"Berlin" Berlin by GrumpyDiver

To me, this picture is probably the one of Berlin I will remember the most. My first trip to Berlin was the year after the Berlin Wall came down, and there was still a very signifcant difference between the east and west.

You could still see the bullet damage from WWII and the damage from the pieces where the Berlin Wall once stood.

Remnant of the Berlin Wall

Again, a memory. My first visit to was in 1988, the year before the Berlin Wall came down. The border between the two Germany's was scary - with the landmines, tank traps, razor wire and dog runs. Things were different in 1990, when the hangover from the reunification was just beginning.

By 2003, there was very little of the old Berlin left. A small section of the Berlin wall (my daughter and a girl she was corresponding with on MSN) are standing in front of a tiny remnant.

Sony Center

There was a huge wasteland between East and West Berlin before the wall came down. It did not take long afterwards for the vast empty spaces to be filled.

It's rare for a lot of open land to exist in the centre of a big city, so in 2000, the Sony Center was build on the former wasteland of Potsdammer Platz.

• Pros:One of the few European Capital cities that exceeded my expectations
• Cons:Hustle, bustle and noise - a bit raunchy - it's Berlin
• In a nutshell:Sophisticated and brash at the same time- it's Berlin