Berlin at a Fast Pace

April kicked off "race into shape" month, and the first race on the agenda was the Berlin half marathon. Some friends had planned to do this race and extended the invitation for us to join in the fun and although this was my fifth visit (Jon's third), to Berlin, we are always up for another adventure in this energetic and hip city. Although we only had a weekend, we managed to experience Berlin at a fast pace both off and on the race course.

We arrived Friday night after a grueling 6 hours on the autobahn with plenty of 'staus' (traffic jams) and construction sites along the way. We immediately headed out for a night on the town and headed to Oranienburgstrasse where we frequented some of our favorite bars - an underground pub and a vacant warehouse now utilized as a rotating artist exhibits and a thriving music scene with several different bars and clubs. We ended the night in the neighborhood around our hotel at a communist-themed bar with great live music. One thing's for sure, there is nightlife abounding in Berlin to suit anyone's taste.

Underground pub on Oranienburgerstrasse

Meandering through the many floors of the warehouse checking out the Berlin art scene

Warehouse Pose

Behind warehouse with bar shacks and a sandy "beach" atmoshphere

The red-lit commi bar behind our hotel with Kalashnikovs as decoration

On Saturday, we spent our entire day being outdoors as much as possible to enjoy the warmer Spring weather. We walked from our hotel to the nearby Berliner Dom and continued down Berlin's most famous avenue, the Unter den Linden, to the Brandenburg Gate. The picture below captures both the grandness of the Berliner Dom with the TV tower in the distance. Considered the symbol of Berlin, the tower was completed in 1969. The Dom represents the rebuilding of the city after the war (as the dome was completely destroyed from a bomb) and the TV tower represents the enduring strength of Berliners after Communist rule who would not stand for oppression of love or worship. It is incredible to be in a city with not only so much history, but recent history at that.

Brandenburg Tor

The guys (Jon G., Jon and Brian) in between the U.S. Embassy and the Brandenburg Tor

 Jewish Memorial

After a morning of sight-seeing with our friends, and an afternoon at the half-marathon expo where we picked up our race numbers, we were quite exhausted from the activity-packed day. We relaxed on the rooftop of our hotel, soaking up the sunshine and kicking up our heels in preparation of the upcoming race.  After a group dinner, Jon proceeded to move at a fast pace by hanging with the guys for a night out, while I retired to my room in hope to get some good sleep and rest my legs.

Relaxing on the roof of our hotel

Guys night out on the town

We awoke to a beautiful, sunny race day and were in high spirits before the race, despite our tired legs. We lined up at the start with over 26,000 fellow runners and began our 13.1 mile journey crossing through the former East and West of Berlin. The race course itself was a sight-seeing adventure, running down the Unter den Linden, through the Brandenburg Tor, the Tiergarten, over to the former West, turning by Schloss Charlottenburg, past Potsdamer Platz and Checkpoint Charlie, and circling around Alexanderplatz. Due to the sheer numbers of the race, it was impossible to set into a consistent pace until about mile 6, and by then I was worn out from all the dodging and weaving. I realized that I probably wouldn't set a PR on this course, but Jon and I both still managed to finish within 2 minutes of our goal time.

Berlin Half Marathon race course

Jon posing in the midst of the Berlin Victory Column

Ladies at the Finish

Finisher Photo with the Flag of Berlin

Although our time was quite short, we managed to experience an incredible weekend in Berlin at a fast pace and are already looking forward to our return to explore more of this fascinating city. Now... off to Budapest to complete the month of April with a bang!