And Ronald Reagan. And that's only the Americans; Churchill's there as well, and Joseph Stalin, of course.

Then, just a short walk from here is the austere Ministry of Aviation building where Hermann Goering held sway as Hitler's deputy at the height of Nazi horrors. A stunningly stark Holocaust memorial lies just up the road, a permanent reminder of a period in history that will never be forgotten.

Where are you? Berlin, of course, a city where history is everywhere and where the past is ever present. And, despite the horrific aspects of much of that past, it's fair to say that this is a city that acknowledges and takes responsibility for its history. But what about that plethora of US presidents and other political luminaries? They're all to be found at Checkpoint Charlie, the point in this oncedivided, walled-off city to which all tourists gravitate and where the Berlin authorities have done themselves proud by way of a 'wall' of a different kind. This 'wall' is a billboard-type structure and charts the history, in words and photographs, of the growing antipathy between east and west, through the second world war, into the Cold War and way beyond.

Hence the images of JFK and his fellow presidents. And it's at Checkpoint Charlie that we begin our Berlin experience.

But a word of warning: Berlin is a big city.

We had checked into our hotel, the elegant Brandenburger Hof, in the Charlottenburg district and just a few minutes stroll away from the famous Kurfurstendamm, the city's prime shopping territory. It's a crisp October Sunday and so off we set in search of the Brandenburg Gate. Twenty minutes later, map in hand and still miles away, we realise that this is not a walking-distance situation. Berlin is a city with a number of 'centres' and while you can certainly walk from some sights to others, public transport, or a taxi, is a must here.

And so, eager to get on with it, we hail a cab and ask to be dropped at the Brandenburg Gate, the huge imperial structure that is the symbol of Berlin. All around here embassies that are cathedrals to modern architecture dominate the streetscape. Just across the road is the Reichstag, official seat of the German parliament and a perfect example of how to marry the old with the new . . . the 1884 building now boasting its stunning Norman Foster addition of a glass cupola that offers, from the ramps that rise within it, stunning views out over the city. (There's good news and bad news here: entry is free but the queues are hours long. ) We instead head through the Brandenburg Gate and down along the famous Unter den Linden, the magnificent tree-bedecked avenue of the former East Berlin. Marlene Dietrich used to sing about it . . . "fas long as the lime trees still blossom in Unter den Lindenf Berlin will always be Berlinf" Nowadays the avenue is awash with cafes, restaurants and a sprinkling of shops and from here it's a brisk 10-minute walk to Checkpoint Charlie.

You could spend hours here, and we certainly turn colder and colder as we loiter to read all the billboards documenting the history of the Cold War, the erection of the wall, the daring tales of escape and the tragic stories of those who lost their lives in the attempt. We check out the actual 'checkpoint' which is in fact a replica of the original military hut.

Actors dressed as American military pose here with eager tourists and cameras click and flash in the late afternoon gloom. Closeby is a museum, choc-a-bloc with more information about the wall, the war and the great divide.

It's difficult here on Friedrichstrasse, and indeed throughout the city, to get a clear idea at any given point as to whether you are standing in what was east or west Berlin. The wall meandered across the metropolis and although you will encounter a couple of chunks still standing, graffiti-covered with 21st-century defiance, it is largely gone, its path marked here and there across the city centre with a double row of cobblestones.

The next day, though . . . having dined the night before in a terrific tapas restaurant, Mar y Sol, in the arty Savignyplatz area, a district that illustrates very clearly the international, hip, cosmopolitan vibe that so defines the nightlife of the city . . . we walk to the KaDeWe, the Harrod's of Berlin, and sign up for one of the hop-on, hop-off open-top bus tours that stop here. It's the perfect solution for getting our bearings better defined so that gradually we start to recognise that, yes, this vast open space that is Alexanderplatz, for example, would have definitely been in the east.

It's something to do with the scale of the square, the huge buildings and, of course, the nearby Soviet-type apartment blocks. In general though, borders are blurred nowadays in Berlin and the past is largely where it has been confined . . . in the past.

After passing through the Gendarmenmarkt (surely the most beautiful square in Berlin, resplendent in its 17th-century grandeur and claiming not one, but two beautiful cathedrals and the city concert hall to boot) we head up Unter den Linden and alight from the bus close to the Guggenheim, the only major museum or gallery in the city that is open on a Monday.

Emerging later at lunch-time, the sun has come out and we meander along the street to the Operapalais, an appropriately named lovely old restaurant/cafe beside the opera house, a place to take tea on the terrace, a glass of beer perhaps, or one of the establishment's mind-boggling array of cakes and pastries.

Two 'croque monsieurs', two glasses of wine and one enormous cake (for himself) later and we take our leave to make our way to Wilhelmstrasse, once the nerve centre of Nazi power. Now just a few buildings with any Nazi associations remain, and when we finally find the location of Hitler's 'bunker' there's nothing there to mark it at all. It is, in fact, a car park, an ignominious enough 'monument' to the place where 'Der Fuhrer' finally ended his days by his own hand. How fitting then, that the 'monument' that most impresses in this part of the city is the nearby Holocaust Memorial, completed just last year and which, with its field of dark grey steel columns, ranging in height from two to six feet, symbolises and is dedicated to 'The Killed Jews of Europe'. In silence we walk through the lines of columns;

it's tunnel-like, it's stark, it's deeply unnerving.

It is entirely as it should be.

And so, from past to present, old to new, ancient to outrageous modernity: welcome to Potsdamer Platz. The U-Bahn underground system brings us here (but you can easily walk from Checkpoint Charlie) and when we step out of the station at ground level the visual effect is staggering. This is architectural heaven with gleaming glass towers vying for prominence: the stunning Sony Centre with its restaurants, cinemas, film museum and the like is a cathedral to commerce with the complementary buildings in the square all contributing to the overall 'wow' factor in this plaza that not so long ago was just another derelict site in a divided city. Welcome, indeed, to Berlin 2006, a city with a past, now looking optimistically towards the future.

THE FACTS Getting there We travelled to Berlin direct from Dublin with Aer Lingus on one of their daily flights. They also fly three days a week from Cork. Note they fly into Berlin Schonefeld which is some 25km from the centre but is served by an S-Bahn rail connection.

Ryanair also flies to Schonefeld from Dublin.

Staying there We stayed at the stylish Brandenburger Hof Hotel (www. brandenburger-hof. com), a former Prussian townhouse with 72 rooms, Bauhaus furnishings and a Michelin-starred restaurant. Doubles, including an a la carte breakfast, from 245.

Getting around The public transport system is terrific . . . U-Bahn, S-Bahn and bus tickets are all interchangeable within the city. A day pass costs 5.60.

The Top-Tour sightseeing bus tour costs 15.

Going shopping After all that history a spot of retail therapy is a good antidote. Two-and-a-half-mile long Kurfurstendamm offers high-street shopping plus designer outlets. KaDeWe is a German Harrod's with all the glitz. On Friedrichstrasse you'll find the major designer shops.