out of the door, you turn right. the first store is the lawyer's office, the danish couple (or maybe only he is danish) with the big white dog. they helped you when your car battery was flat last summer, but you haven't seen them since september (did they move away?). next to them, the architects. you still can't understand what that sign at the window means. they are there at all times, especially the guy with the glasses sitting at the end of the room, looking towards the window. you wonder if he ever sees you going by, more so when you go to the bakery in the early morning, wearing your coat over your pyjamas. you ride towards senefelderstrasse. multicolour fish made out of paper are still hanging on the trees since the kids made them during that small neighborhood gathering in the summer. you arrive at the corner. on the right hand, the strange building that doesn't look like a residential building but you swear you've seen someone behind that curtain. you wonder who lives here. on the left corner the new café. they've been working on it for so long and it just opened. you don't like it at all. you turn left and ride all the way to danziger, past the greek grocery store, you wave to yorgos. you cross danziger and continue on kollwitzstrasse. this is your new route. till last month you used to take a right on danziger, but then she suggested that you try new routes, explore the area a bit more. they are still doing construction work and you turn right into sredzkistrasse. one café at each corner. he says he prefers the brunch at the northwest corner, but that's only because of free coffee refill. you ride on sredzkistrasse, past the store that she is planning on buying, long-term plans.. you pass the kulturbrauerei on your right, cross schönhauser and then go right onto oderberger. the bar that you wanted to go and then you went, the night before she left. you turn left on kastanienallee. the constant fear of falling into the tram lines. horrible images passing in front of your eyes, every time. not so much looking around here, you have to be careful. you only see that poster that looks a bit like him, as your father pointed out. you were embarrassed at the time, but now you think it actually does look like him, in a funny kind of way. then right on zionskirchstrasse. if it's a thursday then the market will be there. veteranenstrasse, the fun part, riding down the hill, but you're always a bit scared, keeping your hands on the brakes. you go past the park where you were planning to have that picnic. maybe you will in a few months, when the weather gets better again. you continue on invalidenstrasse. it's your other neighborhood but you still feel like you haven't explored it enough. you remember that time when you visited last may, before you moved here, the nordbahnhof seemed so different then and you had no idea that you would be returning to that same place only a few months later. past the nordbahnhof, the tricky part of crossing the road, you try a different approach each time depending on traffic. and then you cross. and then you are there.