h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As a born German I feel compelled to add a few thoughts of my own here...

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Hmm, where does that apply? Germans are certainly very protective about their property, so be careful in other people's gardens. In city parks, however, you may walk on the grass as freely as you please. Rule of fist: If it has a fence around it, someone wants you to stay off.

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That certainly doesn't go for cities. Just make sure you don't do it while being watched by children. They don't have the experience it takes to cross a road securely; they don't see that you check the road before crossing. Instead they take you as a role model and imitate what they see... and CRASH!! You want to be responsible for that?

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Ummm... I'm living in this city for 26 years now and never came across that expression. Rather, it is everywhere referred to as "Fernsehturm " ("TV Tower") whilst its official name is "Heinrich-Hertz-Turm" - but nobody ever uses that.

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Huh? Olympic Village? What Olympic Village? There never was something like this in Hamburg. Here the researcher has probably mixed up things with Munich, where there is one.

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With a few exceptions, this is true

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Weird as it sounds, this is true. IIRC, that topic even made it into parliament.

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Sadly enough, that is true. Nobody comes to Germany for its food. When you have exhausted the short list of meals worth a try, such as Bratkartoffeln, Labskaus, Bauernfrühstück (all in the north), you should switch to foreign restaurants such as Chinese, Italian etc. They usually have better food and better service as well.

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My recommendation: Don't. Supermarkets usually have bad produce for high prizes.
When in the countryside, watch out for signs like "Kartoffeln 500m" (Potatoes 500yds) or similar. Following these signs often brings you to a farm that sells not only potatoes, but all sorts of veg and sometimes even ham, sausage or bread. These farm shops are cheap and the produce is fresh. Sometimes these stands are right besides the road.
In a big city, head for the next Turkish-owned greengrocer (ask someone for Türkischer Gemüsehändler). Their prizes are always rock-bottom and the veg is first class. And if it is not, the next one is usually not far away. Many of them come with a butcher, their lamb is delicious.

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Or paying them a LOT of attention. From behind a bush, giggling with her friends.

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Indeed. The Reeperbahn has a lot of a tourist trap. so be careful. If a nice lady seats herself besides you and asks for a drink, decline. They are employed by the management and will invariably order the most expensive drink there is at often several hundred marks a bottle (usually Champagne).
If you have said yes, there is no option but to pay up, if you like your face in the shape it is. Pay and futilely complain to the police afterwards instead, as thousands of people have done before you.

I must disagree with you and say for the record that German bread, in general, is the best I've ever had. If you like whole grains and real, baked, fresh tasting, bread then German bread really beats anything we have in America, where people are raised on wonder bread and other white breads with no taste or texture at all.
I also really like fleischsalat, even though it may sound strange it is really good for breakfast.

Thank you for setting my head straight on the bread - I completely forgot about it.
It really IS the best, after a few days in the UK living off Mother's Pride indestrucdible white bread hardly anything beckons more than a good honest German Schwarzbrot that you really have to chew.

And the sausages of course, try a veal sausage (Kalbsbratwurst) from Beisser butcher in Hamburg - theirs is the best in the entire city.

However, when it comes to warm dishes, the list of recommendable food is not very long really.

Yesterday I had a bunch of Chinese (Shanghai) businessmen here, they had salmon for the first time in their lives and went mad about it. Most delicious fish they ever had, they said. But they didn't like the batter or the garlic butter .
This was at Wischer's, a famous and very old fish restaurant in Hamburg, very recommendable as well.

Hi Hun - you have not activated your page so I am leaving no stone unturned and following you into your conversations.

As you mention bread, I would like to invite your comments on my German Bread entry. Readable at the moment (2 December 2000) only from my page, as it is likely to appear as a new entry any day now, having reached the last stage of the editing process (very exciting, my first time)

We are all working very hard on improving the general image of Germany (particularly Germany, but we include all German speaking countries). The GerManiaConnection is here


http://www.h2g2.com/A478055

Follow the links from there. We now have an egroup (chatroom!) and lots of new names (including yours) in the Who's Who list. Take a good look and help us spread the word that the German-speaking people are really quite nice.

If you live near enough, don't miss our get-together (near Karlsruhe) NEXT WEEKEND -

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