Berlin is unique in that, due to the past division of the city, no real center exists. East and West are still in the process of merging. Today, the east contains most of the city's landmarks and historic sites while the western part is the commercial heart of the city. However, the face of Berlin is changing rapidly. One never knows what is going to pop up where at any given moment in time.

Difficult to travel on foot, the sprawling city of Berlin moves its people by way of the underground U-Bahn, the above-ground S-Bahn, the bus and the Strassenbahn streetcar. In the center of town, the Tiergarten sits pretty, with the tree-lined Strasse des 17 Juni running from West to East, and right into the famous Brandenburger Gate and the neighborhood of Mitte.

Mitte is home to many of the city's historical sights, museums and churches. Cafés and shops run along the Oranienburgerstrasse, a street cutting through the northeastern area of Mitte called the Scheunenviertel, historically Berlin's center of Jewish life.

Between the Mitte and Kreuzberg is Potsdamer-Platz. Described by one visitor as 'Times Square on drugs', this is a where one finds a mix of Marlene Dietrich memorabilia, Nazi remains, film centers and a place to grab a beer.

A few years back, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, many of Berlin's eastern inhabitants left to be replaced by young people from all over the world. South of the Mitte, you will find one such neighborhood, the Kreuzberg. It is driven by a young, club-oriented crowd of people living, or at least dressing, the ideals of grunge, punk and socialism.

Friedrichshain is home to Karl Marx Allee, a street once used for transportation of tanks and other war equipment on wheels. The whole area is currently under perpetual modification and modernization. Skinheads and hippies squat in old communist buildings and walk through construction sites to find the latest unmarked discos and speak-easies.

On the western side, starting on the southwest side of the Tiergarten, is the beginning of Kurfürstendamm in the neighborhood of Wilmersdorf. Western-style shopping areas are not as easy to come by in many other neighborhoods of Berlin, therefore, the 'K-damm' is an easy stop for those looking to buy just about anything; clothes, records, books, shoes, wieners, etc.