"Ich bin ein Berliner." These are the famous words John Kennedy uttered in one of the most noteworthy speeches of his short presidential career. The German audience politely applauded, even though what the American leader said literally translates to, "I am a jelly doughnut."

What he should have said was "Ich bin Berliner." That would have probably brought the house down. This is just one of the many interesting things you will learn about Germany's largest and busiest modern city, if you venture out on a tour of Berlin.

The wall has come down, cut into smaller pieces and cleverly distributed to thriving municipalities around the world. There is even a chunk of it in my hometown of Portland, Maine. It sits quietly on the waterfront amidst the seafood restaurants and tour boats, still bearing its bold graffiti from the days of the communist occupation. The weathered concrete slabs are a quiet reminder of President Reagan's famous words and probably the most successful one-liner of his entire professional life. Who can forget what he said at their Rejklavik summit. "Mr. Gorbarchov, Tear down this wall."

Although spoken in Iceland, these words were meant for divided Berlin; and they did bring down the wall, although some credit must be given to 100,000 Germans, who actually got their hands dirty on that fateful autumn night back in 1989, when the wall was torn apart. This was no minor event either, for it led in many ways to the re-unification of East and West Germany, the liberation of the Warsaw Pact nations, and further political shockwaves that could be felt as far away as Moscow and the Balkans.

Today, Berlin is a great place to visit for any foreign traveler, and it is also of special interest to anybody from the English-speaking world. One can still see a section of the once great wall; view Checkpoint Charlie, even though it now looks a bit like Times Square, and also stand atop the bunker, where Hitler finally met his fatal end. One of the best ways to experience this is to partake on a guided walking tour. An ambitious young writer from Scotland led the one that I embarked on. It lasted four hours, and it was full of fascinating history and interesting antidotes.

Here in Berlin, you won't find very much of the old German architecture, for the city was hard hit by allied bombing, but you will find marvelous art museums, both modern and classical. My favorite was the Bauhaus Archives, a small eclectic display that is neatly displayed inside a multi-colored box of a building. For those with a more classical tilt towards fine art, Museum Island is the place to go. Like the name implies, it is located in the middle of the Spree River and contains several museums. And by the way if you are looking for an outdoor café or restaurant, alongside a slow meandering waterway with lots of shade trees growing on the banks, then the Spree River is the place.

For an economical and fun place to stay, one should go to Mitte and try out one of the many hostels. Mitte, which means middle in German, is a distinct section of what once was East Berlin. Hostelling has reached a new state of the art here, and most travelers will be pleasantly surprised at the many offerings and varied services that the youth hostels offer. Many have bars, cafes and restaurants on the street level and offer clean dormitory rooms at very reasonable rates. Sometimes private rooms are available, either right at the hostel or through a nearby private home. You can also book a room in the next stop on your itinerary. I once found a great and inexpensive room in Prague, through the front desk of the Mitte hostel, where I was staying. As the American dollar continues to slide, my guess is that more visitors to the continent will look towards the hostelling system for less expensive accommodations. And finally don't let the word youth discourage anybody from staying at a hostel. Most of the hostels accept travelers of all ages.

Getting around in Berlin is no problem either. Not only is the U-bahn(the local name for the underground subway) an efficient and easy way to get around the vast city, but it also has the distinct honor of having the U-2 band named after one of its routes. And then there is the Zoo, the central hub of the metro transportation system, that happens to be next door to the famous Zoological Gardens. Strangely enough this is the same "Zoo", which became a title of a very popular U-2 album, underscoring the fact that the band actually resided in town for awhile. Berlin is full of fun facts like that, so spend some time exploring the city, you might even get to ride on the Keith Haring Memorial bus, you can't miss it, it is the one with all the wild graffiti painted on it.