germany
Lego buildings
These apartment buildings are in the middle of the former East-Berlin. They are just down the road from the Stasi headquarters. I don’t know how old they are, but to me the look very simple and functional, with an emphasis on cost and not on amazing or interesting design.
They remind me of my old lego set, looking like they could have been assembled from really big lego blocks.
Brandenburg Gate
It was two years later that the wall went down. The Brandenburg Gate was build in the 1800’s, and has often a site for major historical events, including the above-mentioned speech. During the cold war it remained closed as part of the Berlin wall, and now it symbolises the unification of Germany.
Its a truly grand structure to walk under as you wonder from the beautuul buulevard of Unter den Linden to the Reichstag parlimentary buildings.
From Germany to Poland
I was standing in Gorlitz, the eastern-most town in Germany. Looking across the bridge you see the town of Zgorzelec, the western-most town in Poland. It was a simple matter to pop across to Poland for lunch. Well it would have been if the restaurant we wanted to visit wasn’t full.
Some of the best smoked cheese ever
We bought this cheese at a market in Gorlitz, Germany. It was good, very good. So good in fact that it din’t last long at all. We should have bought 2 cheeses instead of just the one, but then maybe it was good that we only stuck to the one.
Europa marathon
When we last travelled to Poland, I realised that we could take a (somewhat) small detour and visit the lovely town of Gorlitz. The reason being that the Europa Marathon was in Gorlitz, and of course I grabbed the opportunity of running it.
Entering Poland
This is a somewhat unique race in that it crosses the border into Zgorzelec in Poland – just over the river, and then back to Germany – my first (quite literally) cross-country race.
Supporters – one of them gave me a mid-race beer
It was a tiny marathon; only 110 people ran it, so it was small and intimate; it was great running past the supporters because they would sit around relaxing and then burst into cheering and applause as I ran past.
It was also a beautiful route to race – a large part of the race was country roads and bicycle paths through woods and farms.
Mid-race
At the finish
I loved running this tiny marathon, and I’m somewhat amazed that it is not bigger. It was super-well organised and a lovely route. There are also a few other events (half marathon, inline skate races, unicycle marathons etc). If you have the opportunity go and run a marathon in Gorlitz.
A well-deserved brakwurst and beer at the finish