Berlin holds a really special place in my traveling heart. As a schoolgirl back in 1990 I was lucky enough to be staying there on October 3, when West and East Germany reunited. Since then, every time I return is a special trip, and surprisingly one of my favorite places to visit is the Reichstag building, home to the German parliament.

The Reichstag is a majestic building, although it's not that old, by German standards: it first opened for business in 1894 to house the parliament of the German empire. Interestingly, the famous words engraved over the entrance stairs, "Dem Deustchen Volke" (which means "to the German people") were only added in 1916.

The twentieth century had a lot more in store for the Reichstag, including the mysterious fire in 1933, shortly after Hitler came to power; it was then attacked by the Red Army during the Battle of Berlin in 1945. When the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, the Reichstag suddenly stood next to the physical border between east and west.

All of that somehow seems long ago now, when you think that Germany reunited in 1990, but even when I was a child it seemed an unthinkable outcome. Since reunification I've been to the Reichstag a couple of times, and the highlight is the huge glass dome added during the 1990s reconstruction phase.

Since the German parliament returned to the Reichstag in 1999, millions of visitors have climbed up the winding pathway inside the glass dome. The construction of mirrors like a cyclone's eye in the middle of the glass dome makes for great photos, and then you have the most wonderful view over the city of Berlin. You can also walk around quite literally on top of the parliament, and see the giant flags at each corner.

Visiting the Reichstag: It's free to get inside the Reichstag and take an elevator up to the dome level, but there are often fairly long lines and the security check is quite strict, too. Try to get there really early in the morning or take a picnic lunch to eat in the queue. Alternatively, plan your visit for the evening when the view over nighttime Berlin is really stunning, too. Opening hours are from eight in the morning until midnight, with the last admission at 10.00pm. It's also possible to view a plenary session of the German parliament when it is sitting, but you have to book in advance - details are on the Visitors page of the Bundestag website.