There are really interesting neighborhoods (or “Kiez”, which is a distinctly Berlin word) adjacent to the apartment. (Having a bicycle makes getting to these ridiculously quick- like walking a block or two. You can also just ride the 10 Tram from one end to the other to get a taste of these areas.)

1. The area around Boxhagener Platz is party-central. Simon Dach Str. has lots of outdoor casual dining and is fun. The platz sponsors a great flea market on Sundays and very large and high-quality farmer’s market on Saturday. The old factory buildings south of the platz and north of the S-Bahn are thick with rowdy young people at night.
2. I enjoy Samariter Viertel: very quiet, elegant buildings and some nice cafes and casual restaurants. The area around the Samariter Church has a very interesting history as a district of political dissidents. Like Kollwitz Kiez but not so hipster-expat.
3. You might think of the Vieh Viertel as too quiet and sterile but I find it fascinating in a way. It is the portion just beyound the red brick wall that runs along HausburgStr. This vast area (the “cattle quarter”) was the old livestock yards for the region. The iron bridge that comes off the Storkower S-Bahn station used to go all the way across the cattle yards and slaughterhouses to Forckenbeckplatz, where there was a fancy hotel. Gosh how it must have smelled! The photo’s in the hall are of the Vieh Viertel in its prime.
4. I’ve only poked my head inside, but there is a massive velodrome and swin center here. And on the south side of Landsberger Allee is a John Dean fitness center with lots of machines, classes, showers/sauna.
5. The Volkspark is ground central on any holiday if you feel like losing yourself in a crowd. Water play parks for the kids in the summer, and movies under the stars are a lot of fun.
6. Lots of nice shopping and cafe’s and dining in Winnsviertel and Butzowviertel. Again very quick on your bike.
7. Kollwitzkiez is ground central for the upscale expat crowd. Fun and elegant, but you’ll hear more English here than German. Great shopping, dining, and networking.
8. So you’ll be going to Alexanderplatz and Mitte frequently. The aerial in the entry hall shows this in its golden years. I personally find it fascinating to try to relate what’s there now to what it was like when that was a functional city center.
9. Kreuzberg has a lot of nice little micro-neighborhoods, but it is patchy. Don’t know this district well but it will be fun to explore.