There's nothing more revigorating during the dark winter days than spending a couple of hours in a sauna. Germans have mastered the art of sauna and you can find amazing pieces of architecture in the public swimming pools (Stadtbad). I find Stadtbad Neukölln very peculiar in its neoclassic architecture and it's definitely a wallet-friendly option to enjoy some sauna time there. Be prepared to be naked in front of man and woman!

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.).

It's an indoor market, which makes it a great option in winter if you are looking for anything from kitsch to classy. I like it because you find lots of old objects that transport you to the past.

Best record store in Berlin. A great selection of Rock, Folk, Indie, Wave, Industrial and especially the huge floor dedicated to House and Techno Records. Staff are typical Berlin-Style - not very friendly but very knowledgeable.

Taking a little sun and walking around Paul Linke Ufer is always a good way to spend the afternoon and recharge batteries.