Germany (and a brief trip to Austria)
Our last trip to "the Continent" was to Germany - to Berlin for the Berlin Marathon on September 20th and Munich for a few post-marathon drinks at Oktoberfest. While in Bavaria we thought that as we were so close we would pop over to Salzburg in Austria for a day trip too! You can click on the below links to read about our trip and see the photos...
Berlin
Since I did the Dublin marathon last year I have been saying that I would like to do the Berlin one this year. Berlin is meant to be one of the flatest marathons that you can do and therefore one of the fastest. After watching me complete Dublin last year both Johnny and our flatmate Andy decided that they would like to give a marathon a go and my Irish friend and training partner Irene decided she would like to do Berlin as well (she did San Fransisco last year) so the four of us registered earlier this year and began our training. Unfortunately Johnny's knees just weren't up for the running so he had to opt out however his race number didn't go to waste as our good friend Ange was joining us and her boyfriend was keen to do the Berlin marathon so popped across from the UK for the weekend to race as Johnny Huang (which was handy as his name is John).
Therefore early on Thursday 17th September Johnny, Ange, Irene and I flew over to Berlin. Although we had the whole afternoon ahead of us after checking into the apartment we had rented, the very early morning flight meant that after a quick lunch and a spot of grocery shopping we had a lovely holiday nap. That did, however, leave us feeling refreshed enough for a wander out for dinner and drinks with our lovely German friend Elisabeth. Non-alcoholic drinks for us marathon runners of course!
Once Andy joined us the following day we headed out to the Marathon Expo to pick up our race numbers and check out all the running gear etc. for sale and on display there. After picking up a few goodies and carbo-loading on pasta and non-alcoholic beer in the sun there, we then headed up to the Jewish Museum - a very interesting but somber experience.
On Saturday Andy and I thought that we would leave the others sleeping and go stretch our legs in the Breakfast Run that the Marathon organisers had arranged. The run was from the beautiful Schloss Charlottenburg to the Olympic Stadium, a route of 6km. Although there were many people running it, Andy and I thought better and simply walked it, enjoying the atmosphere on the way and especially the free breakfast once we reached the Olympic Stadium! It was there that we met up with my Irish mate Daragh. After chatting to him for a while we headed down to meet Irene and Ange at Checkpoint Charlie to read all about the Berlin Wall and the various escape attempts etc. - this was my second time going here (hence why Johnny didn't come - once was enough for him!) and I have to say that I find it one of the most interesting museums I have ever been to - highly recommended!
That night was carbo-loading night with a huge amount of pasta cooked up for us all and a bit of mental motivation with a DVD "The Spirit of the Marathon".
Then it was race day! We got up extra early, did various things to prepare and headed off to the start! After a slightly panicky time dropping off our bags, making a last trip to the bathroom and fixing my watch (which decided to break half an hour before the marathon was starting!) we were off! Starting near the back of the runners, Irene and I decided to run together for as long as possible and did so for a good 10kms, supporting each other. Seeing Johnny and Ange at the 8km mark also helped spur us on however it was a scorcher of a day and as the temperature rose our pace began to slow. Having only trained in Ireland, I wasn't used to running in the 25 degree celcius heat that Berlin was experiencing that day and therefore began to struggle. From about the 17 mile (27.2km mark) I did a run/walk combination and had to really push myself over the last few miles, but I made it in just under 5 hours with a huge grin on my face. Irene came in shortly after me at 5 hours and 15 minutes and Andy and John ran very fast marathons at 3 hours and 39 minutes and 3 hours and 45 minutes respectively. I was a little disappointed not to beat my time of 4.5 hours from Dublin the year before but am happy to have a second marathon under my belt and think that 5 hours is reasonable considering the heat of the day.
If anyone is interested in seeing my data of the marathon collected from my Garmin Forerunner 405 watch you can view it here.
It is also possible to view a video of me crossing the finish line by clicking here.
Watch as my face changes from a huge smile to a face of exhaustion just after I cross the line! :-)
So the next few days were spent celebrating and recovering. A few bits of sight-seeing in the form of a Hop-on-Hop-off bus, lunch in Alexanderplatz, another viewing of the Brandenburg gate, a visit to the Reichstag and of course quite a few drinks (alcoholic this time!) with Daragh and Elisabeth.
Check out all our photos of our time in Berlin and the marathon by clicking on the below photos.
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Munich
On the Tuesday Irene headed back to Dublin but the rest of us were off to Munich to meet up with our friends Craig and Maura and join in the festivities of Oktoberfest! Cue lots more drinking, bratwursts and general merriment! Oktoberfest is a fantastic beerfest held in Munich every year and is always loads of fun. The Bavarian women generally wear their best dirndl, the men don lederhosen and this year we decided to get into the swing of things by buying a dirndl for me to wear! The lederhosen are a little expensive though (about €150!) so Johnny settled for a bavarian-style shirt instead. That must have done the trick as we had people coming up to us speaking in German and I was told I looked like a real Bavarian woman! :-)
You can check out our photos of our time in Munich by clicking on the photos below.
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Salzburg
Seeing as we have been to Munich before and seen most of the sights there we decided to make a day trip out to Salzburg in Austria! So after saying goodbye to Ange who was heading off on her big European tour and leaving behind Andy who was meeting friends at Oktoberfest we headed to the train station. Making the most of the wonderful Bayern Ticket which allows up to 5 people to travel on the one €28 ticket for the whole day, Craig, Maura, Johnny and I travelled the 2 hour train journey to Salzburg.
Being a huge Sound of Music fan I was very keen to check out a tour (it was filmed in Salzburg) however the timing didn't work that well so we settled for a wander around the gorgeous town, a visit to the catacombs carved into the side of a cliff, and a walk up the hill to the fortress. We then topped off our stay with a hop-on-hop-off bus trip which, to my delight, stopped in clear view of the house the Sound of Music was filmed at! Wahoo!
Check out our photos of Salzburg by clicking on the photos below.
[Hide above section]
So there ended our last jaunt in Europe and now we are preparing ourselves for our move to Taiwan! More about that soon!
Berlin
Since I did the Dublin marathon last year I have been saying that I would like to do the Berlin one this year. Berlin is meant to be one of the flatest marathons that you can do and therefore one of the fastest. After watching me complete Dublin last year both Johnny and our flatmate Andy decided that they would like to give a marathon a go and my Irish friend and training partner Irene decided she would like to do Berlin as well (she did San Fransisco last year) so the four of us registered earlier this year and began our training. Unfortunately Johnny's knees just weren't up for the running so he had to opt out however his race number didn't go to waste as our good friend Ange was joining us and her boyfriend was keen to do the Berlin marathon so popped across from the UK for the weekend to race as Johnny Huang (which was handy as his name is John).
Therefore early on Thursday 17th September Johnny, Ange, Irene and I flew over to Berlin. Although we had the whole afternoon ahead of us after checking into the apartment we had rented, the very early morning flight meant that after a quick lunch and a spot of grocery shopping we had a lovely holiday nap. That did, however, leave us feeling refreshed enough for a wander out for dinner and drinks with our lovely German friend Elisabeth. Non-alcoholic drinks for us marathon runners of course!
Once Andy joined us the following day we headed out to the Marathon Expo to pick up our race numbers and check out all the running gear etc. for sale and on display there. After picking up a few goodies and carbo-loading on pasta and non-alcoholic beer in the sun there, we then headed up to the Jewish Museum - a very interesting but somber experience.
On Saturday Andy and I thought that we would leave the others sleeping and go stretch our legs in the Breakfast Run that the Marathon organisers had arranged. The run was from the beautiful Schloss Charlottenburg to the Olympic Stadium, a route of 6km. Although there were many people running it, Andy and I thought better and simply walked it, enjoying the atmosphere on the way and especially the free breakfast once we reached the Olympic Stadium! It was there that we met up with my Irish mate Daragh. After chatting to him for a while we headed down to meet Irene and Ange at Checkpoint Charlie to read all about the Berlin Wall and the various escape attempts etc. - this was my second time going here (hence why Johnny didn't come - once was enough for him!) and I have to say that I find it one of the most interesting museums I have ever been to - highly recommended!
That night was carbo-loading night with a huge amount of pasta cooked up for us all and a bit of mental motivation with a DVD "The Spirit of the Marathon".
Then it was race day! We got up extra early, did various things to prepare and headed off to the start! After a slightly panicky time dropping off our bags, making a last trip to the bathroom and fixing my watch (which decided to break half an hour before the marathon was starting!) we were off! Starting near the back of the runners, Irene and I decided to run together for as long as possible and did so for a good 10kms, supporting each other. Seeing Johnny and Ange at the 8km mark also helped spur us on however it was a scorcher of a day and as the temperature rose our pace began to slow. Having only trained in Ireland, I wasn't used to running in the 25 degree celcius heat that Berlin was experiencing that day and therefore began to struggle. From about the 17 mile (27.2km mark) I did a run/walk combination and had to really push myself over the last few miles, but I made it in just under 5 hours with a huge grin on my face. Irene came in shortly after me at 5 hours and 15 minutes and Andy and John ran very fast marathons at 3 hours and 39 minutes and 3 hours and 45 minutes respectively. I was a little disappointed not to beat my time of 4.5 hours from Dublin the year before but am happy to have a second marathon under my belt and think that 5 hours is reasonable considering the heat of the day.
If anyone is interested in seeing my data of the marathon collected from my Garmin Forerunner 405 watch you can view it here.
It is also possible to view a video of me crossing the finish line by clicking here.
Watch as my face changes from a huge smile to a face of exhaustion just after I cross the line! :-)
So the next few days were spent celebrating and recovering. A few bits of sight-seeing in the form of a Hop-on-Hop-off bus, lunch in Alexanderplatz, another viewing of the Brandenburg gate, a visit to the Reichstag and of course quite a few drinks (alcoholic this time!) with Daragh and Elisabeth.
Check out all our photos of our time in Berlin and the marathon by clicking on the below photos.
[Hide above section]
Munich
On the Tuesday Irene headed back to Dublin but the rest of us were off to Munich to meet up with our friends Craig and Maura and join in the festivities of Oktoberfest! Cue lots more drinking, bratwursts and general merriment! Oktoberfest is a fantastic beerfest held in Munich every year and is always loads of fun. The Bavarian women generally wear their best dirndl, the men don lederhosen and this year we decided to get into the swing of things by buying a dirndl for me to wear! The lederhosen are a little expensive though (about €150!) so Johnny settled for a bavarian-style shirt instead. That must have done the trick as we had people coming up to us speaking in German and I was told I looked like a real Bavarian woman! :-)
You can check out our photos of our time in Munich by clicking on the photos below.
[Hide above section]
Salzburg
Seeing as we have been to Munich before and seen most of the sights there we decided to make a day trip out to Salzburg in Austria! So after saying goodbye to Ange who was heading off on her big European tour and leaving behind Andy who was meeting friends at Oktoberfest we headed to the train station. Making the most of the wonderful Bayern Ticket which allows up to 5 people to travel on the one €28 ticket for the whole day, Craig, Maura, Johnny and I travelled the 2 hour train journey to Salzburg.
Being a huge Sound of Music fan I was very keen to check out a tour (it was filmed in Salzburg) however the timing didn't work that well so we settled for a wander around the gorgeous town, a visit to the catacombs carved into the side of a cliff, and a walk up the hill to the fortress. We then topped off our stay with a hop-on-hop-off bus trip which, to my delight, stopped in clear view of the house the Sound of Music was filmed at! Wahoo!
Check out our photos of Salzburg by clicking on the photos below.
[Hide above section]
So there ended our last jaunt in Europe and now we are preparing ourselves for our move to Taiwan! More about that soon!
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