What's cooking at the carnival
May 18 2024
Berlin
18°
I had a picture of Berlin as being a fairly trendy city, attracting all sorts of interesting people and cultures.
But never to this degree.
I begin my day by crossing a canal onto Museum Island, a small isolated section of land in the city home to 5 museums, each with fantastic-looking exteriors.
The middle of the island is a large open park, with a quaint stone fountain right in the center. Everyone is hanging out, enjoying the sunshine, or figuring out which museum to visit next.
This isn’t where my journey starts, though. It starts when something across the street catches my eye.
It’s Saturday, and I’m in central Berlin. I run into that art market. Then I run into a food market.
I decide to grab a quick sandwich for lunch and head to a game store to see what they have.
On the way as I’m crossing the street, I notice one side is blocked off and filled with booths and pedestrians.
Maybe a little more interesting than a shelf of board games.
Unknowingly, I had stumbled into the greatest market of all.
The Carnival of Cultures, a festival held every spring in the city, with music, dancing, and of course, food. Every kind of food you could imagine, you could find here - Hungarian, Indian, Asian - you name it!
As I wander the street, passing booth after booth of interesting foods filling the air with a delicious smell, I was sad that I had already eaten lunch.
That wasn’t going to stop me though!
Mmmmm, currywurst, a German treat. It tasted as good as it looks.
I make my way down the endless maze of streets once more, until I’m satisfied that I’ve seen all there is to see, but make a mental note to come back later if I’m hungry.
To walk off my two meals, I wander through a park along the river, where people relax by the shore with a group of nearly 20 swans.
I head up the road, past a large group of Palestine protestors, and cross through Luisenstädtischer Kanal park, a manmade park decorated with flowers surrounding large a square pond.
It feels like an oasis in a sea of concrete.
I then make my way to Alexanderplatz, a large and popular square in the city center. I visit the local Uniqlo to fulfill my mother’s wishes, and check out (another!) small market selling food and touristy T-shirts.
Right in Alexanderplatz I find a department store, which I head into. It’s very similar to the ones in Japan, but no food hall. Not that I could’ve handled more food anyways.
As the afternoon wore on, I decide I’ve had enough for the day, knowing that there’s still so much more Berlin to see.