plötzensee, 6am
New habit: swimming in the Plötzensee at 6am. Weekdays before work, and now weekends too, because apparently I'm that guy.
Not the Strandbad, which opens later, but the free spot on the other side, by the trees. At 6am the lake belongs to old men in rubber caps and one woman who swims across and back without ever looking up. The water is black and soft and colder than you think. For the first ten seconds your body files a formal complaint. After that it's the best thing in the city.
You walk home with wet hair through Wedding waking up: the bakery on the corner putting out the sign, a guy hosing down the pavement outside the Späti, pigeons doing pigeon things.
I'm writing this with lake water still in one ear. Recommend.