Sometimes big cities can be impersonal and I tend to feel a bit swallowed up. Berlin is massive, and at first felt a little like this. However as we explored, the many layers of this incredible city were revealed, painting a vibrant and complex picture of a city with strong traditions, marred by a dreadful recent history but emerging as a youthful, passionate and epically cool modern city.

So let's start with traditional Berlin and to do that we must talk food, and beer. I was never a beer drinker, until I took my first sip of German beer - Erdinger - at the German club in Brisbane. Instant convert. So we were all thrilled to find out that we had timed our visit perfectly for the International Beer Festival. We spent a fantastic afternoon stall hopping to the soundtrack of a live Ramstein cover band, eating steak sandwiches and drinking great german beers as well as some comforts from home - Ben nearly cried with joy to crack a VB while Mark lovingly cradled a Filipino San Miguel.

We also went to a beer garden, with the waitresses dressed in the traditional dirndls, for a delicious lunch of pork knuckle with melt in your mouth crackling, sauerkraut, potato dumplings and sausages. For cheaper meals we frequented sausage stands for currywurst and kartoffelsalat. Yum!

It's not really what I would call a 'pretty' city - sadly a majority of historical buildings in Berlin were flattened during and immediately after WW2. Despite the lack of physical reminders the memory of both Nazi Germany and life either side of the Berlin wall which divided the city are still very fresh.

We went on a couple of walking tours which explored the key sites and horrific stories from WW2, including the air force administrative building (now finance ministry) and the site of Hitler's bunker where he committed suicide. We visited the execution site of the German army officers who plotted (and failed) in 1944 to assassinate Hitler and to use his Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take over the country, and the site of the Gestapo headquarters where many political opposers were interviewed, tortured and killed. That site now hosts the 'topography of terror', an exhibition displaying documents, photographs and stories which gave a good insight into the progression of the war, focusing not only on the victims but also the perpetrators - important in trying to understand how such an atrocity could have happened.

We wove through the concrete blocks of the Jewish memorial, an abstract monument which is designed to leave interpretation open as the artist felt he could never capture the extremity of these events, or do justice to so many victims with a single statue. In photographs I'd never been too impressed with the memorial, and apparently I'm not alone - there was a lot of controversy around it especially considering that the anti graffiti paint used on the blocks is made by the same manufacturers that produced the 'cyclone b' gas used by the Nazis to mass murder innocent men, women and children.

However walking through it was entirely more meaningful and affecting than I expected. The narrow pathways force you to walk alone rather than side by side through the grid. Unable to see over the blocks, someone unexpectedly crosses your path now and then and you quickly lose your friends, although I did feel a desire to walk alone regardless. As you walk deeper in, the ground drops in waves until you suddenly find yourself isolated and overwhelmed by the concrete blocks that now tower over you and cast you into shadow, blocking out the world, until you wander back up into the sunshine, where the blocks shrink away and you reach the tree lined edge, a metaphor perhaps for hope and new beginnings.

And then there is the more recent history of the Cold war and the Berlin wall, dividing east from west, communist from capitalist, family and friends for over thirty years. We visited the remaining sections of the wall including the east side gallery murals and also checkpoint Charlie (or I should say, the site of checkpoint Charlie as the building, signs etc are all replicas). Our guide told us stories of crazy escapes, tragic unsuccessful attempts (guards were required to shoot to kill), and also both the negatives and positives of life in East Berlin under communist rule.

As I said there has been a bit of debate around some of the memorials. Germany finds itself with the dilemma of how to commemorate these events appropriately without appearing to either be flippant or too focused. We felt that it was a really important part of our visit to commemorate and learn more about these events, and to pay our respects. The city has done well with the resources available and are continuing to build memorials to acknowledge not only the Jewish victims of WW2, but also the other victims targeted by the Nazis such as homosexuals, gypsies and Jehovah's witnesses.

On the flip side, I have to wonder...how long will Germany, particularly the youth, suffer also? When can they again be proud, both personally and publicly, of their country? It's certainly unfair that the youth of Germany are somewhat defined by these terrible acts which they played no part in, and although of course it is important to always remember so that it is never repeated, I think it is a real shame that so much of the tourism industry in Berlin is entirely centered on this.

However the alternative Berlin tour that we went on (and some of our independant wanderings) unravelled a whole new level of the city. As we explored the hidden corners, amazing street art, the east side gallery and a 'peace umbrella' exhibition, we learnt about the way the city has reshaped and the ideas and creativity that have emerged since the wall fell.

While the wall stood, the buildings alongside it were abandoned (not exactly prime real estate). When the wall fell, these areas drew in students and artists who squatted in the buildings - in fact many squatters remain there today.

So under the influence of these low income creative types an alternative scene emerged - abandoned factories became ideal venues for raves, the buildings a perfect canvas for street art...and so now Berlin has this amazing youthful vibe and nightlife not only with the megaclubs like Tresor (which is great) and KaterHolzig (who turned us away in booming German when we accidently tried walking in the exit, oops), but also a whole heap of smaller, unique clubs and bars.

Along the river there are all of these great little 'beach' bars, including the Jamaican 'yam' beach club which has to be the most chilled open air bar I've ever come across. With it's walls covered in street art, a basketball court, half pipe, beach volleyball, beach soccer and a kids corner with Caperoia lessons, it just had a really great, social vibe. If we had more places like this in Australia maybe there would be less bored kids on the street stirring s***. Great idea.

Unfortunately there are some developers who despite protests are now buying up a lot of the area and replacing the galleries, bars and clubs with office buildings, hotels and apartments. At this stage Yam only has one year's lease left and then, sadly, it will probably disappear.

Our guide took us through the predominately Turkish area of Kreuzberg. A lot of Turks migrated to the area following the collapse of the wall as there was huge employment opportunities for builders and labourers. So we had a delicious Turkish meal there with an Israeli couple who did an excellent job of pitching Tel Aviv to us all. So much world to see! Apparently the doner kebab - that is, putting the kebab meat in bread rather than on a plate - was invented here in Berlin - fun fact ;-)

Kreuzberg was merged with Friedrichshain in 2001 to form a single district, and both areas are similar in nature and vibe and are home to a young, alternative and largely (leftwing) politically active crowd. However our guide explained that they still do see themselves as being two distinctly separate and unique districts. In protest of the amalgamation, they now meet in the middle of the bridge that divides them on a random date every August, and have a giant food fight trying to push the other side back off the bridge. The losing district has to clean up. Apparently the police always turn up to block off the bridge but the participants simply walk around them and carry on anyway! We missed it unfortunately - would have been great viewing (or participating?).

So Berlin took me by surprise. I'd heard good reviews and I was hoping that I would love Berlin, and I did - but for totally different reasons than I expected. Great, lively, amazing city!