It was a baking 26 degrees yesterday and when that kind of heat hits Berlin there's only one place to head – the lakes. There are several that lie in clusters to the East and West of the city and are easily reachable by public transport. So about a 40 minute journey and I was sitting by Schlachtensee:

For such a peaceful place its name seems odd as 'Schlacht' is the German for 'battle'. However its name has its roots not in the German but the Slavic tongue, coming either from the word 'slaty' which means 'golden-coloured', the word 'solt' which means 'swamp' or 'bog' or the word 'slat' which rather mundanely refers to the woodwork in a bank reinforcement. I like to think it's the first.