Bébé was born in Cacém, in the municipality of Sintra, to Cape Verdean parents – like compatriot and new teammate Nani – but spent most of his youth in Casa do Gaiato de Santo Antão do Tojal, a children’s home in nearby Loures. It was here – playing for the Loures junior side – that Bébé was first recognised as a talent. CAIS, the body responsible for organising Portugal’s Homeless World Cup team, invited Bébé and three other boys to play for them. According the stipulations of the competition, players must fall under the national definition of homeless. Bébé was just that. But contrary to reports – he was never selected to represent Portugal at the Homeless World Cup.

But raw talent eventually proved enough to lift Bébé out of poverty, when he finally got his break in 2009, as third tier side Estrela da Amadora snapped him up. After just one season with Estrela da Amadora – with a return of four goals – Guimarães signed Bébé on a free transfer. Remarkably, his blistering form in pre-season cut his Guimarães career to just five weeks, as United tabled a bid of £7 million on the advice of former assistant, Carlos Queiroz.

Bébé regardless of whether he fulfils his potential will always have a place in the history books. But with the chance to play against the World’s elite in the Premiership, and the Champions League, one competition Bébé will definitely be missing again is the eighth Homeless World Cup in Rio this September. But Gonçalo Sequeira dos Santos, Bébé’s coach at CAIS, doesn’t sound too disappointed about the 20-year-old missing out. “We are truly happy for this opportunity he has to make his dream come true and improve his life,” he said.

And as Bébé puts it: “I had the dream of playing one day for a major club. That dream has come true.”

For more information about the Homeless World Cup log onto www.homelessworldcup.org

The couple had moved in together after accepting places at the same university and relished the chance to live together.

“At first we found it exciting but soon started to struggle with the responsibilities of bills and shopping,” says Kim.

Her boyfriend Tom was obsessed with gadgets and ran up huge bills on video games and nights out.

“Money was tight for both of us but my boyfriend spent a lot of money on himself. He ran out of money and started to borrow from me.”

Kim, who is still paying back to the debt now, couldn’t afford money for food so decided to take out a credit card.

But Tom continued to ask for money. “I couldn’t refuse,” says Kim. “When someone comes to you saying, ‘I can’t afford to eat, I can’t afford to pay the rent’, you can’t just say, ‘Well you’ve got to starve. You’ve got to leave the flat.’”

“Even though he was financially dependent on me, I felt more dependent on him. I was too scared to leave him because I thought I wouldn’t be able to afford to live.”

But when Kim finally did leave Tom, he walked away free – leaving her with £4,000 of debt which she is still paying off.

“I realise now that he was manipulating me. It really did nothing for my confidence. But I have slowly been able to build it back up.”

Kim has since began volunteering for the YWCA as a web-coordinator and is keen to help women in similar situations to herself.

“Volunteering gave me the chance to learn new skills and to boost my confidence. I feel so much more positive about myself. Making a website about financial abuse helped me to learn more about managing my own finances as well as helping others.”

Icann’s key holder system aims to protect the internet against the DNS hijackers, but are there more prevalent threats to connectivity?

In 2008 two underwater cables were severed bringing internet blackouts to 15 countries in the Middle East and Asia – 80 per cent of Indian connectivity was hit, triggering market panic. Sabotage? No, satellite images identified two ships that had dropped anchors on fibre optics.

An al-Qa’ida plot to attack Telehouse Europe – the UK’s leading internet hub – was uncovered in 2007 by Scotland Yard. The attack may have rendered much of the UK without internet, but server farms are built with security in mind, away from airports and in reinforced buildings.

The Melissa virus in 1999 “wreaked havoc on government and private sector networks” according to the FBI. The ILOVEYOU bug in 2000 infected 1 in 10 net-connected computers, causing billions-worth of damage. Anti-viral software has improved vastly since and terrorist electronic attacks are nullified by experts. A virus capable of bringing down the internet would face the greatest minds in the field.

Social engineering – manipulating people to divulge confidential information – is commonplace but is often for personal gain, not destruction. But with 8 per cent of internet traffic said to be fraudulent, threats to security do exist – DNS hijacking, viruses, or physical damage – and Icann’s cautious approach is warranted.

- Public intolerance towards transsexualism continues to exist widely, but when a beautiful young transsexual such as Lea T – the world’s first transsexual supermodel – poses in Vanity Fair and French Vogue, it perhaps shows that progress is being made. Givenchy’s autumn/winter collection will feature Lea, once a personal assistant for the fashion brand.

- Lea, formerly Leandro, is the daughter of the former Brazilian footballer Toninho Cerezo. She has had a difficult journey from a Catholic childhood to going public and acknowledges that her problems are far from over, especially given intense media interest in her. She is currently undergoing hormone treatment to give her the body of a woman.

- The world’s first male-to-female sex operation was performed in Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Research in Berlin in 1930, before the Nazis closed down the centre in 1933.

- In 1945, the London-based surgeon Sir Harold Gillies carried out the world’s first female-to-male sex change on Michael Dillon, formerly Laura, after the trial usage of testosterone gave Michael the appearance of a man.

- Gillies, known as “the father of plastic surgery”, monitored the effects of the hormone drug before opting to operate – an approach that is used today in the NHS Real Life Test. Transsexuals are expected to live as their preferred gender for at least a year and, while some cosmetic surgery is permitted, gender confirmation surgery is delayed during this period.

- A landmark 1999 Court of Appeal decision to uphold a High Court ruling that recognised Gender Dysphoria as a legitimate illness granted the right to sex change operations on the NHS. The Gender Recognition Act of 2004 then allowed transsexual people to obtain legal documentation stating their preferred gender, including a new birth certificate and passport, as well as the right to marry in their preferred sex.

But a government re-think predating the hysteria is finally bearing fruit. In 2006 the STEM programme identified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as ‘strategically important and vulnerable subjects’. The Higher Education Funding Council for England’s (HEFCE) subsequent £350 million worth of additional support has seen a 6.8% rise in students taking STEM subjects. But a CBI spokesperson, speaking yesterday, said that a 50% increase in STEM graduates is needed by 2017 to meet demand.

Since 2006 there has been around a 10% increase in chemistry admissions – but a slight decline in applications. The CBI, however, argues that 25% of all graduates need to be in STEM subjects by 2017. But there continues to be fears over comprehensive science education. This year a National Science Learning Centres poll argued that school pupils were not afforded enough practical time in science lessons, as the director, Professor Sir John Holman, said: “Learning science without practicals is the equivalent of studying literature without books.”

The introduction of the IGCSE, by Michael Gove this year, has been predicted to help. Parkside Community College, in Cambridge, for example, has adopted the qualification, believing it will better equip students for science A-levels. But with only 60 states schools taking advantage of the IGCSE, the result could be more ‘squeaky pop’ experiment than big bang.

Before Kanye West had joined Twitter and before Steven Holmes of Coventry was making headlines, US talk show host Conan O’Brien propelled one young tweeter to stardom in a very similar way. “I’ve decided to follow someone at random. She likes peanut butter and gummy dinosaurs. Sarah Killen, your life is about to change,” he tweeted in March.And so it did. Mr O’Brien had chosen to follow the 19-year-old student above the rest of his million other adherents (he politely asked a member of his PR team to phone her first, to see if she’d mind). Like Mr Holmes, she was deluged with messages from other users in the hours after Mr O’Brien chose her.Before his decision, she had three Twitter followers; afterwards, she had more than 10,000. But unlike Mr Holmes, Miss Killen – who was about to get married at the time of Mr O’Brien’s tweet – embraced the life-changing fame suddenly thrust upon her.”People are offering us stuff for our wedding, photographers and invitations, but I haven’t accepted anything other than the computer,” she told New York magazine. Sensing an opportunity use her fame for the powers of good, Miss Killen posted a link to a charity donation page, where she raised $1,100 (£690) towards her goal in just nine hours.

Purification of uranium, 1939-1945

The first atomic bomb ever used in warfare was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August, 1945 by the US – signalling the realisation of the six-year Manhattan Project. Albert Einstein had written to Franklin D Roosevelt in 1939 detailing the Nazi experiments that attempted to purify uranium, prompting the US to pump more than $2bn into its development. But it was Robert Oppenheimer – an American physicist working on the project – whose name became synonymous with the A-bomb. The success of the “gadget”, the first atomic bomb, began the move into the “Atomic Age”.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945

On 26 July, the US President, Harry S Truman, issued the Potsdam Declaration as an ultimatum to Japan, warning of the “inevitable [and] utter devastation” of Japanese homeland. Their refusal to surrender led to Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber, dropping the atomic bomb, known as Little Boy, on Hiroshima days later. Around 66,000 died instantaneously. The total reported number of deaths – from burns and radiation – varies from 90,000 to 166,000. Little Boy’s brother, Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki three days later, killing 40,000 at once. On 10 August, the Japanese surrendered.

The Iron Curtain closes, 1946-1969

Relations between the East and West deteriorated severely as post-war Europe was carved up and the Iron Curtain descended and the Cold War began. The Soviet’s expansion into the uranium-rich Eastern Bloc challenged America’s monopoly over nuclear power and triggered the Arms Race, as the UK, France and China also developed weapons. The Korean War (1950-53) threatened atomic warfare once again. The defining crises of Berlin, 1961 and Cuba, 1962, narrowly avoided all-out conflict as the Cold War ran its course.

Nuclear Disarmament, 1970-1990

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty came into force in 1970, aiming to limit the powers with nuclear weaponry to five. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament argued for a more radical approach and gained widespread support. However, India, Pakistan and Israel all declined to sign the treaty, continuing to develop nuclear weapons. Mikhail Gorbachev’s rise to power in Russia resulted in the end of both the Soviet Union and, ultimately, the Cold War, as the Berlin Wall fell. Relations between the US and Russia eased during this period.

The Modern Age, 1991-today

In 2003, North Korea became the first country ever to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty, as a US-led invasion of Iraq searched for weapons. Iran has continued to defy UN sanctions, with 21st-century nuclear policy increasingly dominated by the fear of “rogue states” developing weapons. The Liberal Democrats – during the 2010 election campaign – called for the cancellation of the renewal of the Trident missile programme.

Yet, it’s gone a little quiet on the Broken Britain front. Dave Cameron is sounding defiantly chirpy against the negative Labour campaign. Thatcher’s no-such-thing-as-society has transformed into the Big Society. But Conservative opposition during the New Labour era has been defined by the concept of Broken Britain ever since Iain Duncan-Smtih’s trip to Easterhouse, Glasgow. It lurks behind the scenes. From “binge-drinking” to Baby P to the Edlington torture case, the Conservatives have pointed again and again to this theory. Usually by Chris Grayling, who last year compared Manchester to Baltimore as depicted in “The Wire” and then wondered aloud about giving seaside landladies a veto over gay guests. Shitting and exaggeration aside, is Britain really broken? Sometimes it feels like it has always been this way.

The IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies) has bashed the three main parties over their collective reluctance to admit what they intend to cut (answer: your livelihood), but crime statistics are even riper for political manipulation. Violent crime is rising and failing – depending on who you listen to. Statistics suggest the average person thinks crime is falling locally but nowhere else. Binge-drinking is said to be at an all time high, yet a thimble of sherry an evening is pushing the limits of moderation under NHS definitions. The chance of drowning in this sea of statistics seems more likely perhaps than being knifed outside Flares on Saturday night.

Teenage pregnancy rates have remained steady for over a decade, with those living in the most deprived areas more likely to get pregnant. Divorce rates increased throughout the 1970s and most of the 1980s but hit a 29-year low in 2006. And the rate of marriage has been falling since 1980. It doesn’t sound too drastic, really. Yet there are widespread concerns about binge-drinking, crime amongst young people, the breakdown of the traditional family and multiculturalism. Duncan-Smith’s findings in Easterhouse began a more compassionate Conservative stance towards the poor. Yet, if crime is in fact falling – which we have a degree of consensus on – then their opposition to modern Britain represents a reactionary, top-down view of their fellow countrymen and women.

Britain is a tad selfish and hedonistic, perhaps due to the rise in personal wealth and individualism (Maggie’s dream). Apparently, we would rather have a WKD and fondle down a back alley than get wed. We drink, fight, divorce, and then defecate. The Left have their ASBOs; the Right have their moral high-ground. The sensible amongst us realise it isn’t broken – it’s just a little shit.

Back in court, Bouche is bailed as Operation Clean-up tackles the residual impact of the shit-storm next door. The next PM best face-up – and face-up quick – that before they get down to business, they best wipe the walls, mop the floors and scrape the ceilings of “Broken” Britain.

I’m late, and lost, looking for the studio’s blue door. Mannie, the bassist arrives to lead the way. “Not a bad name for a bassist that,” I think. ‘Not bad at all,” is his retort, “but I think it’s already been done.”

Our photographer, Michael, is already on set, having accidentally interrupted a gentleman and his lady-friend in one of the backrooms rehearsing something not strictly musical. “It is a practice room after all,” one of the La Folie lads pipes up, as the culprit is applauded off the premises.

The band formed four years ago in Sheffield, in “horrible hovel of a house, with a badger living in the kitchen, under all the mess.” Haling from Barnsley and Penistone, they attracted the attention of label manager Tufty after adding the organ to the sound. We began as a “ramshackle attempt at doing what the people we liked were trying to do,” lead singer, and organ player, Nick explains. The band began life covering the Pixies and The Doors, but eventually evolved into fuller, darker and, ultimately, heavier sounding band they are today. According to their Myspace, La Folie are “Black Francis [of the Pixies] being molested by a clown”. I can take the point. Nick’s growling vocals, and the – at times – eerie organ, gives the band a sinister flavour. “Tufty reckons we were just a band with a hard-working attitude before he picked us up,” jokes Dan, the drummer. Regardless, they’ve developed into a very different type of beast that your average Sheffield indie band.

“We’re actually named after burlesque club I saw in Paris. It sounds quite pretty when you read it but then you find out it means the lunacy,” explains Nick. “We used to be called White Lies, but had to change it – for obvious reasons.” La Folie, it would seem are brilliantly monikered. The Stranglers influence, however, is not as it seems. The band had heard The Stranglers’ major hits, but weren’t even aware of the La Folie album. “It’s probably people mentioning them, because of our name, which got me into The Stranglers. It wasn’t the other way around. The Doors were a major influence – so I guess we’ve taken similar paths,” says Mannie.

Their debut album, Risus Sardonicus, was locally released last summer under Tufty Records – but the band are determined to get national exposure. “It’s very much us and Tufty working together. We’re very much still learning as we go along” says Nick “but we’ve reached saturation point in Sheffield, even though we’ve had a fair amount of press.” Mannie adds, “There are venues we played in Sheffield, that I know we couldn’t play in other cities, but that’s our aim for this year – to get out there.” Risus Sardonicus is deserving of nothing less, and this summer sees its re-release nationally.  “There’s a lot of charm in its DIY ethic. It’s like when you listen to a 60s garage band, like The Sonics, and it’s all overdriven and fucked-up. Hopefully that separates us from other bands,” says Nick.

“People just find a formula and stick to it. It doesn’t even have to be your own formula. You just rip it off, and put a different name to it, and different lyrics, but it’s just the same thing being reproduced. You can’t escape your influences but you can at least try to digress,” says Nick. “Bands focus on getting big, rather than making music.”

“It’s not as bad as it was. Most of the typical indie bands have disappeared from Sheffield now, and they’re bands like 65daysofstatic who I have huge respect for,” says Mannie. He trails off into a rant about Milburn, “they’re utterly fucking redundant. They’re a waste of time.” It strikes me, suddenly, that he may be the band’s Myspace scriber, which contains the line: “Are you bored of those contrived indie misanthropes raping your tender young ears with semi-digested, regurgitated riffs and suspiciously familiar melodies? Well, we are too.” Nick owns up, and Mannie argues “No, not me, I’m the nice one.”

The video of their first single Apples is typical of the band’s DIY ethic. Filmed upstairs in The Grapes, their home away from home, it features the band, apples, and maggots. “I was like I don’t want maggots anywhere near me. Mannie did something that wasn’t too bad, Jacko did something slightly worse with them, and Dan put a few in his mouth. By the time it got to me they said ‘right, we need a mouth-full now’”

The band are hoping to tour the country in the run up to festival season and the summer re-release of the album, but previous ventures afield haven’t been so successful. “We played Harper Adams, farming college, in Shropshire. It was a disaster. Our friend built us up to be next Arctic Monkeys,” says Dan. “We were chased out of there. They paid us £800 pound, which they then took off us” The cheque, apparently, bounced after the “fire extinguisher incident”. “The band before us had Cotton Eye Joe on the top of their set-list that they’d left on stage,” says Nick. “The Stones and Pixies covers didn’t go down that well.” Given the band were performing under the name of White Lies at this point, there is always the option to send any angry pitchforked Salopians still lurking in the direction of the London band instead.

One preconception I’d had of the band before meeting them was that, to them, their sound was paramount – more important than image, and more important than fame. As Nick puts it, “it’s about substance over status”. It appears, on that front at least, I wasn’t wrong.

“Berlin is a city condemned forever to becoming and never to being”

Karl Scheffler, author and architect.

Condemned, the city was. Blitzed, rebuilt and then divided, Berlin remains defined by its inescapable past, obsessed with the present and unsure of its future. Its part in the story of modern Europe is virtually unparalleled: Berlin was the 20th Century’s chessboard. Since 1990, the story has been one of reunification, restoration and regeneration. Berlin has flourished culturally and artistically, as well as architecturally, as spending has reached the billions. The poets, the writers, and the painters have long since returned to this great city of culture. More so than London, New York and Paris, Berlin is modernity. Berlin, however, is bankrupt. Construction finally began to cool after years of investment and restoration, leaving huge debts, and partially completed projects, as cranes still loom over this lowly-built city’s skyline. The German capital, it seems, is forever becoming. As the age of investment drew to a close, an age of austerity took its place. But Berlin’s riches lie not with its finances, but within its wealth of culture. But is this cultural renaissance set to continue? Or will Berlin reinvent itself once again? Uncertainty is so characteristic of Berlin. The possibilities remain fascinating, but one thing is certain: Berlin will never stand still.

It’s a perfect time to visit this burgeoning European capital, we explore Berlin, bit-by-bit, to offer you the finest guide to a city as diverse as it is vast. If you’ve just arrived in Berlin and you want to explore, but haven’t the patience, money or time for a guided tour, then he is a guide to some of the city’s main historical attractions in a step-by-step walking guide to the city.

A Trail of Two Cities

A good starting point is Alexanderplatz, which is accessible from most places in Berlin. You’re able to take either the U2, U5 or U8 on the UBahn, or one of the SBahn lines to get there. As one of Berlin’s largest, the station is a little daunting at first. You’ll need to head towards Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse, but use any of the exits and, once outside, look up. If you don’t see the enormous phallus that is the T.V. tower, you’re in the wrong place. At 365 metres in height, it’s hard to miss. From here, you’re good to go.

The T.V. Tower (Fernsehturm) is the fourth largest free standing structure in Europe.Completed in 1969, and looming over the Berlin skyline, it was intended to demonstrate the power of the GDR, and presumably how good East Germans were at building really tall things (NB: all three of the largest free standings structures were built by Communist states – presumably the done thing) There’s a revolving café at around 200 metres, which food-wise isn’t worth the ascent. The view, on the other-hand, is quite spectacular. Oh, and look out for the ‘Pope’s Revenge’ on a sunny day. Amusingly, the dome (in which the café is housed) projects a beam of light that gives the structure the appearance of a giant crucifix. God, it would seem, has a sense of humour.

If you’re full to the brim with admiration for our East German comrades, locate Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse to the T.V tower’s right, and let’s move. The next site is a more traditional, but deceptively young piece of architecture, that introduces and area bursting with fine German architecture – much of which having been designed by architectural god, Friedrich Schinkel. The Berliner Dom, built over ten years between 1895-1905, which is hugely impressive, was retro then. The Old Museum, one of Schinkel’s finest works, with its grand steps leading to huge columns (and more recently introduced, neon signs) demands the limelight in the Lustgarten, the epicentre of Museum Island.

Behind you stands what is left of the Palast der Republik – which, after years of the most delicate kinds of demolition, due to the ubiquity of asbestos in DDR architecture, is virtually nothing. Controversial plans to rebuild a replica of the original German palace are in the making. On the same road, to your right is the German History Museum, and just past it is the Memorial for the Victims of War and Tyranny. Originally a guardhouse, the memorial is a poignant reminder ofBerlin’s not-so-ancient history.

If you fancy a Gluehwein pit-stop, which is always a good idea, the winter markets to your left are guaranteed to satiate your thirsts. Feeling all warm inside continue down Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse and to your right, behold the Humboldt University – the home of several Nobel Prize winners. The likes of Heinrich Heine, Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein all graced the University, and it is, thus, something of a big deal. Bebelplatz, direcetly opposite, is the site of the infamous book burning of 1933. Students and Nazi sympathisers took to the street and destroyed 20,000 books deemed too liberal, Jewish or generally ‘un-German’. Today in the centre of the square is a subtle memorial designed by Micha Ullman. A segment of glass flooring reveals a mass of empty bookshelves below.

If you carry on down the same road, you’ll soon arrive in Under den Linden. Beautifully lit at dusk, the road is lined elegantly with trees that date back to the time of Friedrich the Great. The road leads directly to the famous Brandenburg Gate. Before you reach it, prepare yourself to met by the swanky Adlon hotel (to the left), not only one of Berlin’s top hotels, it is also the site of the late Michael Jackson’s infamous baby-dangling incident.

The Brandenburg Gate is architecturally stunning. Built in 1791, with the Quadriga sat on top, its six Doric columns have witnessed some of the most important historical events in the world. Napoleon marched through it in 1806, taking with him the Quadriga – which was rightfully returned in 1814. Hitler, years later, used the gate to symbolise the power of the Nazi’s as he draped flags bearing the swastika down each column, and from 1961 to 1989 the Berlin Wall stood directly in front of the gate preventing any passage through. This is the site where Reagan famously demanded that Mr. Gorbachev should “tear down this wall”. Kennedy spoke here, and Obama has recently graced the podium too. U2’s ill-fated, and hugely ill-conceived, plan to build a wall around a free concert, also happened here. Not, of course, the most tactful place to suggest the building of a prohibitive barrier.

Continue through the gate. 20 years ago this wouldn’t have been possible. To your right is the Reichstag, the German parliament, with its new and flashy dome built by Sir Norman Foster (of Wembley arch fame). The Reichstag’s roof is accessible to tourists. The queues are long all year round, but it’s firstly, free, and secondly, an incredibly sensation. www.bundestag.de

Straight on is the vast openness of the Tiergarten and to your left, down Ebertstrasse, is the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe: a paved field of concrete blocks of varying heights sloping into a deep centre. The memorial is designed to be interactive, so go in and experience the dark, uncertainty in the shadows. For some, the memorial is too abstract to be poignant, but is well worth a visit.

From here Potsdamer Platz, the darling of the decadent twenties, is two minutes up the road, Checkpoint Charlie is within walking distance, as too is a remaining bit of the Wall.

Berlin, for all its tourist attraction and popular history hot-spots, is most vibrant, and culturally active in its alternative scenes. The central districts of Berlin – following on from the assertion that Berlin is always becoming – continual trade places in terms trendiness and popularity. We look into the curious and lively Kreuzberg.

Kreuzberg, like wider Berlin, can be divided into two areas of east and west.

The days have passed since East Kreuzberg was the shining light of popular protest, had a punk-scene to rival New York and London, and was looked down upon by the Berlin wall. It’s a charming area, but charming purely in a Berlin sense. Although the Berlin Wall played a pivotal part in the development of post-War, Kreuzberg, whilst virtually encircled, was never actually divided. To travel between the east and west districts today, however, would give a far different impression – the contrast is quite incredible. The east is a dark and messy area, littered with sticker-art, promotional posters, and kebab-wrappers. The buildings are crumbling, but the people are friendly, bright and alive with enthusiasm.

Surrounded by the Wall on three fronts, east Kreuzberg was the last outpost of the West, attracting the young, the disaffected and the disillusioned – those magnetised to the Wall, the axis from which the West and East hinged. After suffering substantial damage during the Second World War, the area was plagued by cheap housing and poor conditions. It quickly became the final destination of those emigrating to West Germany. The Turkish community, which descended upon West Germany

en masse in the 1960s and 1970s, remains vividly present in Kreuzberg today – particularly in Kottbusser Tor, the district in which the Döner Kebab was born in 1971. Indeed a consensus in 2006 suggested that over thirty per cent of Kreuzberg’s population remain non-German citizens. Despite the West being more aesthetically pleasing, even with its own charms, it pales massively in comparison to the ever vibrant eastern areas of Kreuzberg. The punks and the poets of the east have long since relocated but their influence remains to be seen in everyday Kreuzberg. The

seminal punk club SO36, (named after the old postal code for east Kreuzberg – still affectionately used), has survived all this time. A venue once graced by the likes of David Bowie and Iggy Pop, it remains true to its punk roots and also hosts a series of gay and lesbian nights on a regular basis. Forty years on since the invention of the Kebab, Kreuzberg remains one of the great fast-food destinations of Berlin – a city said to be always on the move. It’s populated by fast and easy Turkish, Vietnamese and Chinese food outlets. Second hand clothes shops that offer a range of cheap vintage Berliner fashion are commonly dispersed between the said restaurants, bars, markets and general convenience stores. Although Kottbusser Tor and its surrounding areas are no longer the liveliest, or indeed most popular, areas of Berlin today, the relaxed and exceptionally friendly, eclectic venues attract local and international visitors. Schlesisches Tor, another outpost of the West, is a livelier, albeit dispersed area of nightlife within Kreuzberg, which boasts one of Berlin’s most well known and popular late night venues, Watergate.

Adhering more closely to the paradigm of West Berlin, west Kreuzberg or SW61, with its high street shops, trendy bars and up market restaurants, is a cleaner, more aesthetically pleasing alternative to the east. Bergmann Strasse (not far from Gneisenaustrasse UBahn) is the epicentre of west Kreuzbergian nightlife – an upbeat, relatively expensive, more mainstream alternative to the above – a street flooded with restaurants to suit all tastes. The Marheinecke Markethalle, is a modern western indoor Market, mainly consisting of fast food kiosks, and is located next to the more authentic feeling outdoor Market. Despite the overall accessible and trendy vibe prevalent in west Kreuzberg, in typical Berlin fashion it manages to produce a host of idiosyncratic art shops, bars and book stores. Whilst Mitte and Museum Island are home to most of Berlin’s packaged treasures, if you are looking to absorb culture in a more traditional fashion than the SO36 experience, west Kreuzberg is always a good bet. The area is also home to a few monumentally significant sites including the Topography of Terrors, the Jewish Museum, and Checkpoint Charlie.