Tweedy ist ein Berliner #2

Prater - the Oldest Beer Garden in Berlin

When visiting Berlin I will defnitely make time for a place that declares itself Berlin's oldest beer garden. Prater Beer Garten, in Prenzlauer Berg, has been selling beer since the mid-1800s. The building of Prater looks like a wooden bungalow on the outside. Actually, that's what it is. I wondered if I was at the right place on my first visit. Inside, the decor of the place is charmingly unprepossessing.

Prater serves good beer and nice simple German food. I tried some of Prater's own-label Pils to drink. To eat - ham, mashed potato and pickled cabbage, with semolina pud and baked plums for afters. Yum yum.

Prater is not open for lunch in winter. It's not quite central, but easy to get to. Just jump on the U-Bhan and head to Eberswalder Strasse station. 

Bygone Berlin

Prater is in a studenty area, or so it seems. There are places for cheap dining and a few vintage shops. Good for a saunter and a rummage.

In one vintage shop I tried a heavy duty overcoat with a detachable fur lining. I've been after a fur-lined overcoat for a while. I tried one in Venice about five years ago. Perfect, but I thought I'd see a few more to compare with and haven't seen any since. Lesson learned. This coat was the right size, but as with many vintage pieces it had lost its shape. Maybe a tailor could have knocked some shape into it, but I chose not to invest. I might regret this lost opportunity too.

The English Scent - The Smells of England in Berlin

I've never heard of Pilot aftershave. I quite like the packaging though. Spotted for sale in one of the vintage shops. Certainly, it would not be found in one of Berlin's loveliest shops, The English Scent.

Situated in Goethestrasse in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, The English Scent sells all our favourites, including Penhaligon's, Floris, D R Harris and Trumpers.

Well worth looking up if you have some time in Berlin.