The skyline of Piraeus as you leave the harbour on one of the many ferries.
Notes from the Cape Posts
When it was built in 1969 it was the second tallest tv tower in the world. It was build in the DDR (East Berlin) in 1969, and it can be seen from all over the city. It’s over 300m tall and you can vist the top, or even have a meal in the restaurant at the top.
The Reichstag Building, or parlimentry building was build ini the late 1800’s, and is the seat of the German Parmement. It was also one of the key targets in the Battle of Berlin at the end of World War 2.
Today you can visit the building, and in particular you can explore the dome that was recently added. Not only is it a spectacular architectural site, it allows natural light into the building and even tracks the movement of the sun to keep the building cool.
The view of the city is amazing as well, it feels like you can see the entire city in every direction from up there.
Inside the dome
This former airport has an interesting backstory. In the past, it was the airport into West Berlin, and hence important for transport and in particular to bring goods into the city.
Since Berlin has been unified, they build a new airport, and Tempelhof airport was no longer required. But instead of building apartment or office buildings, it has been turned into a public space. The runways and all the old signage is still there, but you can now use the space as a traffic-free play area.
So I ran the entire length of the runways, and saw people skateboarding, cycling, roller-blading etc. It was great to see the space being used by the community, but it also felt a little surreal going for a run on a runway.
By the way, the runway is over 2km long, it would make a perfect location for parkrun.
Aircraft instructions
The old terminal building. Useless fact, when the Beatles played in Berlin they landed here.
A hand-cyclist enjoying the runway
Last weekend Lois and I did something unusual. We went on a street art tour of Salt River. In itself that isn’t unusual. But what was unusual is that the tour guide, Winston Fani, is blind! It literally was a case of the blind leading the blind. Winston recently received his tour-guide certification from Cape Town tourism, and he is the only blind tour guide in South Africa (and possible even in Africa).
This mural is over 3 stories high
The “cell phone” is directly opposite the previous mural
The tour lasted about 90 minutes, and he took us on a walk through Salt River where we went past several art studio, some little coffee shops, and some amazing street art.
If you want to find out more about his tours, or even attend (highly recommended), you can contact info@awoltours.co.za, tel: +27 83 234 6428.
Here are a few more photos.
I found this lovely, peaceful canal in the middle of Berlin. It always amazes me how you can be in a bustling city, and turn a corner and suddenly find tranquility like this.
This is a lovely route to run in Slovakia. Its through the Dúbravská hlavica, a lovely forest on the outskirts of Bratislava. One of the highlights is the abandoned buildings of a former Soviet observation site that you can explore.
Some of the old buildings
At the top of the mountain (hill) is that steampunky observation tower that you can climb up. Its probably about 3 stories high, and quite scary looking down through the thin walkways. But worth it for the view.
Finally, here is the route I ran.
A view across the Danube river, you can just make out the corner of Bratislava Castle on the left.
Here is another view of the river, this time from the Castle walls. The strange building is the “UFO”, a restaurant and observation deck.
Bratislava old town hall from the quadrangle, a lovely and cool respite from the warmth of the city.
This is the church belonging to the wonderful convent where we stayed. I was not expecting to stay at a convent, but the apartment was lovely, and the sister that looked after us was delightful.
Bratislava market square and old town hall.
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