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.

If you want something a little different from your beer, try Lager Lager. "We are an independent bottle shop and taproom in Neukölln with a passion for all things beer. Choose from our 8 rotating taps and 250+ bottles, with new stock arriving each week. Drink in or takeaway a Growler bottle of your favourite beer using our counter-pressure bottle filler, which guarantees freshness."

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!

Möckernbrücke is a station of the Berlin U-Bahn network in the western Kreuzberg district, named after a nearby bridge crossing the Landwehrkanal. The bahnhof (train station) is part of the first Stammstrecke route of the Berlin U-Bahn opened on February 15, 1902. As the station also served the nearby Anhalter Bahnhof the original building was soon getting too small to cope with the rising number of passengers. It therefore was demolished and replaced by the current station opened on March 25, 1937. Severely damaged by air raids it was closed on January 30, 1944 and not reopened until June 16, 1947. I like it here for the spookiness and feeling of impending doom that it has on a rainy day.

Cosmoveda is a hidden xberg gem. It's an Ayurvedic supermaket that happens to come with a kitchen with it. There you can find a delicious Ayurvedic lunch menu (with soup, main and a little dessert) in 3 different sizes, prices starting at just 5,90. Not to mention you can shop the ingredients that you just ate in case you want to try to cook Ayurvedic yourself.