So Top-Secret, the Americans Don't Know About It

We were at a place for burgers a while ago and next to the ketchup was a white squeeze bottle hand-labeled "Hamburger Sauce."  We had no idea what it was so we stayed away from it. 

A few months later we went to a friend's house for dinner.  He was excited to have Americans try his burgers.  We love burgers, so this was a great idea to us as well.  He made the patties by hand and grilled them on the stove (it was winter!) while cooking potato wedges in the oven.  It smelled so good it was hard to wait.  When everything was done we went to sit down and eat.  He had all kinds of toppings on the table: pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, curry ketchup, regular ketchup, fig mustard, spicy mustard, and Hamburger Sauce.  I was so excited to ask a German what in the world this sauce was, so I did.  I got a quizzical look.  "Don't you know?"  I had no idea and had yet to even try it.  He was completely shocked.  I understood why when I looked more closely at the bottle. It says American Hamburger Sauce.  They sell it over here like Americans all eat this on their hamburgers!

This one at least says American "style."

We tasted it and have decided it is a mixture of mayonnaise and mustard and something like Thousand Island dressing (maybe due to pickle relish).  I feel like someone tasted a Big Mac and thought that was American Hamburger Sauce. Of course, it is actually pretty good on hamburgers.

A bit later, our friend's girlfriend, who had to work late, came in.  As she fixed her burger she reached for the Hamburger Sauce and he couldn't wait to tell her that it wasn't American.  But look at the flag, she said as she pointed to the bottle, of course it is American.  (And it is a US flag, so it isn't, say, from Canada or Mexico which could also count as American.)

I don't know who the joke is on, Germans who buy American sauce that doesn't exist in America, or the Americans who don't even get to buy the sauce they supposedly have.

Museums in Berlin

There are many wonderful museums in Berlin.  We went to a few when we were here for a summer a few years ago.  We didn't get to any this summer as it was tourist season and rainy, which seemed like a terribly crowded time to try to go to a museum.  However, now that we are settled in we are ready to take advantage of the collections here in Berlin.

The nice thing about living here is that the year pass is so cheap.  A year museum pass to all Berlin state museums (which include the big ones I will mention below) is only 40 Euros (about $53).  This does not include special exhibits, but we found most of the special exhibits we cared about are private and wouldn't be covered by year pass plus (which is still only 80 Euros).  3 visits to the more expensive museums covers the cost of the year pass, so it is a good deal if you go to museums.  It is also nice because you can go for an hour and leave and not feel like you wasted your money.

Market Gate of Miletus

We used our new passes at the Neues Museum (the New Museum).  It was closed for renovation the last time we were here, so we had not been before.  The name New Museum is misleading however, as it includes the ancient Egyptian collection, the pre-history and early history collection, and the part of the collection of Classical Antiquities.  We took advantage of being able to return whenever we wanted and only explored the first floor.  It had lots of ancient Egyptian artifacts, which is my favorite thing to see at a museum.  The thing that struck us most so far about this museum is that it is not well organized.  It seemed that some artifacts didn't fit with others and the exhibits didn't really tell a story.  We enjoyed it never the less and look forward to seeing the rest of it.  I also look forward to the new exhibit they are putting together on how the war impacted the museum.  I know that many of the artifacts were taken and some are still in other countries or missing.  Others were destroyed.  It will be interesting to see.


We have also been to the Altes Museum (the Old Museum).  When we were there last it housed the famous bust of Nefertiti, which is now in the re-opened Neues Museum.  Because they had put a significant portion of the Egyptian collection here, I am anxious to go back and see what is there now that all of that is gone.

Section of the Gates of Ishtar

My favorite Berlin museum so far is the Pergamon Museum.  It is named for the Pergamon Altar, from Turkey, that is reconstructed inside the museum.  The altar is huge.  In fact this museum is gigantic!  It has several reconstructed parts of several story buildings.   The Market Gate of Miletus (also from Turkey), which is a two story tall stone temple-like front from 120 AD is there.  And my favorite thing to see is the Ishtar Gate, one of the city gates to ancient Babylon constructed in 575 BC.  This is one of the coolest things.  I just couldn't believe all of the color!  There are lots of other things to see here, but these are the highlights for sure.  I can't wait to see the things we missed last time and see some of the exhibits again.

The Germans did a lot of excavating throughout the world.  You can of course always argue about museums and their acquisitions and whether things should leave the country of origin or not.  However, if you are in Berlin, it is worth the trip to see the things that are here.