things that improve my mood...

Two nights ago, I dreamt that I'd won the lottery. The next morning I read about the GIGANTIC mega-millions jackpot. If only my dream could have been prophetic, and my family had won. That'd been pretty cool. I think I had this dream though because I GOT INTO THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND!!!! And it feels like winning the lotto, for sure.

Last night I slept horribly. I don't know why, but it was terrible. I was tired and stressed all day as a result. So...to make things better, here is a list of things that improve my mood.

1) Sunny, balmy weather and long walks.
2) My potted tulips. They are white (i might have to go back and get another color to go with) and they have new buds! It's a really nice plant, and makes my room cheery. I love it when I don't kill plants (I've killed 3 basil plants so far this year. I don't know what I'm doing wrong! Back in the states I can keep basil alive without too many problems!)
3) Spending my evenings in my room with candles as my only light. Back for christmas I received a set of votive candleholders from a teacher as a gift. Now I am using them, and it creates a really nice comfy atmosphere.
4) FREE pizza...TWICE! From two different places...so you know what that means. Yes, it's time for the pizza in potsdam update!

PIZZA IN POTSDAM (or...Stralsund and Zehlendorf, but whatever.)

Sunday, 4th of March
Pizza Isabella, Stralsund (where Jack lives)

I found out that I'd been accepted to Maryland while I was visiting Jack. To celebrate, we decided to go out for pizza. We were walking to a pizza place on the New Market, when we saw a brand new pizzaria we'd never seen before. They had a sandwich board advertising a lunch special of a pizza and a drink for 4 euros--how could we say no?
The restaurant was bright, clean and small. Decoration was sparse, and the walls were a cheerful peach. The service was a little gruff, but friendly. I think it's just a northern germany thing to mumble and whatnot.
The special included your choice of either Pizza Margherita (Cheese), Pizza Salami (Pepperoni), Pizza Schinken (ham), or Pizza Funghi (Mushroom), plus a small non-alcoholic drink. I ordered the Pizza Funghi and a Fanta...since Cola Light is nowhere to be found in Stralsund. Jack ordered the Pizza Salami.
Our pizzas arrived quite promptly (maybe a ten minute wait?) and looked fantastic! The pizzas were 24 cm in diameter (a good size, especially for just one person!) and piping hot. Mine was PILED high with cheese and mushrooms. Literally, heaps of mushrooms! The mushrooms were canned (and we all know fresh is always better) but the generosity more than made up for that. The pizza was very cheesy too. The cheese seemed to be a gouda mix--it was a bit stronger and heavier than your standard mozzerella. Additionally, the pizza had a dusting of dried oregano on top of it--which looked nice, but it didn't add a whole lot of flavor. The sauce was thin, bright red, and tangy, like a cheap tomato paste (but not the dark red sweet kind, the cheaper kind that's almost sour). The crust was on the thicker side, by german standards (about normal by U.S. standards) and crispy. Amazingly, the pizza was cut into slices, but I ate it with a knife and fork nonetheless, to avoid being stared at. The pizza started out great, but by the end I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the cheese. Nonetheless, it was a great bargain, and a VERY filling lunch. Jack's pepperoni pizza was quite average in appearance--the salami used was much larger in diameter than the normal american pepperoni, and thinnly sliced (this is standard in germany). It was under a thick layer of cheese, so...a crispy pepperoni fan might have been dissapointed. He enjoyed it though. Unlike my monster of a mushroom pizza, the pepperoni on his pizza was distributed in normal amounts...though his pizza was very cheesy as well.

The full menu looked quite good, and there were some very unique pizza toppings available (one pizza came with BANANA on it...and it WASN'T a dessert!) In addition to many different pizzas, there was a full pasta menu. The prices were all quite affordable for the food, but the drinks were very expensive. However, most other pizza places we've seen in Stralsund are a bit pricier than this place, so we will probably try it again sometime. The lunch menu was a steal...but next time I want to try the banana pizza! (It also involved onions, pineapple, artichokes...and maybe tuna fish? I don't remember. It was a bizzare looking beast of a pizza).


Moving on to pizza number two.

Monday, 5th of March, 2007
Gabana-Zehlendorf, Berlin

I spent the afternoon driving around Zehlendorf with one of my English teachers. Zehlendorf is the section of Berlin where the U.S. Military was based for their sector of Berlin. It's now got some nice little shops and cute neighborhoods, but is still full of americans, and american things and ways. I'd been helping this teacher prepare an english presentation, and to say thank you she took me out to lunch. She'd been wanting to try a new cafe she'd read about called Gabana.
The restaurant had a very trendy air, and a "fusion" menu that was heavily influenced by the many americans in the area, no doubt. It served nachos and burgers and pizzas and whatnot. I decided to try their "Vegetarian Pizza" (yes, it was in english on the menu) which came with Zucchini, Eggplant, onion, rucola, pine nuts, mushrooms, and "paprika." Now, the description was in german, and normally when you see "paprika" on a german menu, they mean bell pepper, and not the spice. I hate bell peppers, but forgot to ask the waitress to have the peppers held. To my suprise and delight, instead of coming with peppers on it, my pizza arrived dusted with the SPICE paprika...which I can tolerate a lot more than bell peppers.
The pizza was seriously amazing. It had almost TOO much going on. The zucchini and eggplant were perfectly cooked (too long and they get mushy) and the mushrooms were fresh :) I love fresh rucola on pizzas, so that was great, and the pine nuts were an interesting twist. The crust was paper thin and crisp, and the sauce was fresh and tasted like perfectly ripe tomatos. The pizza was a bit spicy, maybe from the paprika, but also because it had a lot of minced garlic on it--very, very garlicky, but that's okay. I love garlic. It was a pleasant pizza, but hard to eat because of all the toppings... I had trouble getting it all onto my fork! The restaurant was pretty pricey over all, but my pizza was a pretty good deal at only 6.50. I've had far worse for that price, and the ingredients used were of top freshness and quality. One down side of the experience was that we waited forever...over a half an hour. That's a long wait for pizza and apple pie alamode (which is what my teacher ordered...it cost as much as my pizza! And again, those american influences...you normally won't find pie in Germany!)

Anyhow, it was a tasty pizza, but I don't know that I'd go back--it's a bit out of the way for me, and the menu was pretty expensive. Plus...I usually hate the german interpretations of "american food" (especially their attempts at nachos and salsa and whatnot...man, so wrong!) and seeing a menu full of that stuff makes me wary. What we had was good though.