Berlin, Germany

Okay Berlin, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to do what Cologne, Hamburg and the rest of Germany has so far failed to do... inspire me.

I drove north from Prague to Hotel And City Camping on the west side of Berlin, the closest I could find to the city centre but also near to the flightpath for the airport. The campsite is located on the point where the River Spree diverges so it's surrounded by water on 3 sides and the cycle path to the city centre (a hefty 15km each way) simply follows the river in.

I have been pleasantly shocked and surprised about how modern and cosmopolitan the city is. A mix of grand old buildings and new modern architecture dominates the city centre on a huge scale and they seem to sit along side each other perfectly. There are also huge areas of parks and grass such as the Tiergarten (in the mould of Central Park in New York) while the needle-like TV Tower rises above everything else in the city by a mile. My preconceptions of the city were that it would be efficient but rather monotone, not vibrant and engaging. This is not what I had expected from Berlin at all.

The first day, I headed into the centre to see what was going on and get my bearings. The river area in the centre has been developed a lot and just to the south is the Brandenburger Gate, the focal point of the city and formerly the main crossing point through the Berlin Wall. The Quadriga statue on top originally faced west but it was stolen by Napoleon and after it was returned it was mounted to face east instead. The structure looks great both in the day and when lit up at night.

Just north of the gate is the Reichstag building, the German parliament, which now features a huge glass dome on the top with a viewing platform and spiral walkway. Outside is the start to the Tiergarten - a vast expanse of public park. Unfortunately the dome was closed all week for cleaning but it requires booking in advance to see it anyway. To the south is a huge square featuring a maze of 2711 concrete blocks of varying heights, like a big 3D graphics equaliser. This is the the Jewish Memorial for the second world war and now a sort of stepping-stones challenge to young and old alike.

As you head east from the Brandenburger Gate you reach the University which is on the site where the first major burning of books took place. Under the pavement outside is a symbolic row of empty bookshelves which can be viewed through the pavement above. Also on this street is the Guggenheim, which is currently featuring video based art installations. Francis Alys' "When Faith Moves Mountains" is a political piece about protests againt the corrupt Peruvian government where 500 volunteers literally did move a mountain (or huge sand dune) outside Lima by about 10cm with nothing but shovels.

As you continue along the street, you get to the fantastic "Museum Island" on the river's edge. Here, the huge Berlin Cathedral, National Gallery, Altes Museum and Pergamon buildings are situated with lots of ongoing building work to develop the area further. The Pergamon Museum is particulalry special as the chambers do not just hold exhibits but become exhibits themselves as huge excavated towns and buildings are rebuilt here to walk through. I have not seen another musuem like it.

West of the Brandenburger Gate is the Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt (the former Congress Hall and nicknamed the "Pregnant Oyster") and in the middle of the Tiergarten is the Siegessaule Monument, a huge column topped with a golden angel. As it was getting dark, I took a trip to Prater Beer Garden, it is a great little place and hugely popular with the locals. They have served their own specialist beers for nearly 200 years and you can sit outside under the lights on a big area of picnic benches. My tip is the Weihenstephan wheat beer.

There is a big square near the centre which houses one of Berlins most recognisable structures, the Fernsehturm TV Tower. Getting to the top is pricey and comes with a long wait but the views from the top of the 368m tower are superb as it dwarfs everything else by comparison. Opposite the tower on the square is the red brick Town Hall building.

One place that I was looking forward to in Berlin was the so-called "Checkpoint Charlie". This was the point on the edge of the American occupied area with the iconic sign "You are now leaving the American Sector" and there is now a museum based here. When I got to the place, it was over-run with swarms of rather loud and abusive American tourists having photos taken with a mock-up guard post in the middle of the road while the traffic either side tried to avoid them blindly stepping out into the road.

Opposite the packed museum were a McDonalds, Starbucks and New-Yorker which were doing equally good trade. I decided that this was one place I didn't want to hang around for very long and left quite quickly in frustration.

The biggest preserved section of the Berlin Wall itself is now the East Side Gallery which runs alongside the road with sections of different artwork and graffiti on it. Famous panels include the kiss between Soviet leader Brezhnev and GDR leader Honecker as well as the Trabant car crashing through the wall. The distinctive pedestrian crossing lights, different on each side of the wall, have since become a symbol for the city.

I decided to visit the Bauhaus Archive while in the city, as this art and design school started a great modernist design movement at the start of the 20th century but the museum itself is rather small and dissapointing. By contrast, the Body Worlds exhibition ("Korperwelten" in German) was in town and it is nothing short of spectacular. Dr Gunther Von Hagen's show is based around real human bodies which have been preserved through "plastination" and dissected to show the inner workings of bones muscles and organs in a mix of science and art.

The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche is normally a recognisable feature on the Berlin skyline. This ruined church has been left as it was after being bombed by the Brittish in the second world war as a constant reminder to German leaders (not to start fights you can't finish?). It is currently having structural repairs made though, so all there is to see is a big scaffolding frame around the building.

Further east in the Charlottenburg region is the Charlottenburg Palace. This huge palace is spectacular enough from the front but is even more impressive from the royal gardens at the back. A mixture of trees, lakes, preened gardens and pathways make this a great place to wander around (for free) and there are plenty of joggers taking advantage of the scenery.

On my last evening in Berlin, there was a French-style Fete taking place at the Brandenburger Gate. There was Marianne Cornil (a French lady playing the accordian), followed by the Women's World Cup semi-final, before a mental gypsy-style ska band from Lyon called Babylon Circus finished the night.

There was also a drumming Brazillian samba band complete with dancers (called Ethnik 97?) wandering around who did the most bizzare samba version of "Ghostbusters". There were also loads of food and drink stalls (but €6 for a beer!) and Sebastian Vettel's championship winning F1 car.

I had the urge to go for a dip in the lake on the way home so took an impromptu swim. The water was surprisingly warm and clean and there was also a middle-aged German couple enjoying the lake too. It was only from a distance as they got out that I realised they were completely in the buff! They asked if I would like to join them for a beer but I politely declined and stayed in the water.

It was a good and rather strange night to round off a great city in style.

Mission accomplished Berlin.