can contribute their awful travel sagas in writing. This way, rather than boring your friends with the entire story in person, you can just say, “Here’s the link. It’s easier if you read it.”

The last five days have been hell. Truly. I am not going to bore you with the details. You really don’t want me to tell the entire story. Let’s just say it involves a Chicago blizzard (snowpocalypse, really), a flight to Frankfurt that never took off, a 16-year-old German exchange student, and a missing passport.  Somewhere during this saga, I unexpectedly found myself in Munich’s airport, with nine-and-a-half hours to kill before my flight to Dubai. During the day! I was exhausted. I needed sleep. So I Google’d “where to sleep in Munich airport” and found out about Napcab, the Munich Airport sleeping pods. (The other option I discovered, which is better for a longer sleep, is the Hilton Munich Airport.  They have an attractive day use/day room rate — more details at the end of this post.)

My Napcabs Munich Airport Review OR What It’s Like to Sleep in the Middle of an Airport

So you see that box up there? The box in the middle of the airport? I spent two hours in that Napcabs sleep pod in Munich Airport the other day. Two very peaceful hours of sleep. And although it was a little bit of an odd experience, it was still worth it.

Napcabs Munich Airport Interior

Napcabs are like those Yo! Hotels you’ve read about. It’s a tiny little sleep pod space with a bed and a desk, meant for the exhausted traveler. There’s a T1 line for you to get online and the Napcab comes with mood lighting and mood music. It’s supposed to come with movies and TV, but I couldn’t get those to work. The odd part about the Napcab is the screen you pull down once you’re inside. It wasn’t a 100% perfect fit during my visit, so light bled in around the edges. And when people approach the Napcab from the outside–which the curious are wont to do–you can see their shadows flicker against the wall. It’s odd knowing that someone it outside your sleeping cabin, trying to look in, while you are trying to sleep. (If you feel weird about this, then the day rate room at the  Hilton Munich Airport is definitely a better option. Also, no matter where you sleep, to get the best sleep possible, I highly encourage you to purchase a combination eye mask and earplug kit. This is a good one.)

Napcabs Munich Aiport Interior & TV

What Napcabs Munich Airport Look Like Inside

Here is the view of the Napcabs Munich Airport sleeping pods from the other side of the bed inside. You can see the control center, which handles your music, lighting, and a wake-up alarm if you should so desire.

I entered my Napcab in Munich Airport around 12:40 pm. I departed around 2:45 pm. So two hours of blissful sleep, in the middle of a long journey. There’s something to be said for sleeping like that, even if it was in the middle of the airport. The Napcabs charge an hourly rate but to the minute. Prices have changed since my visit but for the latest Napcab prices in Munich, check their site.

When you check out, the Napcab sleep pod locks behind you and no one can sleep in it again until it’s been cleaned.

My Napcabs Munich Verdict

If you’re in Munich Airport–and exhausted and need some sleep–do it. Note that there are only four Napcabs at Gate H32 so you’ll need to be lucky like I was!

Great Alternative to Napcabs: Book a Day Room at the Hilton Munich Airport

If Napcab Munich isn’t for you, consider buying a combo set of eye-mask, neck-pillow, and earplugs and find yourself a chair and get cozy. OR consider the Hilton Munich Airport has a day use/day room rate between the hours of 9 am and 6 pm. The hotel is also very conveniently located at the airport between Terminals 1 and 2. I just ran a search for a day rate stay a week from now and it was 89 euros, or 10 euros per hour. Definitely book in advance to get the best rate! What’s great about this is that Hilton lets you book the day room rate directly with them online, which the other hotels I checked with don’t allow.

So if you know you will be sleeping in Munich airport, go to the Hilton Munich Airport website. Use the day that you will be staying at the hotel as your arrival day and departure day. The results that appear will very clearly say Day Use so book one of those rooms.

Enjoy, and sleep well in Munich Airport, Napcab or otherwise!

Pin It for Later!

The post Napcabs Munich Aiport Review: Is a Napcab Worth It? first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Let me start off by saying that this wasn't much of a challenge. Because I only had Currywurst three times while I was in Berlin. If you're going to really do a taste-off, I'd want to see….I don't know…five attempts? Seven? Three seems like a "junior challenge." But three it was.

Firstly, some definitions. What is currywurst, you ask? According to Wikipedia, Currywurst is…

a German national dish consisting of hot pork sausage (German: Wurst) cut into slices and seasoned with curry sauce (regularly consisting of ketchup or tomato paste blended with curry) and generous amounts of curry powder, or a ready-made ketchup-based sauce seasoned with curry and other spices.

When done right, it's the perfect little snack. (Currywurst is normally served cut up in small pieces.) The first time I had currywurst, I was 19 years old and in Salzburg, Austria at Augustiner Brau. I walked up to one of their food stands, asked the guy what he'd recommend (as is still my habit), and he promptly made me up a plate of currywurst. (This, despite me being hundreds of miles away from the home of currywurst in Berlin.)

Many, many years later, with a week in Berlin, I planned try the national dish multiple times.

My first stop during my Eat the World tour of Berlin–the Neuland Imbiss (Oranienplatz 2. 10999). This was on the edge of Kreuzburg, and it was a nice "bio" (organic) stand, run by a cheerful older woman. She made us up a huge plate of currywurst to share. (That the sharing platter in the lead photo.)

It was good. But lukewarm. And it tasted more like a hot dog with ketchup than the deep flavor and spiciness I remembered from that first time back in Austria. 

Attempt #2
Konnopke's Imbiss
Schönhauser Allee 44a
Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg

Lucky for me, this one was right up the street from my German class and on my way to the U-Bahn. I passed it every day at lunch and ignored its siren's song. Until my Day of Currywurst on Thursday. Where I had some. And it was okay. Again, lukewarm. And like a hot dog with ketchup. There was a light dusting of curry powder, but not enough to keep me going. Konnopke sells the East Berlin version of Currywurst, which is "ohne Darm." That means there's no casing on the pork. (No money back in those days.) This left me peckish aftewards.

Attempt #3
Witty's
Wittenbergplatz 5
Berlin

After my disappointment at Konnopke's, I made my way straight to Witty's, conveniently located across from Berlin's biggest department store, KaDeWe. (Who loves shopping? I do, I do!) Witty's is another "Bio" Imbiss–all organic. Here, there was a huge queue. A good sign? I placed my order, with chips this time, and I bought an organic beer too. It took a bit longer to prepare than my last two stops, which I also took as a good sign. Hopefully, I wouldn't be served anything that had been sitting around for a while.

Eventually, I'm handed my currywurst and chips and it's all VERY HOT. Super-hot. I drop my stuff quickly onto one of the little Imbiss tables and dig in. HEAVEN. The currywurst is dense and just the right bit crispy on the outside with great, deep flavors. Although currywurst will always be vaguely hot dog-like, this is intense, meaty meat with a nice snap to the casing. There's just enough currypowder to give it a kick–although I still could have used a bit more. Ah, and the chips are great. Fresh. And I've taken the server's recommendation of adding garlic sauce and chili sauce. 

The Verdict: Within my small sample size of three, I'd definitely say Witty's was my favorite. Good people watching too, and you can hop over to the 6th floor of KaDeWe for some more foodie fun when you're done. Good times. Very good times.

The post Currywurst Challenge, Berlin first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Sgaminegg
Seelower Str. 2
10439 Berlin 

Date of Last Visit: Thursday, September 10th, 2009

The Victim: Me

The Damage: 10 euros. Less than.

The Background: Sgaminegg is another one of Sylee's recommendations. And again in one of those weird sorts of ways, it turns out to be extremely convenient to my German class. So I wandered over after class. The cafe is located in Prenzlauer Berg, where every female seems to be pregnant, and every time I see an attractive older man riding a bicycle, it has a kiddie seat on the back. I'm not imagining this…My Time Out Berlin (actually, Alice's Time Out Berlin), has a whole section on Prenzlauer Berg's baby boom. So when I enter Sgaminegg, I'm not surprised to see not one but something like 5? 6? infants under 6 months. This is not a bad thing. It's just different…that's all.

The menu is small and compact and breakfast-oriented. This worries me because I want lunch. Not to worry. They have two lunch specials on the very small blackboard dangling above the counter. One is a spinach casserole of some sort. The other is a soup. I go for the spinach casserole.

The Music: I wish I could have recorded it. Wonderfully low-fi, and at just the right, light volume. Very cozy. I was glad it wasn't raining, but it was that type of music I like to play on rainy days or Sunday mornings.

The Food: The food arrives and it's a spinach-lovers paradise. This is good because I like spinach. A lot. The dressing on the salad is fantastic. I want to ask if they've used sesame oil or peanut oil somehow because it tastes the rightest bit nutty.The spinach casserole (roll, more like) is fantastic. It seems to be a sheet of phyllo dough that's rolled it's way through a whole lot of spinach that's been lightly seasoned. And then cut into generous pieces. It makes me happy. I seriously consider ordering another. But I'm full. Very full.

The German Homework: Ver- verbs. I did well.

The Verdict:  Sgaminegg is one of those places that keeps things simple. A small, compact menu. A neighborhood place with a soft soundtrack. It's not a destination really–but it is, just the same, very very good. When Sylee explained it to me over email, she said,

"…is just an absolute gem. It's nothing spectacular, it's just deeply
good. (And *very* affordable, though they use mostly organic/"Slow"
products.)"

Deeply good is a good way of describing Sgaminegg. A quiet neighborhood place. A place to go with your newspaper, a book, or your laptop. I wish I had taken more photos of the inside because it had this quiet thrift-shoppy simple and low-maintenance vibe to it that I kinda liked.

The post Sgaminegg, Berlin first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Monsieur Vuong
Alte Schönhauser Str. 46
10119 Berlin

Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The Victim: Me

The Damage: 10 euros

The Background: Sometimes, life works out really well. I had rented an apartment in Berlin from somewhere on the Internet knowing only that it was in the "Mitte." And I had scribbled down a few restaurants that looked to be good, inexpensive lunch spots. Monsieur Vuong was one of them. And as it turns out, he/it were right around the corner from my little flat. Perfect.

The Entrance: Monsieur Vuong's tables are packed outside, so I'm shown a table inside and handed a menu. The menu consists of about five food choices and the rest…is…all…drinks. Seriously…all drinks. (With alcohol or without.) This concerns me. Nothing on th menu really appeals to me.

Luckily, just at that moment when I'm considering fleeing, my server directs me to the blackboard, where today's specials are listed. Monsieur Vuong, I come to learn, is all about the daily specials.

The Food: I order the one of the two? three? daily specials. (I wrote down the name of it and its ingredients somewhere very safe, and now I've of course lost it. Chicken, vegetables, green curry.) As soon as I place my order, it's right in front of me. This place is EFFICIENT. It smells deliciously peanuty and I can't wait to dig in. It's wonderfully rich and I can't get enough of it. Just hot enough to make me think, "Ooh now that's hot," but just cool enough that I'm not sitting there teary-eyed.

The Verdict: I'd go back here.

The post Monsieur Vuong, Berlin first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Facil
Potsdamer Straße 3
10785 Berlin
Germany

Date of Last Visit: Monday, September 7, 2009

The Victim: Me

The Damage: 50 euros

The Background: It's my first day of German class. My first German class in six years. SIX YEARS. Yikes. Somehow, I bluff my way into the C1 class. If you're familiar with the Goethe Institut grading system, that means I'm good. It means I'm very good. I'm convinced they're all imagining things. Even more so when, after I introduce myself in class on Day 1, our teacher declares me "ganz fließend." Oooh…that's a lot to live up to. Particularly, again, considering that I haven't spoken the language AT ALL in SIX YEARS.

As always, I decide to reward myself with lunch after class somehwere nice. Facil sounds nice. It has one Michelin star. And the lunch menu seems like a good value. 18 euros for one course. 28 for two courses. Knowing nothing much more than this, I go.

The Entrance: Facil is located in the Mandala Hotel. I enter, and in very proper German (with a very good accent, or so I've been told), I tell one of the staff members loitering (sexily) around the front desk that I have a reservation at Facil and can they please tell me where it is? He ignores my "ganz fließend" Deutsch and tells me to take the lift to the 5th floor–in crisp English. Bummer.

I'm met at the restaurant entrance by a very handsome and very proper Maître d'. I'm whisked quickly to my table and it is suggested (passive voice!) that I enjoy an apertif. I cannot decline. I request a glass of Sekt and I'm brought something quite lovely from Robert Weil.

The Food: My server is wonderful and speaks German to me the entire time. He is of the "He is so sweet, I want to roll  him up in my pocket and take him home with me" variety.  (When I write sentences like this, it becomes abundantly clear why I can never make a career out of this.) He seems excited to be alive, and I mean that in the best possible way. His enthusiasm for the food is really and truly infectious.

I'm brought a little amuse bouche of baked lamb with avocado. It's delicious. Just like the fishcakes on Saturday at Plane Food, the amuse bouche is perfectly crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. 

The Starter: I ask my super-sweet server for his recommendations and he clearly, very clearly, prefers the "Labskaus von der Ente mit Yuzuemulsions und Entenhautcrumble." (Auf Englisch, that means "Labskaus (hah!) of Duck with Yuzu Emulsion and Duck Skin Crumble." I have no idea what Labskaus means, but the rest I can understand. It arrives and it's the most colorful thing I've eaten all year. I love the contrast of the little blue flowers and the egg yolk. It's a great contrast of flavors and textures as well. Really, this is very well done.

The Main: Rotbarbe mit Taschenkrebs, Papaya, und Grünem Curry." Auf Englisch, that means, "Red Mullet with Crab, Papaya, and Green Curry." Again, the server's recommendation. Sadly, this is pretty boring in comparison to the starter. It's bland. It's nice looking, but bland. But then again, maybe I just eat out too much.

The Ending: So they bring me the dessert menu and I explain that I can't have chocolate. All three desserts on the menu have chocolate, so I politely decline and just say that I'd like the bill, please. (He does suggest that the chef could make me something special, but at the time, I didn't feel like going that route.) After this conversation, my server returns to my table a few minutes later with a complementary treat from the chef–I've seen other tables get this as well. It looks suspiciously coffee- and chocolate-like to me. I ask him what's in it and he explains that it's some sort of mochaccino. I explain again…no chocolate, and no caffeine. This sort of thing, I'd argue, shouldn't happen in a Michelin-starred restaurant. But it's fine. Another server swoops in quickly with a scoop of lemon sorbet, dusted with pistachio nuts. This makes me very happy.

The Verdict: I liked it here, but you know what…I felt old. And like I should have been dining with a younger man. Shame about the sexy Swedes.

The post Facil, Berlin first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

The Shy Chef
A Secret Location in The Bohemian District of Kreuzberg

Date of Last Visit: Saturday, September 5, 2009

The Victims: Four Swedes, one Mexican, one German, one Yank (besides for me)

The Background: In planning for my visit to Berlin, I e-mailed Sylee, who writes the beautiful blog Berlin Reified. To keep things simple, I asked for her top three Berlin picks. The Shy Chef was one of them. Perfectly coincidentally, I remembered reading about The Shy Chef in The New York Times earlier this year. So I sent an e-mail and crossed my fingers.

Very shortly before I headed to Berlin, I got the word. I was in. Perfect.

The Entrance: Some people just have an eye for things. I paid a professional way too much money to help me decorate my living room back in 2004, and it doesn't achieve the level of gemuetlichkeit that the Shy Chef's living room boasts. Great art on the walls. Great books on the shelves. Comfortable more-than-slightly Scandinavian furniture with great upholstery. I'm jealous. (And I have also never stepped foot in a Habitat since the decorating debacle. I hate Habitat, and you should too.)

I'm the first to arrive but Patrick and Monika follow me in soon afterwards. He's American. She's German. They met at Oktoberfest. Enough said! This is quickly followed by four Swedes who are a little quiet at first but open up as the night goes on; around 2 a.m., I leave them in the after-bar and am truly sad to say goodbye. Teresita, our Mexican friend, is the hit of the party and goes back and forth between English, Spanish and German. (And I think with a few more glasses of wine in her, we totally could have had her speaking Korean.) In short, it's a nice international crowd, and I get to practice my Swedish, which is always a fun party trick.

The Food: Welcome cocktail first. It's called "Number 26." And it's lovely. Until I put it down on a window ledge–which I don't notice until a few seconds later has a slope in it–and it comes crashing to the ground. Nothing like a little party foul to get things started. I am so embarrassed.  I spend the next 15 minutes apologizing profusely to anyone who will listen.

We start out with an old jam jar full of quinoa, beetroot, and smoked salmon. There's also a bit of horseradish in there, which is a fantastic surprise. This starter is different and interesting and fun and gets me pretty excited about whatever is coming next. 

The "trout grenobloise with white beans" is my favorite dish of the evening. It's simple and hearty and boasts some great, honest flavors. Lots of capers and lemon and the white beans also have the same citrusy tang. It's a very generous portion, which really has me worried. If every course is going to be this big, I need to slow down. 

Next up is a bitter salad. And they weren't kidding when they named it that. To be honest, it is not to my taste. It's way too bitter for me as well as one of the Swedes, whereas nobody else seems to mind. Funny, those tastebuds. As I watched the bitter salad conversation unfold–why Daniel and I thought it was so bitter, whereas the rest didn't–I was vaguely remembering reading an article about just this–certain people are more sensitive to flavors than others. If I'm a supertaster, that sure would explain a lot of things. (Although I do love vegetables, generally. Broccoli in particular.) Daniel and I eat the artichokes and try to convince the other Swedish guy to eat the rest.

Rabbit…rabbit is next…and at this point, my eyes are crossed. Too much food. Too much wine. Too much conversation with young, sexy Swedes. You might know that I love rabbit. I could eat rabbit all the time. But tonight…I do not do it justice.

Because you know…I am saving room for the cherry tart…the cherry tart with coconut and premium tahiti vanilla ice cream. I love the cherry tart because it is simple and homey. Cleaned my plate up, I did. Really, this was lovely. 

I haven't mentioned the wines yet…they were really lovely matches. Thoughtful matches. I've e-mailed The Shy Chef and asked for the details but haven't heard back yet…I'll post them as soon as I can. The rose, in particular, was really quite right.

The Verdict: Ah, there are some regrets that you have in life. Why haven't I spent more time in Berlin? Why haven't I gone to more underground restaurants? Why didn't I take more notes at The Shy Chef? Why don't I put my art up on my walls and use more candles and buy more Scandinavian furniture on eBay? And why, why, did I leave the bar we went to afterwards "early" at the end of the night, when I was still enjoying myself?

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Date of Last Visit: Sunday, October 7

The Victims: Too many to mention.

The Damage: Unknown!

The Background: I haven’t been to Germany since 2003. Kinda scary how time flies. So I was excited to go to Frankfurt, although it ended up being one of those trips where I didn’t see much besides for the Flughafen, two taxis, and the hotel.

Ah yes, and the very lovely Holbein’s Restaurant im Städel of course. Although it was dark by the time we got there, so I really didn’t see much of the restaurant–from the outside, that is. I got the sense that we were in a museum. And I think I am at least partially right.

The Entrance: This is a big group dinner, so we are greeted with glasses of Proseco, and who doesn’t love a nice glass of Proseco? There is a receiving line, somewhat akin to a wedding, which we think is funny. The servers are funny too and they love my rusty German–particularly the part where I asked what was for breakfast–when I meant dessert. Sigh.

The Beginning: Is a nice salad with some cheese. It’s nice. And I’m reminded how much the Germans love salad and vegetables. It’s not like London where you can’t really get a decent starter salad that doesn’t cost you £8 for just some lettuce. (Except at Pizza Express, of course.) This is followed up by surf and turf, and I start looking for the bride and groom. I am not a big fan of lobster (which, btw, is Hummer auf Deutsch, which I totally forgot). And red meat has never been my thing. But the steak was very nicely done–pink all the way through, and nicely seasoned. And it was all served up with some wedges and some bernaise sauce. If I were at a wedding reception or a 50th anniversary dinner, I would be very happy.

That sounds awful because it makes it sound like I didn’t enjoy my meal. I did. But it was just such a catered event that I can’t stop making comparisons.

Washing it All Down: Glasses of the lighest, prettiest German Riesling that I must get the name of.

The End: An assortment of chocolate desserts. Nothing to complain about here.

The Loos: Clean, clean clean. Another reason why I like Germany so much.

The Very Very End: A glass of Beerenauslese, which was quite lovely, back at the hotel bar.

The Verdict: I’d totally hold my wedding reception here. For sure.

The post Frankfurt: Holbein’s Restaurant im Städel first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.