Today what is important in Berlin is the freedom. Freedom to party, to experiment, and indulge in sex, drugs and techno music. The city teems with young people living on next to nothing (some on literally nothing) as squats are still available. They are painting, staging experimental performance art, designing intriguing clothing and taking lots of photography. Today it is the cheapest capital city in Europe and the young are having the time of their lives. Paris in the 20’s, London in the 60’s, today Berlin.

However, Berlin is still a fascinating city to try to better understand the history and the people. Take a guided walking tour for the day. The history of Berlin is spread out for you and you can visit all the sites from the war and after. The controversial holocaust memorial is made of 2711 slabs of concrete each one the same size but of differing heights. The huge area is sloped giving you a feeling as you walked through of order gone astray. The architect had said he wanted people to feel free to use it anyway they chose and children were jumping from stone to stone.

The transportation system is un-paralleled with the U underground (U2 is named after the underground) and the S overhead. Go to the Hacheshemer Market to see fresh food and also to explore the whole area where little alleyways curve around with little shops and galleries.

But the food. If you judge a society by how they eat, then Berlin falls very far down the line. When currywurst (basically a sausage with curry ketchup and fries) is the standard you have to be concerned. On the other hand you can drink beer on the street while eating it (or not eating it).

I was surprised to find that there is absolutely no homage paid to seasonality.  First of all, vegetables seem to only exist as cucumbers and cabbage and dill is the only herb.  The only exception is asparagus. There is no observance of seasonal cooking either.  It was lamb shanks, heavy Bavarian pork, sausages galore. Fish is marinated herring or smoked salmon.

There are of course exceptions to all this. I found a few good restaurants and the best was Fischers Fritz in the Regent Hotel. A two star Michelin with beautiful service, a serene room and a 35.00 euro menu for lunch. It  was a pleasure to eat there. I had superb poached egg with slivered yellow beans in a lobster bisque and chiporones which are like a small octopus with pea foam and puree, encased in leek leaves.

We also liked the schnitzel at Florian (not the best we've ever had but for Berlin quite O.K.) and Jules Verne had a nice atmosphere and acceptable food with a woman chef--something I always like.

The cafes were the best place to be. Berlin is a cafe society. All day, people sit in cafes and drink beer or coffee, eating the occasional kuchen (cake). Breakfast is the big meal and is usually served until 4pm (probably to cater to last night's party-goers). Our favourites were Cafe Einstein in Kurfürstenstraße 58,
which is the original (not the one on unter der linden--very touristy) and Café im Literaturhaus Wintergarten, a charming place for conversation and good food in an old villa with a bookstore on the premises. The cafes are open until late and the menu changes with the time.

On to Munich where the food again was so porky and heavy that we flamed out and went to Acquarello which turned out to be the best meal of our stay. A 4-course prix fixe with delicate and delicious food restored our faith in Italian food at least. Today Germany is in deep distress about the now thousands of pork farms that have fed their pigs with feed contaminated by dioxin. Maybe chicken and fish will now go to the top of the list.