Directly across the street from the apartment is one of Berlin’s most beautiful original courtyards, Riemer's Hofgarten, a paradise of stately mansions divided into flats overlooking a maze of gardens.

Kreuzberg is also very much about its nightlife boasting numerous bars, clubs and live music venues. One of my favorite spots, just around the corner, is Melitta Sundstrom, a popular sidewalk café by day, gay dance club (SchwuZ) by night. In a courtyard just behind Café Sundstrom is the location of Berlin’s Gay Museum (www.schwulesmuseum.de), purportedly the only such museum in the world.

And speaking of museums, this thumbnail portrait of the neighborhood would be less than complete if I did not mention two other noteworthy institutions in the immediate vicinity. The first is one of Berlin’s newest and most controversial, Jewish Museum Berlin. Even before it officially opened in 2001, over 350,000 people paid to visit the empty structure just to behold its striking architecture. The second (about a 10-minute walk from the first) is Berlin’s very own, one-of-a-kind, Checkpoint Charlie Museum. Hands down, the most popular museum in the city.

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