When I thought of Berlin, I thought of schnitzels, beer, war memorials and graffiti. Little did I know what uber cool places I would discover. One of my favourite hangs was the Arena Badeschiff floating swimming pool on the Spree. Yep that’s right, a pool just floating out there on the lake. Unlike any public Australian pool, there weren’t any rules you had to obey. Yes you could sip on a cider or a beer or a cocktail. You could crank up the music. You could start your own little rave party. You could break into a downward facing dog pose and you could BYO banana chair. The only rule you had to obey was to have a shower before entering the pool. And this was something they enforced by the watching lifeguard. The problem was that the shower was beyond freezing!! After 10 seconds under the shower everyone’s faces resembled the Munch scream.

The pool serves breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as offering massages and yoga classes. Open from 8am to midnight with live music cranking from the early afternoon it definitely was a highlight of the trip. With an entry fee of 4 euro and drinks priced from 3 euro, it was a sweet ass way to kick back and relax on a summer’s day in Berlin.

Visited, August 2012.