Berlin has been at the sharp end of modern history for as long as there has been modern history. Europe's seedy playground in the 1920s, it became the capital of the Nazi empire in the 1930s and '40s, the flashpoint of Cold War conflict in the Sixties, and the hub of the new globalised Europe since 1989. Berlin is fascinating, beautiful, misbehaved, incendiary - the most fun thing made of bricks and mortar anywhere on earth. It's truly the Byron of cities: mad, bad and dangerous to know - yet irresistible and unmissable.
City of my birth, I've known and loved it both divided and reunited. After the Wall went up it was West Berlin that had the money, the chic, the edge. "Over there", as they called East Berlin, was drab, militarised, scary and more drab (lots more drab). Now the centre of gravity has shifted decisively. Eastern Berlin is the living heart of the city. The western part looks a bit sedate, not quite keeping up with the youthful pace farther east.
If you're flush, try the Adlon, next to the Brandenburg Gate (www.kempinski.com/en/berlinadlon). It was Hitler's favourite place in Berlin and where Michael Jackson notoriously dangled his baby out of the window. Rooms start at around US$354 (Dh1,300), climbing to $4,490 for the Brandenburg Gate Suite. For a longer stay, consider the Mandala Suites in Friederichstrasse (www.splendia.com/en/the-mandala-suites-berlin.html) - stylish, comfortable and a few steps from the former Checkpoint Charlie. Rates start at around $190 (Dh700). Alternatively, there's a lively market in short lets on apartments (www.berlin-flats.com), and this can be a very pleasant, more homely way to base yourself in the city, with prices starting from $68 (Dh250) per night.
Two convenient landmarks can serve as bases for exploring Western and Eastern Berlin respectively. Both are big, brash and noisy, albeit in very different ways, but are easy to find and close to the action. In the West, the Memorial Church (Gedächtniskirche), a bombed ruin left as a reminder of the evils of war, is near Zoo Station (Bahnhof Zoo) and the Kurfürstendamm (known locally as the Ku'damm), the great shopping street of Western Berlin.
In the East, Alexanderplatz is what the Communist regime thought an elegant city square should look like. It is ugly, windy, filled with sausage vendors, yet offers an authentic glimpse into Communist Berlin and is a hub for bus, tram and underground trains and home of the TV Tower (Fernsehturm), which is one of Berlin's great landmarks (known locally as the Tele-Spargel, or Tele-Asparagus). In good weather, a splendid way to get a handle on the city is to take a boat trip on the Landwehrkanal, the 10-kilometre canal that runs through the heart of the city parallel to the River Spree. If you head for the Friedrichstrasse stop on the U6 underground, tours leave from the Reichstagsufer (Reichstag Quay) nearby. It's quite a long trip (up to half a day) but plentiful refreshments will be on board.
To Berliners meat and drink are, well, meat and drink. To see the locals, head for the bars. You need have no fear about being expected to consume alcohol: soft drinks, tea, coffee and all sorts of foodstuffs will be on offer and no one looks twice. Berliners are gregarious and not shy. Simply by sitting there you will be assumed to be friendly and approachable and you'll soon find yourself engrossed in lively discussions about life, love, football and how everything is going to the dogs (something it has been doing, according to Berliners, since time immemorial). For brainier intercourse, you might try the cafe of the State Library (Staatsbibliothek) in the cultural district (Kulturforum). Enough egg-heads gather there on any day to guarantee a positive omelette of intellectual chat.
Restaurants are plentiful, excellent value and booking is only really necessary for the very smartest. For an evening meal, I like to head for the Käthe Kollwitz Platz in the Prenzlauer Berg district. Any of the cafes and restaurants in this cosy, stylish neighbourhood will dish up a variety of excellent meals involving fresh meat, fish, salads or vegetarian options. The cuisine is cosmopolitan, although of course for Germans dinner isn't really dinner without a kilo of meat on the plate. While you're in the neighbourhood, a visit to Konopkes currywurst stall under the S-Bahn line is mandatory. The oldest in the city, Konopkes serves up a particularly piquant version of this Berlin classic street food, a hot dog slathered in curried ketchup. Currywurst is not for the faint-hearted.
Oh yes. Start at the Department Store of the West (Kaufhaus Des Westens, universally known as KaDeWe) on Tauenzienstrasse, the continuation of the Ku'damm, one of the world's great shopping experiences. Don't miss the outstanding shoeshine man on the first floor, who will sell you polish and brushes (made from Himalayan yak hair) at eye-watering prices.
Friederichstrasse is excellent for everything from fresh roasted coffee to books, shoes, fashion, furniture and art. An eclectic and unusual shopping venue is the Hackesche Höfe (courtyards), which exemplify Berlin's Art Nouveau architecture. Filled with artisan shops, cafes and restaurants, they make a delightful destination, the more so for the proximity of the Hackescher Markt (market) next door, Berlin's first S-Bahn station, preserved and given over to bars and restaurants.
The Love Parade - a festival of tackiness, public indecency and soft drug-taking best left to Europe's youthful ne'er-do-wells. It takes place in July, when Berlin is in any case too hot and overrun with tourists to be at its best. Leave them to it and plan your trip for September.
Unlike many cities, Berlin is beautiful around the edges. Don't miss a trip to the lakes, particularly the Wannsee, to the south-west of the city. On a summer's afternoon this is a wonderful place to watch the sailing craft and admire the lakeside villas of the wealthy. Just a little farther is Potsdam, where the Sansouci Palace, Friedrich the Great's summer pad, is magnificent. If you like your history grim, Oranienburg, north of the city, housed the Nazis' first concentration camp, later replaced by one of its nastiest, Sachsenhausen. After "liberating" it in the spring of 1945, the Soviet regime went on using it as a concentration camp until 1950.