This blog post was originally shared summer of 2014:
I knew nothing about the neighborhood before arriving, and highly underestimated the distance of their blocks upon arriving off the Sbahn. Quickly I learned my nearest Ubahn stop, Leinestrase was closed and had been closed for a year already (crazy for me coming from New York, where stations only close on the weekend momentarily). None the less, I quickly fell in love with my charming Turkish neighborhood on the verge of gentrification. Even if I had to walk 15 minutes everyday/ morning arriving back from the club (talk about being tired at 10am after at least 8 hours of partying, and then looking forward to such a walk). Though now after this experience, I will take any distance that is less for a metro and be completely happy. Even if the walk was brutal, there were perks to being deep inside of an old neighborhood. Such as being a minute away from Berlin Tempelhofer Airport that is abandoned and now used for summer picnics, running, and many pop-up installations. There was even an awesome pool not pictured above, but can be seen on my INSTAGRAM, this pool was called Sommerbad Neukölln. A real treat for the steamy summer month that Berlin was treating me to during my stay in July. Overall, I was extremely happy to have landed in Neukölln without knowing the area prior, and now plan to make this my new neighborhood when I move to Berlin in September.