The forecast showed a sunny Saturday, so I decided to sign up for a meetup. I’d been trying to find a day to go kayaking but so far it hadn’t worked out. Perhaps this was my chance.
The day started off cloudy and it was the obvious first point of conversation as I met the other people at Schlesi U-bahn station. From here we walked to Freischwimmer, a quirky café along the canal that ends in the Spree river. Signs directed us through a small entrance along the back of the café, passing a little stage with a wide selection of chairs in front of it. It all felt very ‘Berlin’. At the very end was a small dock with a bunch of kayaks, canoes and old paddle boats.
We sorted in some groups and the 11 of us entered the water. I was well familiar with the area, doing many walks and runs along the water here, but I’d never explored it from the water. So even though it wasn’t my preferred spot for kayaking, I was happy to do a different kind of activity and reconnect with my old neighborhood. To our surprise the sun came out not long after we’d entered the water. It definitely helped making it a great afternoon.
We kayaked towards Treptower park, going underneath the Molecule man statue, which was pretty cool to see from a different perspective. We were surrounded by other kayakers, SUPs and party boats. Berliners were enjoying the last days of summer out on the water. We kept going all the way around the Insel der Jugend. Our group wasn’t really doing it for sports, with a mix of kayaking experience, so we grouped together, forming a raft for a break. It was just nice to hang out on the water. On our return we looped around the little Kratzbruch island before returning the way we came. At the Freischwimmer we found a table and enjoyed some coffee and cake before we all headed home. I’m definitely keen to check out more of Berlin per kayak!
