This is the kind of world where I really feel safe. My Berlin home is the the place where my intimacy is, the place where I meet up friends, where I cook for them, where I love. It is the perfect shelter if I fall apart..

The is an old geisterbahnhof, or railway station, in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin, Germany. It is served by the Berlin S-Bahn and the M13 line of the Berlin Straßenbahn. The station opened on October 1, 1935, at the junction of the Nordbahn line from Berlin to Stralsund with the railway line to Szczecin where the eponymous street named after Bornholm Island crossed the tracks. As Bornholmer Straße station lay right at the Berlin Wall it was closed on August 13, 1961, turning it into one of Berlin's ghost stations, passed by eastern and western S-Bahn trains without stopping. After German reunification Bornholmer Straße was reopened on December 22, 1990. Today, you can still go there to see remnants of the wall, and where people flooded in when the wall came down in 1989. (In the evening of November 9, 1989, thousands of East Berliners and GDR citizens assembled at the bridge demanding entry to West Berlin. At 9.20 p.m. local guards were the first to open the checkpoint and allow people passing through freely to West Berlin, where they were greeted enthusiastically. The event marked the commencement of the fall of the Berlin Wall.).

Lovely relaxing atmosphere in a beautiful courtyard. Great variety of Breads, and Delicious pastries.

A good place to drown your Berliner winter-melancholy. The bartenders are top notch and the interior is warm but stylish, with the inevitable retro vibe. Open from 6 till late. There´s also a legendary (and kinda expensive) restaurant next door, which provides the bar with some excellent snacks. Works for dates and for friends, but if you´re planning for a bigger group it might be wise to reserve.

Kw is a great art institute situated at the backyard of a very eastern part of town, place for many other small galleries. Auguststrasse is worth the walk and Kw is worth the stop.