Day Three: What we've learned so far

1. Currywurst is a traditional Berlin favorite. Maybe not traditional in the same way that Jello is a Utah tradition, though. Maybe more like Rocky Mountain Oysters are a ranching-country tradition. Or whatever. Anyway, if you want to make currywurst at home: Take a cooked sausage, slice it up, douse it in curry powder and a red kinda barbecuey sauce, add chili pepper flakes, eat it standing up.

2. Ordering tap water is verboten in Germany. Why? I don't know. It tastes fine. We're not dead yet. But the waitress was disgusted when we asked for it.

3. Peonies are a big favorite at the outdoor markets. This is funny to us because we moved here from Paonia, which is named after the peony. Now wishing we would have smuggled a couple thousand on the plane so we could sell them in the markets instead of finding work.

4. You ARE supposed to tip waiters/waitresses, but not that much. To the waitress at the Cafe am Neusee: Das tut mir leid. Next time we'll give you double.

5. Carry small bills and change. Germans hate giving change. Try paying with a 100 Euro bill, even for something costing 30 or 40 Euros, and they shake their head: Zu gross. Today's Sunday, so we can't cash in our big bills for something smaller at the bank, meaning we have a bunch of money, but basically can't spend it.

6. There is one hill in Berlin. It's not very big, but it provides a bit of a view.

7. This is not a litigious society. We rented a little boat in the park, just gave the cash and went. No signed release, etc. Little kids were cruising around in their own boats, totally unsupervised. Refreshing.

8. Due to #5, we were unable to purchase tickets for the subway. It didn't really matter. There appears to be no system to keep anyone from riding the subway without a ticket.

9. A bald guy with a guitar got on the subway and started singing John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" in Germglish. I later learned that Germans are obsessed with John Denver. Thinking of creating a John Denver tribute act, myself, with the idea that I have added cred, being a Colorado native. Yeah?