you would pay in pounds. You may have to wait an hour to get into the Norman Foster-designed Reichstag but inside its beautiful.
It’s very German
Although it‘s the capital of Germany. Berlin is Germany-lite. Finding a bratwurst isn‘t easy but kebabs are a sinch. If you do want German food. try Gambrinius on Koernerstrasse. They serve big sausages with huge piles of mash and gravy and have schnitzel the size of your abdomen. As for the beers. you can drink till you‘re dmnk but still look forward to a hangover-free morning alter. Of course. Berlin is like the rest of Germany in many ways: efficient. clean and eco-friendly but with fewer of the harmful side effects.
The Germans hide the Holocaust
Hitler's former bunker has been paved over but right next to where it stood within site of the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate is the new Holocaust Memorial. It is a very Berlin tendency to tear down the architecture of a tyranny only to build a memorial to it. Take time to go see the Wall Memorial on the opposite bank of the River Spree to the Reichstag. See the replica Checkpoint Charlie at the Mauer Museum. See the Soviet War
Memorial made from the stone of
the Hitler's Chancellery building.
1 14 THE LIST 3—1 7 Mar 2005
TRAVEL
The wall went straight through the city
It didn‘t. lt zigged and lagged. Try to follow the course of the wall for some way and you‘ll wander from desolate railway sidings. through tenement areas to fashionable riverside apartment blocks and fancy villas. Berlin has a singular topography and although harsh and abandoned in places. it is always interesting and strangely beautiful.
Berlin is full of artists living in squats
The glorious days of the squats are over. The former West Berlin was a haven for West Germans escaping military service and the left wing city admininistration tolerated them. Those days are over. While Berlin is a city that knows how to survive and has a remarkably cheap. forward thinking city government. the days of free loading are very much over. One squat on F strasse now has a cinema.
Those ‘genuine’ bits of the wall are fake
They probably aren’t. The Berlin Wall — the concrete barrier which formed the most physically impressive element of the fortifications between East and West Berlin — was l(l7km long. 3.7m high and about lm thick. That's a helluva lot of wall. And don‘t be surprised if you become
Friends reunited: the Brandenburg
Gate (top right), a 1.3km painted section of the wall (above), and the 18605 Berlin Town Hall (above left)
obsessed by it. (‘heck out www. berlinermauer.se. lt's run by a Swedish woman who is not only sexually attracted to the Wall. she thinks she's actually married to it.
FACTFILE
Planes, trains and automobiles
If you book flights now for the summer. you can get some for as low as £2.99 with Easyiet. although most seem to be around the extortionate E? l 2.99 or $17.99 mark. Bear in mind that Newcastle airport l8 linked to the main railway station by a superb metro. as is Berlin Schonefeld to the rest of the City. YOU can stay at the highly recommended three-star Art Hotel Charlottenburger Hot for around £50 a d0uble during July. The S-Bahn is right opposite and it Will whisk you ar0und the Cli‘, QUICKly. If you'd prefer to be amongst all the groovy types in the east of the City. you COuld iPy the Bornholmer Hof which has doubles for $45. Get oil the U-Bahn at SchOnhauser Allee. From there you can walk to Bornholmer Strasse Or take tram No 50 for one stop. Hiring a car Or even getting a cab are the most friv010us things y0u can do in a city where the travel cards cost the same as they do in London but which yOu can use until 3am the idllcwihg morning. when. yes. the S-Bahn. U- Bahn and trams are Silll operating.
Socia/ism, sa/sa and LIN/iv
I The tsunami recovery process continues this month with the second meeting of the World Tourism Organization Emergency Task Force set up to evaluate the Phuket Action Plan. “The action plan focuses on the human element in tourism: saving tourism jobs, relaunching small tourism-related businesses and recovering the visitor flows that make these economies work.‘ says Francesco Frangialli, WTO secretary-general. ‘We were amazed by the solidarity shown by the international tourism community in helping to accelerate recovery in the aftermath of this tragedy. Now we need to bring tourists back to the region by preventing outdated travel advisories issued by some countries from causing more damage to these destinations.‘ We wish them the best of luck.
I Scoring 3 goal for unity. South Korea looks set to host an international football tournament in July, designed to promote peace and stability on the divrded Korean peninsula. In a press conference in Seoul, the organisuig committee unveiled a star-studded list of partiCipants for 2005 Peace Cup Korea. a tournament that Will be joined by eight Clubs from four continents. Matches will be played between 15—24 July in the stadiums across South Korea that were used during the 2002 World Cup. Organisers said the sports event in 8e0ul is aimed at helping ‘promote peace and stability on the world's last Cold War frontier'. Fair 'nuii .
I From socialism to salsa, Cuba is one of this year’s hot destinations. And the folks at Flight Centre have upped the ante to ensure the whole thing is just a little richer with a 15-day trip that allows travellers to experience the ‘real’ Cuba. This involves staying with local families along the way and visiting some of the country's colonial towns including Havana and Trinidad, both listed as a World Heritage Sites. The trip begins in Havana before heading off to sample the beach resort of Playa Larga, sun'ounded by lush mangrove swamps and private lagoons, as well as the popular resort of Varadero and Trinidad. Flights start from £670. See www.flightcentre.co.uk.