480ab. Wed 19/9/18: Sankt Oberholz, Berlin

Beer: BRLO Pale Ale 6%, Augustiner Helles Lager 5.2%

Rosenthalerplatz is a vibrant Berlin intersection. An internet search reveals it is within 0.5 km of over 300 bars and restaurants - so 300+ good reasons to stay there. The nearest bar to our hotel is the St. Oberholz, which is always packed, day and night, so we give it a go.

On entering we’re met with an odd scene of about 150 young people with MacBook’s typing away. The floor is criss-crossed with electric cables with an admirable Germanic disregard for health and safety. No one inside is drinking, though - most un-German.

Apparently, they rent out space to young entrepreneurs who pay to use wifi, electricity, etc., which partly explains why it is so busy. I certainly would get no work done here with Augustiner beer mere inches from my workspace.

It is 31C so we order our (excellent) beers, negotiate the electric trip hazards and sit outside and enjoy the traffic chaos caused by a huge protest by thousands of cyclists.

The building opposite has names of obscure towns on its wall; Stockport, Tulsa and (I am delighted to notice) Reutlingen (home of a number of my freunds).

480d. Thu 20/9/18: Augustiner Brauhaus, Charlottenstrasse, Berlin

Beer: Augustiner Helles Lager 5.2%

Another staple of the German drinking venue is the Brauhaus, which draw tourists and locals who yearn for the juxtaposition of seriously good draft beer and appalling, stodgy food. The Brauhauses (Bräuhausen???) are not really pubs but eating establishments in the main, which I usually tend to avoid, but I make an exception today as;

i) it is lunchtime,

ii) Augustiner is one of my favourite beers, and

iii) I am hot and thirsty.

My Spätzle is gooey and the onions atop it, inedible. Vast lumps of meat are put away by everyone else. Feels like a school canteen. (Albeit, a school canteen in an impossibly scenic location.)