Berlin

West Berlin´s glitiziest artery was – and remains – the boulevard know as Kurfürstendamm , or Ku Damm for short. The train station near Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten (Bahnhof Zoo for short),near the Ku-Damm, is the major transportation hub on this side of the city and a good landmark for orienting yourself ; it´s just a few minutes from the station to the gay area around Nollendorfplatz. The zoo itself is part of the Tiergarten, a beautiful park ( incidentally famous for its cruising grounds) stretching east and ending at the cultural center known as the Kulturforum,near Potsdamer Platz.Charlottenburg, one of the Berlin´s most desirable neighborhoods, lies to the west of the Tiergarten. Here you´ll find Charlottenburg Palace,several museums, and the Deutsche Oper ( German Opera) house. The Grunewald, in the south-western corner of the city, is a 39 sq. km ( 15-square mile) forest bordered by the Havel River and a series of attractive lakes. Kreuzberg, a staunchly working-class neighbourhood in south Berlin with a large population of Turks, was for years the “alternative” heart of the city.Some of its funkiess has disappeared now that gentrifivation has set in, but remains a center of gay life.Now let´s talk “East Berlin”, even though it doesn´t really exist anymore. It´s physically joined to the west but psychologically continues to be something of a separate.Eastern Berlin symbolically begins at Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburger Gate. These areas, which stood behind the Berlin Wall, are now a maze of new construction. Unter den Linden, the grand boulevard that´s the city´s richest historic showcase,starts at the Brandenburg Gate ( Pariser Platz) and extends east. It´s lined with 18th- and 19th- century palaces (put to other uses) and monumental structures. The avenue and surrounding areas are the oldest sections of central Berlin and well worth exploring, particulary the beautiful neoclassical square called Gendarmenmarkt.Friedrichstrasse, intersecting Unter den Linden, is trying to restore its pre war reputation as Berlin´s pre-eminent shopping street. It´s loaded with new luxury boutiques and department stores. Friedrichstrasse train station, where U-Bahn and S-Bahn lines coverage, is eastern Berlin´s transportation hub.Before the war, this section of East Berlin was the traditional heart of the city, so it´s referred to as Mitte (center) or Stadt-Mitte (city-center) or Berlin-Mitte.Another part of eastern Berlin you may want to visit . mostly for its burgeoning gay scene is Prenzlauer Berg, northeast of Berlin Mitte. The Hackescher Markt neighbourhood ( U-Bahn : Hackscher Markt) in Eastern Berlin is a pre World War I area that´s been turned into an artsy-farsy café and retail scene.