Uncornered Market » Europe

Istanbul Without the Carpet: A Tale of Two Visits

Audrey Scott — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:22:48 +0000

This is a story about two different visits to Istanbul, the utter pointlessness of posing as a Canadian when you’re American, and the secret to experiencing Istanbul without being offered a carpet.

“Were you sold a carpet?”

“No, not even once.”

After our most recent visit to Istanbul, I’m surprised both by the number of times I’ve been asked that question and how pleased I am to offer my answer. When buying carpet is not your focus, but discovering the people and neighborhoods of Istanbul is, there’s an art to making it work and choosing strategically where and how you stay.

This time we did it. And we’ll tell you how, but not before we tell you about our first visit to Istanbul when Dan and I attempted, rather unsuccessfully, to pull off being Canadian.

“Don’t Go!”: The First Visit to Istanbul That Almost Wasn’t

It was late 2000. Dan and I had been backpacking around Europe. We’d just poked around Romania and were hanging around Sofia, Bulgaria. Next up: Istanbul and three weeks in Turkey.

Then an email arrived from my mother. She was worried and she asked us to reconsider our visit. The second intifada had just begun in the Palestinian Territories and demonstrations were taking place outside the American Embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara as the U.S. Congress considered a resolution officially recognizing the killing of Armenians in Turkey in 1915 as genocide.

Conventional wisdom said all of this did not bode well for Americans visiting the region. We hemmed and hawed. But on our final morning in Sofia, we picked up an International Herald Tribune to find news that Congress dropped the resolution.

It’s a sign!!, we thought. In fact, it was just the excuse we needed.

We’re going to Turkey!

I informed my mother of our decision and assured her we’d be careful. “Don’t worry,” I said. “We’ll pretend we’re Canadian.”

Staying in Sultanahmet

After arriving in Istanbul from Sofia via a wheezing 17-hour train, we followed the advice of our guidebook and bee-lined it over to Sultanahmet to find a hostel.

We settled down near the Hagia Sophia. Over the next several days, we’d wake at 5:00 A.M. to a howling call to prayer, struggle to fall back asleep, and head out early to consume Istanbul’s must-see sights.

Hagia Sofia: A beautiful visual confluence of Islam and Christianity.

Our few days in Istanbul were consumed with the Hagia Sofia (or Aya Sofya if you like), Grand Bazaar, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and the Egyptian spice market. We hung out with fishermen on the Galata bridge, rode along the Bosphorus, and visited Uskudar for a taste of the “Asian side” — and mixed it all with great bits of Turkish food and topped it off with a scrub-down at a Turkish bath. Dan insists to this day that his Turkish massage at the baths remains the most satisfying beating he’s ever received.

Oh, and I almost forgot: the carpet salesmen.

Fell off my chair laughing when I found this photo from our visit to Istanbul in 2000.

We have nothing against carpets, really. They’re often works of art, and for many they serve as mementos that last a lifetime. (Yes, I realize I just sounded like a carpet salesman right there. This shows how effective repetition can be.) But when walkabouts in and around the touristy areas of Sultanahmet become an endless echo of “My friend. Where are you from? Do you want to buy a carpet?”, it’s possible to begin bearing a grudge.

“Maybe later.” That was our mantra. Talk about empty promises.

Carpet salesmen can monopolize your visit if you let them. They are friendly enough, they’ll give you lots of tea, their stories can be great — they may even feed you — but their ultimate goal may just get in the way of your experiencing the real Istanbul.

How NOT to Pretend to Be Canadian

Speaking of carpet salesmen, a lesson. One day as we walked down the street minding our own business, a Turkish guy flanked by two westerners approached us.

The Turkish guy jabbed himself into our conversation: “Where are you from?”

“Canada,” Dan replied.

“Where in Canada?”

“Toronto.”

“Really?! I used to live there. Which part?” (At this point, the Turkish guy rattled off a bunch of Toronto neighborhoods.)

Shit. The one guy on the street we decide to lie to just happens to have lived in our Canadian cover city. Insult to injury, we weren’t even swift enough to do our research beforehand to come up with a viable answer.

Dan mumbled something lame like, “The eastern part.”

The Turkish guy pressed on with more questions, pulling our proverbial lying pants down to our ankles. Finally, he exploded, “You’re not from Canada, you’re American!! Why are you lying to me?!!”

“Americans! Liars!” he yelled at full lung capacity in the middle of the street.

In retrospect, we should have moved on as if he were loony. (He was.) But his display was mesmerizing; it paralyzed us. I considered the irony. Had we only been honest about being American, we could have avoided all this.

As we came to and began walking away — the Turkish guy was still ranting — one of the foreigners asked in a feeble voice, “Well, wait. Don’t you want to buy a carpet?”

The Turkish guy then broke stride and followed up: “I’ve got some great deals. I can even ship it home for you.”

Insane. So this whole display — a ranting Turkish guy and his two flunky backpacker sidekicks — was all about selling us a freakin’ carpet??

Next time, we’re from Labrador.

Since then, we never again suggested that we’re from Canada. (Aside: A big shout out to our Canadian friends. We love you and your country and we are often mistaken as Canadian, but we learned early that faking Canuck-ery doesn’t suit us and that we should stick to being who we are. For those of you following our current journey around the world, you’ll know that we embrace being American and view our travels as a form of citizen diplomacy.)

Istanbul, Take Two

Eleven years later, almost to the day, we returned to Istanbul.

We had changed as travelers. So had the goals of our visit. Instead of revisiting all the big sights, we were in Istanbul to apply for our Iranian visa, pick up some appropriate clothes for Iran, explore some different parts of town and discover more local foods.

Our accommodation this time was a 9 Flats apartment on a side street in Beyoğlu, just down the hill from Taksim Square and Istiklal Caddesi.

As we wandered our street and the surrounding neighborhood, we noticed very few foreigners, only a guest house or two, and absolutely no souvenir stands. People were friendly and life seemed very real. Not to take away from the beauty of Sultanahmet, but this was a different view of Istanbul. One that suggests: this is what life would be like if you lived here. It was immersive. We loved it.

Just up the hill, Istiklal Caddesi was flush with hip Turkish kids sporting the latest fashion trends and traditional women wearing the hijab (Islamic dress). Endless cafes, brands and shops, bustling and modern.

Is this where Istanbul is headed?

Perhaps, but turn off on any side street and you’ve found where Istanbul has come from, and in many ways remains. Local fish vendors and seafood restaurants, turn-of-the-century covered passageways, and simple family-run shops. The mix was eclectic and reflected all the fascinating layers of modern day Turkey.

Some mornings we would take the tram — just down the street — over to Sultanahmet to run errands (e.g., headscarf shopping) or to catch a few sights we’d missed last time (like the New Mosque).

But then we’d welcome a retreat to our neighborhood in the late afternoon, where the routines of ordinary people ruled the streets.

We began to feel at home. We knew the guy on the corner pressing fresh pomegranate juice, the sons who’d taken over their father’s kebab and Turkish pizza (lahmacun) shop, the friendly ciğ köfte master who knew just the right amount of spice and lemon to add to a mountain of raw meat, and the soft-spoken man around the corner who made sure to pile our plates with ample servings and fresh herbs.

We’d quickly developed our own routine, so much so that when we departed a week later, we made our rounds to say goodbye to our neighbors and the places where we’d become regulars.

We left Istanbul this time feeling like we had a better grasp of its living history as well as a hint of the direction its headed.

And to think, we were never once offered a carpet. Maybe next time.

What are your favorite neighborhoods to explore in Istanbul? And if you’ve visited Istanbul, did you buy a carpet?

—–

Disclosure: We’d like to thank 9 Flats for providing us our apartment in Beyoğlu that helped introduce us to a new side of Istanbul, and delivered an experience that made us feel like we lived locally.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 18 comments

Panorama of the Week: New Mosque (Yeni Camii), Istanbul

Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:30:10 +0000

Istanbul’s Yeni Camii (New Mosque). Somehow we’d missed this one during our last visit to Istanbul eleven years ago.

Today, while wandering around and outside the streets of Istanbul’s spice market looking for a head scarf (for Audrey, not Dan), we stumbled across and into Yeni Camii (New Mosque). While the outside is rather stark gray, the inner courtyard warmed with a bit of late afternoon light.

But it was the inside of the mosque that blew us away. Carpeted, warm, and almost surprisingly inviting, the interior of Yeni Camii wraps a visitor in mesmerizing colors, designs and Arabic script. Just about anywhere you happen to place the camera frame, a fascinating set of shapes and geometry is revealed.

And it’s here that we’ll leave you. Open the panorama below. And be sure to use the up arrow to make your way to the ceiling. Imagine sitting on the carpet and gazing at the vastness of it all.

That’s what we did.

Panorama: Inside Istanbul’s New Mosque (Yeni Camii)

For best panorama viewing results, press fullscreen (four arrows) and navigate around with your mouse.

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Panorama of the Week: Venetian Windmills on Crete

Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:32:18 +0000

Windmills are a symbol of clean energy today, but wind power is not especially new technology on the Greek island of Crete. In the late 15th century, the occupying Venetians began to use windmills on the edge of Crete’s hillsides to grind wheat. To better catch the wind, they attached fabric-like sails on the blades.

Today, after over 500 years of facing the elements, the sails are gone and the windmills that remain do so in various stages of disuse. In spite of all that, amidst the breeze, it’s possible to imagine the two dozen windmills on the edge of the Lassithi Plateau in Seli Ampelou helping to churn out kilos of ground wheat.

For a glimpse of the windmills and some classic Cretan landscape, open the panorama below.

Panorama: Venetian Windmills on Crete

For best panorama viewing results, press fullscreen (four arrows) and navigate around with your mouse.

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Disclosure: Our trip to Crete is supported by Visit Greece. Most but not all expenses have been paid for. As always, the opinions expressed here are entirely our own.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 9 comments

Crete Week: First Glimpses

Audrey Scott — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:37:53 +0000

Greetings from Crete!

Difficult to keep track of us sometimes, isn’t it? In one week, after a hop (from Berlin), a skip (to Prague), and a jump (from Munich), we’ve landed on Crete, the almost-southernmost island of Greece.

First morning seaside wake-up call.

We’ve just begun to explore the island and we thought you might like a taste – of the rivers of olive oil, the layers of history back to the ancients, and the Cretan people who are quite clearly a product of both.

Cretan Food

Fresh and fragrant is the name of the game with Cretan food. The island’s hills are covered with wild herbs such as sage, thyme, marjoram, even bay leaves (laurel). Olive oil, consumed at a staggering annual 25 liters per capita, is still very much a family business. And the temperate climate of the island means fresh vegetables and fruit for much of the year.

No wonder the traditional Cretan diet leans to health and long life. If what we ate on our first afternoon was any indication, we’re in for a treat.

Cretan lunch beginnings: dolmades, dakos and fasolakia, and a mountain landscape backdrop.

Crete History

Crete evinces a deep history. From the mythological cave where Zeus was born, to its Minoan palaces, Roman cities, and Venetian forts, to the World War II cemetery, Crete’s contours and soil tell a story of a Mediterranean crossroads.

Minoan Ruins at Phaistos. Talk about a beautiful setting.

The People of Crete

Although large areas of Crete are heavily developed with mass tourism, small villages are an easy drive away. Locals who’ve lived long drink coffee and while away the hours chatting — just as you might imagine they’ve done for ages.

Life has not been easy for many and people are anxious regarding the current economic crisis, but that doesn’t put a halt to the sense of hospitality and humor that Cretan people bring to the table. When the people we’ve spoken to discuss the current financial crisis, I’m quick to note – not to diminish but perhaps to commiserate – that the crisis brews also in America and ultimately worldwide.

As I took this woman’s photograph, she asked for a copy and said with a chuckle in a fullness of a life well-lived, still enjoyed: “If I like the photograph maybe I’ll use it on my gravestone.”

Coming Soon on Crete Week

In the coming days we’ll share visits to Crete’s main archeological draws of Knossos, Phaestos and Gortyn. We’re also hoping to hike through Samaria Gorge (weather permitting) and explore the areas in and around Chania and Rethymnon.

But for the moment, we take a lap with the locals, we share some bread and olive oil, and we get a sense of this big little island’s span of landscape, history and life.

Stay tuned.

Have you been to Crete? Do you have any suggestions for places to visit, local restaurants and awesome Cretan dishes to try?

—–

Disclosure: Our trip to Crete is supported by Visit Greece. Most but not all expenses have been paid for. As always, the opinions expressed here are entirely our own.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 18 comments

Hot Sauce Tasting: Hurts So Good

Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:31:37 +0000

A quick visit to a hot sauce store in Berlin turns into an unplanned three-hour hot sauce sampling that made us feel like we just dropped acid.

Have you ever planned a hot sauce tasting? Ever even imagined one? Well, maybe you should.

A few hot sauce favorites from a tasting at Pfefferhaus, Berlin

In Berlin, we’d experienced wine tastings, brandy tastings, beer tastings, even a whiskey tasting. And through them all we noticed something about the power of progression and comparison. It’s along a flavor and experience continuum that you can see, taste and feel subtle differences. When you do that, you can really begin to appreciate and understand.

And when you do that, you’ve arrived.

Hot Sauce Tasting in Berlin

Our afternoon hot sauce tasting episode in Berlin fell into the category of the completely unplanned. We had no idea such a thing existed. After scanning the selection of hot sauces at Pfefferhaus, our group was headed toward the door when we heard: “Do you want to do a tasting?”

A hot sauce tasting? Well, why not? What’s there to be afraid of?

Within minutes, Emil — our hot sauce sommelier — brought out small bowls and tasting spoons. Then, one by one, he dealt up hot sauce bottles from behind the counter and from a refrigerated tasting stash in the back. He walked us across an oral firestorm, from mild mango-infused chili sauces to pepper extracts so hot it was only possible to take them in toothpick-tipped doses.

Along the way, he would ask our opinions, plumbing our preferences for citrus or sweet, smoky or sour.

Like only a sommelier could, he’d modify our path — straighten it a little here, kink it a little there — ducking back into the refrigerator room to pull a few more bottles to custom-tailor the experience.

A half dozen bottles into the tasting, however, we began to reach a chili saturation. But we also wanted more.

“What’s the best drink to go with hot sauce?” we asked.

Emil’s without-a-beat response: “Beer, of course.”

Following his expert advice, a few of us shuffled off to a nearby grocery store, the fire of chipotle barbecue sauce still searing the ends of throat nerves and glands we never before knew existed.

Minutes later, we were equipped to continue — Emil, too — with beers in hand, a tray of palate soothing crackers at the ready.

“Has anyone ever brought beer to drink with the hot sauce tasting?” somebody asked.

“No, you are the first ones. But this is Berlin. This is what happens.”

Heat Up, Endorphins Up

As if the chipotle sauce wasn’t hot enough, we moved on to jolokia sauce. The thermostat seemed to increase in an already warm Indian summer-bathed showroom. Hot sauce to cry for became hot sauce to die for; toothpicks replaced tasting spoons as the delivery utensil of choice. We were into the serious stuff now — sauces whose Scoville ratings topped off at 750,000 (as comparison, habanero chilies are usually at 200,000).

The endorphins kicked in. And if you’d have overheard us, you might just think we’d just dropped acid.

“I’ve never felt this way.”

“Oh my god, can you feel that?”

“What’s happening to me. I feel like I’m melting.”

“I think I need help”

Some of us had to retire to a nearby bench to settle down. This hot sauce tasting was an experience of the entire body.

The hot sauce discussion between us continued later on Twitter:

We keep using the orange mango hot sauce on everything, so the buzz has been perpetual. Is this how addiction begins? – (@SarahEverts)

…keeps seeing pretty colors – worried about after-effects (+ ‘orange mango’ totally sounds like a kind of LSD) – (@Benno)

None of us will ever look at hot sauce in the same way again.

A hot sauce lineup.

Our Favorite Hot Sauces

1. Cajohns Killer Chipotle
This seemed to be the hot sauce that took just about everyone to the next level.

Surprising, long heat. A slow burn that at first feels like a caboose, then rages like a locomotive. While the heat and delivery were both memorable, it’s the smoky chipotle taste flavor that sets it apart. Quite possibly addictive, certainly best of show.

2. Blind Betty, Blind in the Rind
A hot sauce from the Virgin Islands that combines a light, fresh citrus flavor with a spicy kick. Imagine this as a great dipping sauce or topping on any chicken preparation.

3. Stinger Suicide Sauce
Jolokia. To some, the hottest pepper in the world. Also known as the ghost pepper or ghost chili. Eating one whole will turn you into a ghost. Combining the pepper with honey garlic yields a fiery, red flecked hot sauce to be wielded with care.

4. Eckart Mango Sauce
Our first taste of the day. Not a lot of heat; more a mango sweet and sour flavor with tiny kick. Great as a dipping sauce or to spice up a chicken or pork dish.

Fiery Sauces, Toothpicks Only

1. 357 Mad Dog
When a bottle of hot sauce has a “Use it at your own risk” warning label and tips the Scoville scale at 750,000, it’s time to take note. Just a toothpick tip into this darkness, a touch to the tongue, a few seconds, some smoke, some heat, it hits the back of the throat, then run for the border.

2. Blair’s Beyond Death
Like a traditional hot sauce that you might put on a chicken burger. Hints of cayenne and smoke.

3. Holy Shit Habanero
Hot smoke. The label rightly notes it’s like a “blast furnace.” Not sure if that means on the way in…or on the way out.

Remaining Hot Sauce Review

1. Hottest Ride in Town
Loved the tagline on this one: “Burns faster and hotter from tongue to tailpipe.”

Like a barbecue sauce, but raging.

2. Cajohns Fatali Purée
Another deadly chili, the fatali burns for a long time after an intense in-the-mouth kick.

3. Cajohns Killer Cayenne
Tasted a lot like a hot sauce that would form the basis of buffalo wing sauce. Almost purely cayenne heat.

4. Susie’s Spicyburning Desire
Another entry from the Caribbean, this time from Antigua. A rather straightforward hot sauce that leaves a trademark sour taste.

5. Blair’s Heat Jalapeño Tequila
Straightforward, hot like you’d expect a jalapeno blend to be. Hints of garlic, tomatillo, tequila, and maybe a bit too much vinegar.

6. Marie Sharps Exotic Sauce
Supposedly Roger Ebert likes it. We didn’t especially. Not because it wasn’t good, but perhaps because of the stiff competition. A hint of habanero, but mainly a spice sauce, rather than a hot sauce per se.

Hot Sauce Tasting in Berlin: How To

Pfefferhaus is located at Dircksenstraße Bogen Nr. 94 on the outside ground floor area of Alexanderplatz U/S-bahn station. The tasting table is near the cashier’s desk. Inform Emil (or whoever happens to be working that day) as to your heat tolerance and hot sauce taste preference: smoky, sweet, sour, citrus, etc. Pick up a beer from the grocery store across the street (pair it all with the neutral, unflavored variety of Tuc crackers) and enjoy the ride. Open from 11-19:00 Monday-Saturday.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 22 comments

Base Flying Berlin: An 11th Wedding Anniversary Jump (Video)

Daniel Noll — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:18:54 +0000

What is marriage, if not a leap of faith?

Fourteen years ago, on or around our second date, Audrey and I went skydiving together. It was, as you might imagine, both terrifying and fantastic. And as much as you also might also imagine that it wiped away my fear of heights, it did not. Perhaps it chiseled away at that wall, but it certainly didn’t tear it down. I still swoon thinking about that airplane canopy above 16,000 feet. I still get wobbly above 10 stories.

So here we are 14 years later in Berlin, celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary. What better way to recognize the occasion than to jump (base fly) from the top of a 37-story building?

Photo courtesy of Yuhang Yuan, one of our awesome friends who came out to support us

Berlin Base Flying: The Experience

As often happens in life, it’s one thing to talk about doing something and quite another to actually do it. The same goes for launching oneself from a tall building in Berlin.

Hanging above Berlin, waiting for the 400 foot drop

The following video tells that story. If after the video you stick around to read the rest of this piece, we’ll explain what base flying is. And we’ll offer a little marriage advice.

Base Flying in Berlin: Celebrating 11 Years of Marriage

Special thanks to Sarah Everts for her camera work and support.

The Base Flying Process, Start to Finish

We arrived at the lobby of the Park Inn and were given one of those “this is totally safe, but there’s an outside chance you might end up like a pancake” waivers to sign. Here are my favorite segments:

“Precondition is a good physical and intellectual constitution as the execution of this event can entail a considerable physical and mental exposure”

Not to be outdone, it follows:

“The organizer assumes no liability for soiling or damaging clothing worn during the fall.”

Rough translation: If you poop your pants, it’s on you.

I had reservations on both accounts, but I signed anyhow.

As for the mechanics of the base flying process, it’s pretty quick. (And I’m pleased to report, painless):

1) Go to the roof of the building (take an elevator, then walk up the stairs from floor 37). The view from atop the Park Inn Berlin is spectacular, especially if the weather is as immaculate as it was on the day of our jump.

2) Get outfitted in a harness and hooked to an industrial strength wire contraption that is attached to the side and roof of the building.

3) You try out your harness rig in a superman pose above stable ground with one of the crew.

4) The crew walks you out to the edge of the jumping platform where you are raised on the hook and out over open ground. This is profoundly terrifying. You pretend like you are thrilled and look at the camera. Remember to smile.

Forcing a smile through the terror

5) Then you drop, free-falling for about 5 seconds (but time almost stands still). Wild. As you reach the end, the wire suspension device executes a controlled deceleration so you experience absolutely no sudden jerking motion as you might with bungee jumping.

View from below

6) Run around Alexanderplatz in your white jumpsuits, hug your friends who have been cheering you on and head over to Pfefferhaus for a round of hot sauce tasting (stay tuned for our next piece).

And Finally, A Little Marriage Advice

When people ask us for marriage advice, I often feel like a kid, not the sort of person you go to for marriage counsel.

Friends who had been married only a few years recently asked, “So what advice can you give after 11 years?”

I replied: “You’re married, right? Then it’s too late”

But quite seriously, here’s my 11-year-thoughts-on-marriage offer: Marriage is a lot of work, much in the way a garden might be. You reap the rewards that you sow.

Now go forth and jump off a building.

Go Base Flying in Berlin

Location: Park Inn at Alexanderplatz, Berlin. Jochen Schweizer is the company that operates the base flying. Look for their desk near the concierge.

Operating hours: Usually open only on weekends, weather permitting. Call ahead to be sure it’s open.

Costs: Although base flying may not be the cheapest activity going in Berlin, the price strikes us as pretty fair considering how unique this experience is and the safety and sophistication of the equipment. Try to go early in the morning for the best deals.

Basic Base-Flying: €79
2nd person: €39
Early Bird (10-11 AM): €49
Happy Hour (18-19 AM): €59

We asked how many people chicken out once they are on the roof. The crew’s response: “It’s actually very few people – only about 2-3%. And it’s usually the guys with the big mouths talking it up the most.”

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Thanks and Disclosure:
First off, a big thanks to the Jochen Schweizer crew on top of the Park Inn. Cedrik, Tilman and the rest of the folks were safety conscious, supportive and very funny (check out Tilman in the video) — exactly the type of people you want around you when you’re about to jump off a building.

Our base flying experience was provided to us by Jochen Schweizer, an experience company whose offers include high adrenaline and adventure activities around the world.

As always, these words, experiences and opinions are entirely our own.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 27 comments

Panorama of the Week: Potsdamer Platz, Berlin

Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:58:28 +0000

Potsdamer Platz. If you look into the past beyond all that new glass and steel, you’ll find an eventful story — a place where a time lapse sequence over the last 100 years would almost defy reason.

In the early 20th century, Potsdamer Platz featured one of the busiest intersections in all of Europe and served as a hub for Berlin nightlife. But as in much of the city, World War II took its toll and Potsdamer Platz emerged in a pile of rubble. Not long after, the Berlin Wall was run right through the middle. The few remaining buildings were eventually demolished and this once busy intersection became a desolate no man’s land between East and West until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

During our earliest visits to Berlin in 2002, Potsdamer Platz was a full-on construction site. Its skyful of cranes and building skeletons — best captured from Brandenburg Gate — slowly filled in with finished skyscrapers on each of our subsequent visits, and the place took shape.

The Sony Center below, a sort of indoor tent with a rooftop that looks like one part parachute and another part amusement ride is another turn of the page in a story that is Berlin, that is Potsdamer Platz.

Panorama: Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 7 comments

Berlin Food Rally: Beyond the Plate

Audrey Scott — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:52:42 +0000

A view of Berlin — its cycles of destruction and renewal and the evolution of its food scene — through the lens of a one-night gastro tour.

If you wish to learn about a place, eat your way to the answer. This maxim resonates no less so than in Berlin, a city whose history tells of a rise from the ashes and from oppression and whose present-day witnesses a continual carving out of its own identity.

For as much as we’ve learned and eaten during our time in Berlin, there was apparently still more to eat, still more to learn.

So we accepted an opportunity to take a gastro rally, a one-night deep-dive into the Berlin food scene, its mainstream and its edge, all wrapped in a Berlin history and culture lesson.

And this was its flavor.

Berlin: The History

Henrik Tidefjaerd, founder of the Berlin Gastro Rallye, scanned the intersection taking it all in en plein air with a look of contentment on his face. He explains, “I like to start my tours here. Rosenthaler Platz is important historically, it represents the continually changing nature of Berlin”

Henrik would be our host and guide – cultural, historical, gastronomical – for the evening.

Although we’ve crossed this intersection countless times — on foot, on our bicycles and on public transport – Henrik focuses our attention. We believed we’d already understood the place, but as he tells the story, we begin to envision the towers that once defined the edges of the old medieval walled city until the mid 1800s.

Before World War II, Rosenthaler Platz was one of the busiest intersections in Berlin. When Henrik moved to Berlin almost ten years ago, however, it was relatively quiet — a few restaurants and shops, almost sketchy in the dust of the fall of the Berlin wall. Nothing like today, where the intersection bustles, fashion moves apace, cafes and restaurants open anew, and creative and digital businesses spring up – earning it the affectionate moniker: Berlin’s Silicon Alley.

Destruction and renewal. Themes of the city; themes of the night.

Berlin: The Attitude

As we make our way to the first taste, Henrik sets the stage for the restaurants we are about to visit, the historical background and the waves and shift of the Berlin food scene.

“Berlin lost everything; it’s still emerging. There’s still a strong entrepreneurial spirit in Berlin, a creativity, a drive to experiment. You can see this now in the gastro scene.”

But he warns: ‘Don’t expect glam. If you want that, it’s better to stay in another city. Berlin is a ‘come as you are’ place; it welcomes you for who you really are.”

And with this, we arrive at our first stop.

Berlin Food: The Cuisine Scene

W Imbiss: Fusion Naan Pizza!
This snack cafe catches my eye from across the street because the “W” in its name is cleverly portrayed as an upside down McDonald’s “M” — cheeky and appropriate. It’s casual and you have to order at the counter, but it’s not at all about high volume.

Henrik explains that Gordon W, its Canadian owner, had traveled extensively; this was his experiment in combining influence from different cuisines — Indian, Italian and Californian — with fresh local ingredients. Fusion pizza sounded as if it could go very wrong, but we reserved our opinions for the meal.

A few minutes later, two plates with “naan pizzas” arrive. One is slathered in spicy guacamole and topped with sundried tomatoes and mounds of rucola and bean sprouts. The other is topped with cooked spinach, goat cheese, sundried tomatoes and sprouts.

A surprisingly authentic naan with a crunchy bottom – straight from a tandoor oven – has an aroma that hints at the South Asian subcontinent. Together with the cool, fresh ingredients piled on top, the entire creation is about layers of texture and flavor.

That this hasn’t become a world food trend is puzzling. It ought to be.

W Imbiss: Naan pizzas run from €6-€8 and are satisfying and large, almost enough for two people to share. We’ve returned several times and can recommend the artichoke naan pizza and bean quesadilla (€5, also huge), and specials like the curry chanterelle naan pizza. The inside is small, maybe five or six tables, but tables outside are perfect for three seasons. Address: Kastanienallee 49, Mitte

Vino e Libri: Sardianian Cuisine, Refined and Down-to-Earth
As we approach Vino e Libri, Henrik explains that this Italian (Sardinian, actually) restaurant had been around for ten years, a virtual eternity in modern Berlin terms.

The entrance almost looks like a cigar and book club – overflowing bookshelves to one side, a wine bar to the other. Library and aroma, wine and books, warm and cozy.

Our meal is refreshingly light and flavorful – grilled giant prawn over tomato basil ragu, sesame-encrusted whitefish atop greens and mandarin wedges, and roasted zucchini and potatoes, all served amidst artful dots of balsamic reduction. The citrus highlights of a Cantina Terian Winkl Sauvignon from the Italian Tirol makes for an exceptional pairing.

After the meal, we are invited into the kitchen to meet the Sardinian chef and owner, Bruno Lai. As we chat, he tosses pasta and cooks up another dish with prawns and garlic.

Another reminder that the best meals are usually rather simple in nature, but cooked with the right ingredients and care.

Vino e Libri: Bring a book, get a book – and enjoy reading with a glass of wine. Lunch menu starts at €5.50 (recommend the spaghetti with mussels) while the standard menu begins at €10 for pastas (e.g., homemade pumpkin ravioli) and finishes at €20 for main seafood and meat dishes. Address: Torstrasse 89, Mitte

Chen Che: Honest-to-Goodness Vietnamese
Having had our share of mediocre Vietnamese and Thai food in Berlin (we understand our travels have spoiled us), we hold our expectations in check when we hear the next stop is a Vietnamese restaurant.

Vietnamese is a big food influencer in Berlin. Henrik explains that during the Communist era, Vietnamese migrant workers were sent to East Berlin to help Vietnam repay its foreign debt to East Germany. Many of them stayed. This is why you’ll still see large Vietnamese communities in what was formerly East Berlin.

Our food arrives on beautiful trays covered in steamers and bowls, decorative porcelain tops, bamboo, warm airs and mystery. Soup, mixed vegetables, rice, stewed pork, fried codfish and pickled vegetables. This daily taster menu – usually served at lunch for around €8.50 – is our evening “snack.”

Although we were already full, we couldn’t resist the stewed pork, fall-off-the-bone tender. The stew and aroma hints at real Vietnamese flavors: star anise, maybe even some allspice, topped with fresh coriander and shredded green onions. The codfish was also spot on – fried lightly so the outside featured a thin crust to protect the tender fish inside.

Chen Che: If you are looking for real Vietnamese food in Berlin, this ought to be one of your first stops. The décor is also fun and beautifully thought out. Try going for lunch to take advantage of the daily taster menu option. Address: Rosenthaler Str. 13, Mitte

Weinbar Rutz: A Food Temple
Earlier in the evening, Henrik had explained that we would conclude our tour at a “food temple.” I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but when we arrived at Weinbar Rutz I knew we were there.

High-end, low-key. You might also say “very Berlin.” Henrik did. I look at him sitting across the table from us in his Miami Vice t-shirt and smiled. Everyone is welcome as they are. We like that.

Billy Wagner, the resident sommelier and our host took us on a ride, an experience, something that felt like a dining experiment — through our desserts and wines and they how they were conceived and crafted.

The core flavor inspiration for the evening came from the black locust flower. As Billy describes it, these trees grow wild on the outskirts of Berlin. Some of the staff had gone earlier in the summer to pick the flowers. We had images in our head of wait staff and hosts, in their outfits, jumping over fences, climbing trees and stealthily collecting petals in wicker baskets before some unsuspecting owner of the black locusts returned home.

Kidding aside, our first dessert featured a wine glass layered in plum wine sauce, kiwi and plum compote, all topped with locust flower foam. While the whole experience was something that almost bordered on the edges of molecular gastronomy, it was the black locust that blew the mind.

It tasted like nothing we’ve ever had, in a way that we could never aptly describe. Like thinking of citrus, maybe a grapefruit, while chewing a violet and thinking of a wide open field of poppies. Rarely is a dessert so ethereal.

Finally, the whole architecture is finished off with a thin, crunchy cookie studded with meringue drops. With the first spoonful of this light, crisp — but not certainly not too sweet — foam, Henrik’s earlier words resonate: “Once we get to the last restaurant, you’ll forget all that you’ve eaten in the night.”

Billy’s wine pair: Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Kabinett 2008. “Take a bite of the dessert, then a sip of the wine. Just trust me.”

We did.

Dan’s response: “It’s like eating a party dress.”

Weinbar Rutz: One of the first and finest establishments in the league of high-end Berlin restaurants. The menu revolves around “inspirations” usually with a minimum of two interpretations served for each course. For most, this is not for the every day (expect a minimum of €100/person for dinner), but perhaps for very special occasions. Unforgettable for sure. Address: Chausseestraße 8

Berlin Food: The Future

As we wound up our evening (yes, this was all in one evening, if you can still believe it), Henrik gives us a walking tour glimpse of the Berlin food scene future with a stroll along Torstrasse.

Along the way, we poke into individually owned restaurants with small spaces and artistic treats: a mosaic with revolving pieces from the former DDR parliament in one, a meat locker from a converted butcher in another. Menus change weekly or even daily based on what’s fresh in the market, or what’s fresh in the head of the lead chef.

Henrik notes that perhaps just as important as the food, the environment: “When people go out to eat in Berlin, they go for community. These restaurants give you this – you know the people around, you become friends with the staff, you feel at home.”

And as Berlin evolved, rents went up in areas around Hackescher Markt and restaurants sprang up here on Torstrasse. As Torstrasse perhaps follows a similar evolution, another neighborhood is busy creating something new.

Destruction and renewal. Movement and opportunity. This is what keeps Berlin and its cuisine scene ever-evolving, hopefully ever-experimental.

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A note on Henrik and Berlin Agenten: Henrik’s knowledge is vast and deep. If cuisine is your thing, he can talk it. History, yes. Clubs, those too. He’s also the quintessential Berlin story: a Swedish guy who came and loved the place and now calls it his own.

Henrik’s company offers several Gastro Rallye food tour options, including the Enjoy tour similar to what we outlined above. For the budget-minded, we understand these are not inexpensive – €180-€250/person. You need to think of it as an experience rather than a restaurant tour — a culinary and cultural journey through Berlin’s past, present and future.

Disclosure: Our Gastro Rallye tour was provided to us in cooperation with Visit Berlin and Berlin Agenten, but the opinions expressed here are entirely our own.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 17 comments

Panorama of the Week: Great Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary

Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:53:58 +0000

The Great Synagogue (aka, Dohány Street Synagogue) in Budapest is the largest synagogue in Europe (and 2nd largest in the world). We stumbled upon it while strolling around Budapest on an autumn day and were taken back by its architectural design and unusual colorful exterior.

Originally built in the mid-19th century, the synagogue was destroyed by Nazi and Allied bombings during World War II. After the end of the Cold War, the synagogue was reconstructed over the course of a decade with the help of private donations. Today, you can see the Great Synagogue restored to its original glory and in use for its original purpose.

Panorama: Great Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary

For best panorama viewing results, press fullscreen (four arrows) and navigate around with your mouse.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 9 comments

Beer Me, Berlin!

Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:57:32 +0000

You know it’s been a long day at the beer festival when guys in lederhosen start doing the moonwalk.

-– The essence of the moment, Saturday night at the Berlin beerfest.

More than 2,000 beers from over 300 breweries hailing from 86 countries — all spread out over two kilometers in the middle of the city. No, this is not Oktoberfest.

So many beers yet so little time. That’s the Berlin Beer Festival.

While we don’t really consider ourselves beer experts, living in the Czech Republic for five years did a bit to realign our taste buds. Living thick in a beer-brewing culture tuned us onto the importance of the essence, ingredients, and dimensions of a good beer — hops, yeast, malt, foam and head, appearance, aroma and finish.

When we heard the 15th annual Berlin Bierfestival was on, we sensed a good opportunity to dip into some draft goodness — from the crafty trappist brewers of Belgium to the cuckoo beers of German monasteries.

Berlin Beerfest: A Few Favorites

After some sampling, our inclinations were confirmed. Belgian, German and Czech beers really are among the best, if not the best in the world. Sure it’s the science — the right ingredients like hops and water are important. But it’s the art, the hands of craft brewers and their tradition are what make a good beer into something truly great.

Grimbergen Optimo Bruno: Belgium. A dark, double fermented beer, Optimo Bruno quite possibly takes the golden bear award for the weekend. Weighing in at a hefty 10% alcohol content, but with a subtlety and oh-so-slight sweetness that its Grimbergen Double and Triple cousins (also tasty) couldn’t quite pull off.

Blond, Double, or Triple, Grimbergen were all worthy of a quaff. Grimbergen (and Belgium in general) clearly does something special with its brews.

Leffe Dark: Belgium. Many know the name. Perhaps you’ve had a bottle of blond. If you haven’t had a taste of the Leffe Dark, seek it out. Rich, roast-y, a bit of ale, and the tiniest bit of fruit. This is one to sit with. And so we did, for an hour-long conversation among friends.

Radigks Roggenbier: Brandenburg, Germany. Our final taste of the weekend and what a way to depart. A rye beer, creamy and rich. When the pour was finished, bubbles welled up from the bottom of the glass. An effervescent pour with beautiful foam, but quick to disappear. Soft, almost like silk. And not sweet, only the slightest bit rye. Some claim they get bananas out of a glass of the stuff, but we somehow missed that highlight.

Fuller’s Vintage Ale: United Kingdom. Of the ales we tasted, this was the one we enjoyed most. Not an exceptionally strong ale. Light, but a hint of nut. Slightly chilled, it struck us as surprisingly perfect on a warm day.

Of course, one also needs lots of bratwurst to go with all this beer.

Bernard: Czech Republic. One of our favorite neighborhood beers from our days in Prague. When served from a clean tap (not always the case), it’s full, heady, unpasteurized and just bitter enough. For a crisp, clean pilsner it’s among the best.

Katharina von Bora Kuckucksbier: Saxony, Germany. Here’s a beer with story. Named after Martin Luther’s wife, the brewery is literally run by a bunch of nuns. But they crank out some interesting barrels, including this medium brew that finishes like a dunkel with a faint touch of honey.

Zunft Kölsch: Cologne, Germany. Our first time tasting a Kölsch, the traditional beer of the German city of Köln (Cologne). Mildly grassy, grainy, hoppy. Fresh and crisp, only a hint of bitter. Traditionally served in tall, very skinny glasses (think something to hold a gin and tonic.)

Prost!

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So next time we’re faced with 2,000 beers, where should we begin?

Where would you begin? What are your favorite beers of the world?

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 18 comments