with almost 40,000 kilometres of track, germany s rail network is the longest in europe, which makes it the perfect place to explore by train. but from berlin s vast central station, train. but from berlin s vast centralstation, i m train. but from berlin s vast central station, i m taking an even cheaperform of central station, i m taking an even cheaper form of transport for a spot of sightseeing. all right, we re doing it. we are crossing the tramway. fabulous. 0h, crossing the tramway. fabulous. oh, it s beautiful. i can see the tower on my left. and it s so cloudy, the tip of it is just unseen. alexander platts is these days the touristic heart of the capital. until 1989, it was the main public square in communist east berlin. i was born in 1990, which is a year after the berlin wall came down, so for myself and i m sure for a generation younger, there is no recollection of those news events. so being able to be here and just get a sense of what it might have been like i