Take time to kick on

Go for the football, love the lifestyle, Tony Healeywrites. VISITING Europe for this year's World Cup games doesn't mean youhave to bypass a culture crawl. OK, you've paid plenty for a coupleof tickets to be at the world's greatest sporting event. There'salso the cost air fares, taxes, accommodation and so on. Justgetting there is a 24hour trip. After all the effort and expense,you have to do more with your stay than just visit a footballstadium, as impressive as that might be. Despite the exchange rate, the cost of extending your stay andtaking in the ambience of central Europe's glamour cities isachievable.Berlin Advertisement: Story continues below The German capital is hosting six World Cup games, including thefinal at the Olympiastadion in July. With a population of 3.5million, Berlin is an exciting blend of history and modernity. Thisenergetic metropolis retains some beautiful imperial buildings anda works program that sees the continuing development ofWesternstyle buildings. With its lakes, rivers, parks and forests,it's also among Europe's greenest cities. It took the trashing of the Berlin Wall in 1989 to get the cityback on its feet. Although the wall has gone, some things stilldivide the city. There remains a notable difference between theglitz of Berlin and soulless East Berlin, struggling to shake offits shabby communist cloak. The city has more than 150 theatres, three opera houses and 170museums. Like all big cities, when the sun goes down the curtaingoes up on a variety of alternative cultural happenings. In the trendy FriedrichshainKreuzberg district, with a littleimagination, you can still get a whiff of the 1930s at the decadentKit Kat Club on Bessemerstrasse in Kreuzberg. Few, if any, Berlin clubs have a dress code. However, themodernday Kit Kat Club has an undress code, where guests Rosetta Stone arerequested to shed most of their clothes on entering. There arehundreds of bars, discos, fringe and binge lounges, dodgy dives anddumps. If you want to, it's a breeze to barhop until the sun comesup again. It's your call.Hamburg Germany's secondlargest metropolis is a city of contrasts. Itsballet company is one of the finest in Europe. It has beautifulparks and gardens, and wonderful theatre and arts precincts. On theother side, it is home to some of Europe's wildest night life. With only three World Cup games played in Hamburg, there's thechance to avoid the footy fervour and fanatics and taste a littleof what this city has to offer. For a walk on the wild side, get down to the Reeperbahn in thesleazy St Pauli district, considered Europe's secondlargest redlight district and home to many theatres, bars and nightclubs. Itwas here, in 1960, that the Beatles sang sixhour sessions at theStar Club. For the record, the club closed in 1969, reopened as asex club and later burnt down. John Lennon was quoted as saying: "Iwas born in Liverpool, but I grew up in Hamburg." On Herbertstrasse, a menonly street where no women or childrenare allowed to visit, prostitutes sit in windows displaying theircharms to leering window shoppers. Teams of cross dressers,shemales and drag queens turn out after 10pm to work the strip anderotic theatres and clubs. When Hamburgers (that's the locals) dine out, a Big Mac is notlikely to be on the menu. Their faves are birnen, bohnen und speck(green runner beans cooked with pears and bacon), bratkartoffeln(fried potatoes), and labskaus (a combination of corned beef,mashed potatoes and beetroot).Prague Prague, with a population of just over 1 million, is one of Europe's favourite holiday destinations with its stunning18thcentury castles, chateaux and churches. The extraordinary Gothic stone Charles Bridge links the two halves of Prague. Built in medieval times, it boasts 30 baroquestatues and is set against the largest ancient castle in the world,Prague Castle.

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