Really? "Straight photography?" Even if Matthew Brady hadn't doctored many of his photographs (moving corpses into appropriate poses, rearranging munitions, etc.), the idea that any kind of photographic practice could provide unmediated "straight" access to a privileged truth is ludicrous, and dangerous. I'd also like to know what, exactly, she means by "an unaltered spectrum of light." Being printed seems like a clear form of alteration to me.

I can't believe people are recommending Currywurst. Slices of sausage swimming in a pool of weak, vinegary ketchup, all of which is doused with a healthy dose of a stale German variant on curry powder. Walk by a Currywurst stand, look at what the people are eating, back away in disgust and go buy yourself either a Döner or a Falafel. What I can second is the Pilsner. Also the Hefeweizen. Actually, most of the beer you can get in Berlin isn't that amazingly different than the Becks you buy in the states. But it is CHEAP. And, best of all you can buy, and drink, it anywhere: beer on the subway, beer on the sidewalk beer in the park; often I'm drunk by the time I've made the commute to the bar. Also, Charlottenburg is worth seeing , but just for the sake of comparison, Charlottenburg is more or less like the upper west side; Kreuzberg 36 and Friedrichshain are roughly equivalent to Williamsburg; Kreuzberg 61 and Prenzlauerberg are kind of like Fort Greene and Park Slope. Also, this will be in any guidebook, but you should definitely check out the new train station, Museum Island (especially the Pergamon, which has both art AND ruins), and the Hamburger Bahnhof, which is the modern art museum.