Incidentally, two days after our return, I would recommend Berlin as a city break destination to anyone. While it's not an attractive city in the same way as Rome or Paris, one never loses the feeling of, to steal a quote from the PM, the hand of history on one's shoulder. Here lie the events that shaped the 20th century.

And it's not all politics and suffering. On our walk from the hotel in the old East to the Brandenburg Gate, we came across no end of churches, cathedrals, opera houses and museums, while bars, restaurants, cafes and clubs thrive. It's a city rebuilding itself and it's brilliant.