TEN OBSERVATIONS ABOUT BERLIN

10. DOORS - Bloody Hell, every single door in Berlin is impossible to open without a hip and shoulder (except the automatic ones, some of which have handles... not sure why). They also take approximately 23 seconds to unlock.

9. TOILETS - you have to pay to use public toilets all over Europe, but the Germans are at least putting their tolls to good use. Sensors are just the beginning, it's the self-sterilising toilet seats that are really impressive.

8. MUSCLES - you have to be strong to live in Berlin (refer back to the doors in point 10), especially if you work in a beer hall. I saw this one chick pretty much carrying an entire table of individual soup servings above her head. That and the beers are massive. Drinking beer in Berlin is actually a legitimate workout session.

7. GARDENS - the public gardens in Berlin are massive, and they're pretty awesome to check out. They're also full of monuments and stuff.

6. NUDITY - and also, we drove past a section of the gardens that was full of naked people sunbathing. Unfortunately they were all old. Word is that Berliners of today feel a sense of liberalism that the Nazi Party would be disgusted by. I say more power to them.

5. FOOD - Yum. I can't say that we had a bad meal in Berlin. Big, meaty, flavoursome slabs of food fall from the heavens and land in your stomach. You'd be silly not to wash it down with a beer that's bigger than your head.

4. BEARS - the symbol of Berlin is the Berlin Bear. I was not aware of this, but the dude is all over the place. Colourful bear statues line the streets and are a massive attraction in the tourist shops. There's a little Berlin Bear on the sticker that I got near Checkpoint Charlie.

3. GERMAN-NESS - Yes, there are lots of Germans in Germany and they speak German. As a non-German-speaking tourist this can lead to amusing situations. A lot of German words resemble inappropriate English words, and of course there's also the manner in which the language is spoken. It's kind of a polite don't-f***-with-me tone that demands attention. That being said, the people of Berlin are awesome, it's just that the language has some quirks.

2. BEER - without doubt some of the best beer in the world is brewed locally in Germany. They have a rule here that you can have no more than 4 ingredients per beer, which means it's always pure (no additives), and it's also yummy. Oh yeah, and you can hire rides on a travelling bar, which is pretty much an open air bar for about 10 people, with kegs and taps on board, and everyone pedals it like a bike and you can drive it through the touristy streets. I got photos.

1. HISTORY - all of Europe is full of interesting history, ranging from BC dates to very recent events. None are more interesting than the history of Berlin over the past 100 years. Yeah we all know a lot about the world wars, the cold war, the Berlin Wall etc, but when you actually see all these things it is very interesting. We found it fascinating anyway... I'd recommend it to anyone who has a slight interest in history (as well as food and beer).