Berlin: Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!

You'll recognise the relics and ruins in London, Rome and Athens from the pages of your history textbooks; Berlin's landmarks are ones you've seen on your TV screens.

Berlin is a place of living history, a city that featured prominently in the two world wars and the Cold War. These conflicts are never far from a visitor's mind when looking at the remnants of the Berlin Wall,  strolling down former Communist boulevards past Stalinist architecture or contemplating memorials to the Holocaust.

Yet Berlin is also a city on the mend. The maps are being redrawn and guidebooks rewritten as the very fabric of the city is being reassembled before visitors' eyes. Here are some highlights from our visit to one of Europe's most dynamic cities.

A key symbol of this change is the Reichstag, the seat of the German parliament.
 
It's a building within a building, the shell of the facade and its ornate stone carvings brought back to life by Sir Norman Foster's modern overhaul, the most striking feature of which is the glass dome which funnels light into the legislative chamber.

It's extremely popular with visitors so you can expect to spend an hour or more just queueing up to enter the building through its strict security checkpoint. On the morning of our visit this meant contending with several coachloads of Spanish school parties, most of whom sulked and smoked as we proceeded in fits and starts up the steps and through the main doors.

Once inside the Reichstag you are guided straight to a lift for the ride to the top floor. Here a series of ramps spiral up through the glass dome, allowing tourists to enjoy views over the city and peer down onto the German lawmakers. 

The glass of the dome means the light and reflections change constantly.

Step outside onto the roof and you can admire the dome itself from all angles plus enjoy open-air views over the city.





It's the perfect introduction to the city, although if your time in the city is limited you'll need to take into account the hour or more you could spend just queueing to get in. It's free to visit though and open quite late into the night.

Next time, a short stroll through the Tiergarten past the Soviet War Memorial, the Brandenburg Gate and embassy row.