The first time I visited Berlin in 2009, my resident friends took me not to a bar or club, but down to the Landwehrkanal. It was a warm spring evening and we sat by the water drinking a beer, catching up and eating a borek from an Imbiss on Kottbuser Brücke. I fell in love with Berlin that day, and the canal and the general atmosphere along it was part of the reason why.

Having lived here for two years now, the canal has always been one of my favourite places, especially in the summer. Recently, on a beautiful autumn day, I decided to walk its whole 11km stretch – past areas I knew well but on into areas of Berlin I’d never even visited…