Eating

 The food on the ship is adequate. Nothing is overly elaborate, but nothing is disgusting either. I usually bypass the two or three pasta and/or potato dishes and pile my plate with salad fixings (minus the iceberg lettuce), steamed vegetables, and the fish entry or soup. Here’s what dinner looked like tonight

At the ports, however, is a chance to really embrace eating. One thing to note is that in both Germany and Russia, there were more Chinese restaurants and pizza joints than traditional Russian or German establishments. Although I felt wrong doing it, I had great Chinese food in both ports.

In Berlin, I’m not sure I had traditional German food, but I had food worth mentioning. It was actually one of the best meals I’ve eaten so far (other than the Indian in Southampton). For the last stop on the tour I was on in Berlin, we were dropped off at a department store for two hours of shopping. This caused me to roll my eyes, until I heard these magical words, “This department store has a food court with over 1,000 different kinds of cheeses.”

“Cheese,” I said, “which floor?”

I actually didn’t find the cheese, but that was all right because my attention quickly turned to the desserts and other amazing looking dishes available at this Harrods-like department store.

The salmon on the plate was Norwegian salmon made to order. I watched the cook lightly dip the fish in flour, season it, and place it right on the cook top. Five minutes later I had an amazing lunch. The dessert, I’m told, is a traditional German dessert made with local berries. It was almost like eating a think berry jam mixed with custard and cream. So good! 

In Hamburg, I unenthusiastically ate a pizza for dinner, but then was surprised at 6 in the morning by the variety of food available at the fish market. Now, those who know me well know that waking up to see the sunrise is not the top of my to-do list. In fact, I have only done it a hand-full of times and I’m usually unimpressed with the experience. This time, however, was worth it. In Hamburg, there is a fish market that starts at 5am and ends at 10am. The charm of going at the start of the market is that you quickly realize people didn’t wake up to make it that early—they just never went to bed.

People of all ages treat the fish market as a kind of after party where you can continue drinking, dancing, and if you so chose can find some great hangover foods

My favorite was the fried dough balls rolled in sugar, which were actually light and fluffy.

For those who actually wanted to buy fish and produce, both were amply available. To keep the crowds entertained, the vendors yelled German obscenities (I can only image that is what they were yelling) at the crowd with much gusto.