You just never know what you’ll find at Mauerpark. You certainly wouldn’t expect to karaoke sessions on a patch of land formerly patrolled by East German guards on the Berlin Wall’s infamous death strip, but Mauerpark defies its chequered past to provide a setting for locals to let their hair down.

At any given opportunity they flock to this flat field of abused grass littered by bottle tops to meet friends, throw a frisbee, kick a ball, crack open a beer, barbeque, play boules, juggle with fire, sing, dance, walk the dog – there’s even a Hundewiese for dogs to amble around at their leisure, meet other dogs, exchange phone numbers…

A Sunday flea market provides the opportunity to buy their fleas, but for me the highlight of Mauerpark is the freedom to do whatever you want coupled with the excitement of wondering what that will be.

Perched among the weeds on top of the bank, I look around and take it all in: the murmur of chatting, clinking of bottles, a burst of laughter, the thump thump thump of a basketball, the metal clang of a score, a dog yelping, a bigger dog answering, a reggae band starts up to my right, more thump thumping, clang, applause.

A group of friends call to a lost companion and a trumpet and guitar start up. Another burst of laughter. The friend finally catches up with his pals. “Hallo!” He greets them one by one. Hey! I know that guy! Gotta go…

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Mauerpark | Relaxing | Free
Bernauer Straße 64 | Prenzlauer Berg
24 hours daily

Underground out of sight, in a place open until at least 6am – exactly where you want to do your drinking. Silberfisch has long been one of those bars which gives you the feeling Berlin wants you to become a vampire, sleeping all day, out all night. It’s an easy transformation. There’s something comforting in walking down the steps from Oranienburger Straße into this den to be greeted by the friendly bar staff like a long-lost Chilean miner.

DJs with remarkably good taste churn out the sounds seven days a week. Regulars sit at the bar exchanging ill-formed commentaries with whoever listens, consoling indignations with choices from the extensive drinks menu. Visitors are delighted to listen to commentary from knowledgeable locals, toasting their own diplomacy with choices from the extensive drinks menu.

It can be smoky, it can be loud, but there’s an extensive drinks menu. Specialties include Absinthe Sour (€8), Pina Colada (€7.50) and my favourite, Long Island Iced Tea (€9.50), all interspersed with Jägermeisters of course. Beer starts at €3. Exclusive to the Silberfisch however is its infamous Weltfrieden (World Peace) which is served in what can only be described a massive goblet for €15.

“After three double vodkas, bitter lemon and tonic, everyone is for world peace,” explained the barman. There are safer drinks of course, for those who want to make use of the dance floor.

The Silberfisch is best enjoyed after midnight when all the other vampires also come out to play.

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Silberfisch | Bars, Music, Relaxing | Beer from € 3.00
Oranienburger Str. 37 | Mitte | +493028387388
Sun – Thu 20:00 – 06:00, Fri – Sat 20:00 – 08:00

Buried deep under Berlin’s famous Alexanderplatz (check the Alexanderplatz article) are the remains of a 4.5 billion year old UFO hushed up by the authorities and covered up from view. Apparently the East German regime was well aware of the implications of such a startling secret on the socialist state and so it built the Fernseheturm (check the Fernsehturm article) on the very site between 1965 and 1969 to hide it from public consciousness.

In 1995 however, an artefact from the space station was discovered, leading to the formation of a team of techies and hackers trying to reconstruct the puzzle of its existence. This is the ‘c-base’ project. Those involved meet in their own “space station” at the very back of an unobtrusive Hinterhof, working round the clock to try and uncover the terrible truth hidden for years by the powers that be.

Of course there are other activities too – the c-base does not restrict itself to looking just into the existence of aliens or UFOs – but as you can understand they’re a pretty secretive bunch, loath to any publicity or attention. So keep this under your hat.

Thankfully their activities also involve the serving of beer (just €2 a bottle for “aliens”) and some wild parties which are flagged in advance on their website. You’ll have to ring the bell at the door to be let in and if you ask nicely and are “compatible” they may even give you a tour! But remember, it’s all hush hush.

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C-Base Spacestation | Bars, Relaxing | Beer for “aliens” € 2
Rungestraße 20 | Kreuzberg | +493028599300
Top secret

There are many places in Berlin you shouldn’t go and others you simply have to go to. What’s wonderful about this city is the sheer wealth of places which fall into both categories. Kaserne Krampnitz is most certainly one of them. Abandoned in 1992 by the Russians in the wake of German Reunification, this former military training school has been lying idle ever since, its ever-increasing overgrowth disturbed only periodically to make films such as Enemy at the Gates and Inglorious Basterds.

You won’t find this huge site mentioned in any of your travel guides, and the high unfriendly wall around it doesn’t exactly encourage unannounced guests, but visitors brave enough to venture in will be stepping in the footsteps of those history would rather forget.

The Nazis moved their army riding and driving school here from Hannover in 1937. Of course, lessons ended with the loss of the war, and their victors remained at the site until the fall of the Berlin Wall made them redundant too. Abandoned barracks, creepy club houses and former corridors of power now await exploration.

Be very careful! It has been rumoured that security keeps a watchful eye over the site and the legality of camera-clutching onlookers wandering around has yet to be tested in a court of law. (It’s not on my ‘To Do’ list.) A sign outside warns potential trespassers: “Betreten und Befahren verboten!” Of course, I could never condone trespassing or anything so naughty. If anyone asks, I didn’t send you…

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Kaserne Krampnitz | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Krampnitz | Outer – South&West
24 hours daily. Well…

More than 20 years after it was taken down, the Berlin Wall continues to be the city’s principal attraction for visitors.

The success of sights like Checkpoint Charlie and the recently repainted East Side Gallery has convinced the city powers to rebuild it – some of it at least – as a memorial on Bernauer Straße, where a section of the original Wall still stands.As expected, flocks of tourists eagerly make their way to the site, perhaps in their hurry overlooking a discreet installation in the former “ghost station” of Nordbahnhof.

Pictures and placards in German and English tell the incredible tales from the division of the city’s public transport system and the madness which ensued once the Wall went up in 1961. (The 50th anniversary of its construction took place on August 13th last.)

Barbed wire and bricked-up entrances were the order of the day, as the East German government sealed off all possible escape routes to the West, creating these ghost stations where trains passed through East Berlin on their way from one section of West Berlin to another. Passengers could only glimpse out at the dimly lit eeriness patrolled by border guards as they whizzed by.

Stories of courageous escapes, explanations, diagrams and multimedia all feature in this fascinating but small exhibition of the crazy realities of life in the shadow of the Wall. Best of all – it’s free!

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Nordbahnhof | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Gartenstraße | Mitte
24 hours daily

As city squares go, they don’t come much uglier than Alexanderplatz. Surrounded by a rash of imposing GDR-style unimaginative blocks, with perhaps Berlin’s ugliest fountain plonked in the middle, this is not the place to come for a romantic stroll. Much like the “Friendship Between Peoples Fountain” in fact, Alex looks terrible but means well.

Its real beauty engages on a more personal level thanks to the excitement of people milling around, the tourists and punks, the trams trundling through, and the tempting (even for vegetarians!) smell of roast Bratwurst which emanates thanks to the sausage sellers scattered around. Effectively the centre of a decentralised city, Alexanderplatz changes to suit the seasons and the whims of the people at any given time.

In November 1989, the largest demonstration before the fall of the Berlin Wall took place here and was pivotal to the fall of the East German regime. Its biggest gatherings these days occur at the various fairs and markets which call it home throughout the year. Glühwein-swilling at Christmas, chocolate-swilling at Easter, and beer-swilling any other time, there’s always something for swillers to swill!

Overlooked by the Fernsehturn, Alexanderplatz is also home to the funky World Time Clock, erected in 1969 and a popular meeting place for Berliners since. I presume this is so they know exactly how many minutes late you are. Germans don’t like to be left waiting as I’ve found out on numerous occasions, but thankfully for latecomers, Alex has plenty of distractions.

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Alexanderplatz | Art & culture, Relaxing, Shopping | Free
Alexanderplatz | Mitte
24 hours daily

For me one of Berlin’s most fascinating sites is also one of its lesser-known – the former Stasi Prison in Hohenschönhausen. A tour of this so-called “detention facility” with one of its former inmates helps lift the lid on the chilling methods of East Germany’s secret police as they sought to protect their raison d’être. It never fails to cast a shiver down my spine.

Some 250,000 political prisoners passed through its doors over 40 years, many never to be heard from again, before it was finally shut down on October 3rd, 1990. Ordinary people were subjected to all sorts of unthinkable psychological torture, with the prison authorities becoming sadistic experts in interrogation and intimidation.

East Germany’s Ministry for State Security (Stasi) had been set up to protect the socialist state and it did so with brutal efficiency. Anyone could be snatched without warning, and kept for months in total isolation with only the prospect of further interrogation to break the monotony. Many former prisoners later died of leukemia-related illnesses, believed to have been contracted from X-ray machine radiation. Some of those who survived now offer guided tours so the terrible secrets of a dark past can be revealed and never forgotten.

Most of the tours are in German, but excellent tours in English are available daily. It really is a fascinating insight into the inner workings of a state in constant paranoia. Registration is now in a new office opposite the prison.

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Stasi Prison | Art & culture, Relaxing | Tour € 5
Genslerstraße 13A | Outer – North&East | +493098608230
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 15:00, Sat – Sun 10:00 – 16:00, Tours in English daily at 14:30

Germany is little more than 230 years old but it’s certainly made its mark on history in this time. Examining the complicated but fascinating past of this nation of kingdoms, duchies and city states, and the factors which spawned its existence, is the Deutsches Historisches Museum, looking back over 2,000 years of the Germanic peoples.

“Wir sind ein Volk” (We are one people) is an oft-used slogan, particularly before the reunification of East and West Germany in 1989, but I’ve come to realise “Germans” are anything but. It seems Germany is made of a mish-mash of different peoples, cultures and traditions. Berliners pride themselves on being different for one.

A turbulent past certainly provides plenty of material when bringing it all together in the Zeughaus, Unter den Linden’s oldest building.

Various thematic temporary shows compliment the permanent exhibition on three floors over 10,000 square metres. In effect, it’s principal aim is to show the natives what makes them tick: “To help the citizens of our country to gain a clear idea of who they are as Germans and Europeans, as inhabitants of a region and members of a worldwide civilization.”

As I said already, there’s no lack of material. It’s a history barely plausible and shocking at times, but always compelling.

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German Historical Museum | Art & culture | Day ticket € 6
Unter den Linden 2 | Mitte | +493020304444
10:00 – 18:00 daily

Apparently the Irish drink more tea per capita than any other people in the world. As soon as I moved here I had to find where I would get my tea.

The Berliner Teesalon on Invalidenstraße proudly states that it has “tea specialities from all over the world”. And it does! This charming old-style Laden is home to over 250 types of tea including a whole shelf devoted to my own beloved Barry’s Tea! (I’m sipping it now as I type.)

It was only after I left Ireland that I realised there was more than one type of tea and the Berliner Teesalon seems to have all of them under one roof: black teas from India, white teas from China, green teas from Japan… Oolong, Pu Erh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, rooibos, Jasmine and flower teas – they’re all in tins and boxes which line the shelves in this veritable treasure trove of tea. Of course there are all sorts of tea implements available too, from teapots of all shapes and sizes to strainers and sieves to ensure the perfect cup.

To help tea aficionados with their choices, once every month or so customers are invited to try a selection of teas over a couple of hours for €12 (check website for dates). House-mixed teas in colourful tins prove very popular as gifts. “Es gibt nicht den Tee,” replied the woman when I asked which was the best. It just seems I’ll just have to try them all.

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Berliner Teesalon | Coffee & tea, Shopping | Barry’s Gold Blend (80 bags) € 7.25
Invalidenstraße 160 | Mitte | +493028040660
Mon – Fri 12:00 – 19:00, Sat 10:00 – 16:00

Long one of my favourite haunts, the only disadvantage bohemian Café Cinema has for me is that it seems to be one of everybody else’s favourite haunts too. It can be hard to find a table!

I first stumbled in here in 2004 and I’ve been stumbling out of it pretty often since.

Old movie posters and film snaps decorate the walls, overseen by film-set lighting above, but it’s the classic lines of its simple and tasteful furniture, with candles adorning the tables, which give this cosy Berlin institution (in operation since 1990) its cosmopolitan air.

But for the music which is always great, (I’ve never heard a bad song here), you would imagine you were back in the 1920s, a wonderful time to be in Berlin by all accounts. (I’m not that old.)

Friendly prices ensure regulars return, with coffee just €1.50, beer (.5l) for €2.90, and proper Cuba Libres being set free for €4. Snacks range from cake for €1, stew with bread for €2.50, a mixed salad with sheeps’ cheese and tuna for €3.70, or (from 18:00) two fried eggs with salad and your choice of tomato, ham or mushroom, or a combination, for no more that €3.50.

Café Cinema is a favourite meeting place for Berliners and it stays open late too. That’s probably not a coincidence.

Don’t forget to check out Haus Schwarzenberg (check the Haus Schwarzenberg article) just behind it while you’re here.

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Café Cinéma | Bars, Coffee & tea, Music, Snacks | Cake € 1.00
Rosenthaler Straße 39 | Mitte | +49302806415
12:00 – late daily