Eatonia Marengo Europe 2012: First Stop: BERLIN

Berlin is the capital and largest city in Germany. Central Berlin was badly damaged in the final years of World War II and, therefore, many of the buildings we will see in central Berlin have been reconstructed or planned and built after World War II.

Berlin is a youth-oriented city. It has become a center for art, design, multimedia, electronic music, and fashion among other things. The particularly high number of students and young people in the city has only helped this cause.

German is the main language in Berlin but you can easily find information in English and sometimes in French. Most people under 40 in Berlin are able to speak English with varying degrees of fluency.

Trying new foods is always an important part of visiting new countries. We will be sampling some of the local cuisine such as:
Currywurst is a German street-food specialty that started in Berlin at around the end of the 1940s. It's a sausage, sliced up and slathered with ketchup flavored with curry powder, which comes in varying degrees of heat.
The Wurst or sausages are also served plain, in a bun or with French fries or fried potatoes. We will also been on the watch for men and women carrying large pieces of equipment on which they grill sausages. These special Berlin sausage carriers are mostly known as “Grillwalkers”, and for 1 to 2 Euros you can get a Bratwurst.
German dessert is not something to skip. Whether it's a pie that makes use of local berries, like Black Forest cake, made with chocolate, cherries and kirsch, or cherry liqueur. Or maybe you're more in the mood to tuck into the many forms of kuchen, or cake, like streusel kuchen, which is like coffee cake, or a Berliner, or jelly donut, (known as pfannkuchen in Berlin), or just some really great chocolate or ice cream.  

We will probably have a bus tour of Berlin as well as go on a walking tour of the historical points of interest. Local guides will be conducting the tours. Some of the sites we will see in Berlin include:

1. Brandenburg Gate