mad-blog correspondent Mark Tungate reports from Berlin.

When I visit Berlin these days, I always stay in the former East. There are many reasons for doing this. The buildings seem older and more charming, the shops and galleries cooler, the inhabitants more bohemian, the coffee houses cozier. But it’s also simply because I can.

I was 22 years old when the Wall fell, still a young journalist working on a small suburban newspaper. Although I yearned to be here in person, I watched the whole thing on TV. Hard though it is to believe today, it was not easy back then to book a flight and hop across to a European city on an impulse. We couldn’t go online and reserve our e-ticket.

But now I can do all these things, staying in East Berlin is a kind of revenge for a missed opportunity. I’m particularly delighted to be here this weekend, the guest of an advertising agency, of all things, with offices in the East – how’s that for a symbol? Tonight, like thousands of others, I will make my way to the Brandenburg Gate to watch the celebrations. From the East, naturally.

Mark Tungate is the author of the new book : The Past, Present and Future of Luxury Brands.