Destination Berlin to meet a very close friend for a 24 hour stay.

Two absolutely essential places to visit were Fiona Bennet’s hat laboratory and the Soho House Berlin space.

With Giselle, my dearest friend, I headed immediately to visit Fiona the “hatmaker”, who dresses many Berliners heads for every occasion. Stepping inside the shop, once an old soap factory, you enter a beguiling timeless world. A white fairy world where hat boxes, ribbons, little pearls, silk flowers and feathers vie for space and I just felt like Alice in Wonderland.

Pop next door, you find yourself in the future, in a space with mirrored and silver plated walls where colourful dresses, shoes and accessories are showcased.

After a well earned break in a cosy bar we took an unusual taxi, a 1963 Peugeot to the Soho House Berlin.

A two floor building with huge windows where modern and vintage is perfectly balanced. Inside the store you can find a barbershop, a florist, books, a coffee-shop, a corner with old vinyl records and of course the latest fashion. Dotted around the store are many little sofas and tables where you can stop and watch the world go by.

During my short but sweet Berlin stay I was pleasantly surprised to notice that everywhere was decorated with plants. In a nutshell the latest trend is definitely the Jungle urban style. Obviously there are always flowers to go with it!