The Restaurant Quarré has opened the terrace season! Enjoy the warm sun rays with refreshing drinks and light French dishes...

By Ming E. Wong in Berlin

Even before the Berlin Wall came down 20 years ago, the city always felt edgier and more vibrant than other German cities, but the fall of the wall saw the vibrancy escalate even further. In a symbolic gesture, 1,000 huge styrofoam white pillars were toppled Monday, in the two-kilometer stretch between the Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz, along the line where the Berlin Wall once stood.

The most famous symbol of the Cold War and a divided country, the Berlin Wall stood for almost three decades. The dominoes tumbling Monday lasted half an hour and "The Party of Freedom" lasted all night. It is Berlin after all.

Adrian Bridge reviews the Hotel Adlon Kempinski in Berlin, a reconstruction of a celebrated pre-war hotel facing the Brandenburg Gate.

This is the hotel's trump card: the Adlon is a stone's throw away from the Brandenburg Gate and the newly rebuilt Pariser Platz, a hub of the pre-war Berlin, part of the divided city's eerie no-man's land and now, once again, the city's premier "salon". Turn right out of the main entrance and you're in the Unter den Linden; left and through the gate, and you're at the Reichstag.

The Lindenball was launched eleven years ago by the Hotel Adlon, the German Historical Museum and the Komische Oper. Today, this annual ball has become a society event and an important date in Berlin’s event calendar.

The Hotel Adlon is pleased to welcome a well-known newcomer. Since the 15th of August 2008, Christian Müller – as the new Executive Chef – has been responsible for the management of the Hotel Adlon’s kitchens.