As we edge into August it is dawning on us here that those hot summer evenings we've been enjoying in Berlin are almost over, the temperatures are dipping as the seasons begin their inevitable cycle into autumn and that must mean one thing: WE MUST GRAB SUMMER WHILE IT LASTS!

A traditional summer day in Berlin always involves a park some where along the way and (in my opinion) there is no other park in the city that captures the spirit of Berlin quite like Görlitzer!

This is an urban park set deep in the concrete jungle, it used to be a train station and the old remnants of the station remain, taken over by recreation. There is never a bored moment in Görlitzer, there is always something to stare at; from the Rasta's who congregate around the entrances whispering 'marijuana,' in your ear as you pass by, to the Capoeira crew, the random outbreaks of song and jamming sessions, the local 'characters' some would call weirdos, the drunks and the druggies, the kids and their mummies! All sorts of city life sets up camp here to relax and show off skills, eat, drink and be merry in the sunshine.

The graffiti around Görlitzer really sets the tone for the people's park, 'Berlin is not for sale.' You get a real sense for the under current of tension that threads throughout the city, it's a sense that the people want to keep a fairer society contrasted by the fact that Berlin needs more money, and money means gentrification. Prenzlauer berg has become the model by which all skint Berliner's fear, it's trendy, pretty, charming and expensive.

In Görlitzer Park though, things are as they always were, chilled out, fun, relaxing, eccentric, with an overriding whiff of barbecue and beer, bought, cheaply, from the local shops. For how long Görlitzer will stay uniquely as it is, is anyone's guess, so like the summer, get it while you still can.

Görlitzer Park, Berlin, Kreuzberr
Ubahn Görlitzer