Kreuzberg 36: Kottbusser Tor and the canal
The SO36 heart — Oranienstraße, the Turkish market, and the slow green line of the canal. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Kottbusser Tor
Start in the noise. *Kotti* is loud, lived-in, never tidy — the elevated U1 tracks overhead, a *Späti* (late-night corner shop) on every angle. Don't flinch; this is the door into *Kreuzberg* 36, and the quiet comes later.

2. Oranienstraße
Walk east along the spine of the *Kiez* (the neighbourhood as locals mean it). Turkish grocers, bars that don't open until late, and the bookshops and record shops in between. Browse; nobody's hurrying you.

3. Oranienplatz
A square with a small green centre, a fountain, and a long history of protest. A good place to sit before you drop south to the water.

4. Paul-Lincke-Ufer
The prettiest stretch of the *Ufer* (canal bank). Plane trees, cobbles, benches at the waterline. Cross one of the iron footbridges to the south bank for the *Türkenmarkt*.

5. Türkenmarkt, Maybachufer
The Turkish market runs the length of the south bank on Tuesdays and Fridays — fabric, herbs, mountains of vegetables, *gözleme* griddled in front of you. Outside market days it's just a quiet canal walk, which is its own reward.

6. Görlitzer Park (north edge)
You don't have to go in. Skirt the northern edge on your way to the U-Bahn; the park has a complicated reputation and the walk doesn't need its middle.

7. Schlesisches Tor
The end, under another stretch of elevated track. *Imbiss* stands and the U1 home. You've crossed the whole of 36 on foot, water and all.

Kreuzberg 36: Kottbusser Tor and the canal