Munich

My next stop was Munich. I was finally returning after 12 years, and this time it was to celebrate Oktoberfest. Excellent.

I arrived at my new friend Philip's place, and put together some semblance of an outfit that would pass for Oktoberfest. Philip and Kaj were clothed in traditional lederhosen like most of the guys. I didn't really want to spend the money on a dirndl, so I wore a black dress and my checkered flannel shirt. I had a dress and checkers. That was the best I could pull off.

Once we were decked out, Philip played tourist guide for a little bit. We walked along the Isar River. It was lovely weather, so there were a bunch of sunbathers and swimmers out. 

Sunbathers.

Lederhosen.

Then we got some delicious food and our first beer to kick off Oktoberfest.

Pre-Oktoberfest meal.

Once we were fed, we headed to Oktoberfest. Now I really didn't have an expectations and maybe that was good. I knew there was beer, and since I'm part German (don't ask how much), I just wanted to partake in the festivities at some point in my life.

We arrived and I felt like I was at a small state fair. There were people everywhere, food stalls, and amusement rides. That I didn't expect. The fair-like vibe. We also got a glimpse at the beer tents. And they were massive. This is no rinky dinky beer tent like back home. These temporary structures can hold up to 5,000 people. Yikes.

We decided to go into the Hacker-Festhalle tent, known for the sky murals on the ceiling, at Philip's suggestion. He is the expert since he goes several days throughout Oktoberfest, and has been going for the last several years. He's from Munich, so he's been going since he was a kid.

We found a spot in the middle and soon made friends. We joined them at their table and promptly got on the benches to dance along to Sweet Caroline and a bunch of German songs that I got really good at pretending I knew.

Prost.

New friends.

The beer tents close around 10 or 10 :30. Which is probably a good thing. Get everyone out of there, so they can recover for the following day. Since we had an early dinner, we did get a bit hungry. I of course was looking for a  New York pizzeria. But of course there was only a Burger King at the train stop. I got fries.

The next morning, I didn't have much of a hangover, which was a bit surprising, given the amount of beer I consumed. I did wake up with a ton of bruises on my shins though. Have 6 people dance on a bench while drinking liters of beers, means they will fall over a few times during the evening. We proceeded room eat some breakfast, shower, put our outfits back on and head back to Oktoberfest. Since it was Friday, we wanted to be sure we got inside a tent before it closed. We took a roadie for the ride and we arrived in the afternoon. We walked around a different part of the grounds.   

We went into the Schützen-Festzelt tent and sat in the biergarten for a couple of liters. Keeping an eye on the door of course. We wanted to be sure we got inside before it closed on us. Fortunately it was so nice, that a lot of people had the same idea and the doors didn't close for a while. But once they were, we hurried inside. We had another good afternoon and evening of dancing, drinking and making new friends.      

Oktoberfest.

This is considered a small tent.

Second night of Oktoberfest.

On the 3rd day, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to Oktoberfest. Fortunately since I had paced myself the night before, I woke up in a similar fashion as the day before. I did get some laundry done. So I wasn't only drinking while I was in Munich. And then figured, I should make one last appearance. A smaller group of us headed to the Käfer's Wies'n-Schänke tent, where the celebrities hang out. Although I didn't see any celebrities ( I was secretly hoping for  David Hasselhoff spotting), it was a fun spot to be outside. There wasn't any dancing on benches but I still had a wonderful time. 

Käfer's Wies'n-Schänke.

Beer goals.

As I was confirming the beer tents names on the Oktoberfest website I came cross the lost and found. I just had to share. 

At the end of the Oktoberfest, the lost and found office had collected about 2915 items: 680 pieces of clothing, 660 wallets, 580 passports, 410 (smart)phones, 250 glasses, 220 keys, 90 bags and rucksacks, 55 umbrellas and canes, 55 pieces of jewelry and watches and 15 cameras.

Notable finds were: One pair of brown and one pair of beige high heels, a pair of children's leather pants, black cotton trousers, one jeans, two novels "Nie wieder Blondinen" with a dedication in them, an iPad, two GoPros, a pink camera, a doctor's certificate for work disability for the duration of the Oktoberfest, one box of Paracetamol, two hearing aids, 510.10€ in cash and a municipal time card. One gentleman claimed to have lost his "old lady", but could not be helped at the lost and found office.

I didn't lose anything but it was entertaining to read through the list. I did find new friends, 2 German kisses, and a desire to return again one day.

On my last day in Munich, I spent a short amount of time sightseeing. Which included the Frauenkirche and Glockenspiel. After that, it was time to head south and recover from all that beer.

Frauenkirche.

Glockenspiel.

Next stop: Füssen and the Disney castle.

Dresden

After the marathon, I took a bus the 2.5 hours to Dresden, a city close to Berlin in East Germany. I planned to head to Munich, but I figured I could check out another city before drinking all those liters of beers.

I was staying in "neustadt", the New Town, for a couple of nights. I spent the evening walking around and grabbed a beer at a local biergarten. The weather was pretty nice, so I spent an hour outside working on my journal. After some dinner, I headed back to the hostel and got a German lesson from a local. I downloaded German on Duolingo and have been trying to improve my German each day. Please note that it's pretty nonexistent. I know danke and gesundheit.  Anytime I try to say something, I get a response in English. It's either my accent or my pronunciation that is giving me away. I'd like to at least try a bit while I'm in Germany though. Even if I'm completely butchering the language.

Neustadt.

Kuntshofpassage.

Bier at the biergarten.

Dresden was completely destroyed during WWII. Since then, the city has been rebuilt, including most of the historical buildings. The following morning, I headed out to explore the "altstadt", the Old Town. Most of the buildings in this part of town have been restored to what they were like before WWII. I'm no expert, but they do look old. So I guess they did a good job. It's nice that they attempted to restore them instead of completely doing away with them.

Beautiful buildings of Dresden.

Frauenkirche.

Zwinger.

Love these bridges.

I did have to do a little bit of shopping in a very nice mall in the middle of the Old Town. Clearly that wasn't there before WWII. One of my USB cords completely melted a few weeks ago. I have no idea what happened, but threw it away immediately. On my search for said USB cord, I may have bought a new purse. Of course. I do have to say, it's come in handy. And it was on sale. If I'm not buying food or spending my money on travel costs, I need to justify every purchase. And ensure it's worth it to carry around for the next couple of months. I have to say, it's been worth it.

After getting my fill of the Old Town, I headed back to the new town and found a Craft Beer store where I sat outside and people watched for a bit. I noticed that Dresden is full of young families. I saw so many children running around and being pushed in their strollers. Also, I love that men help carry their children if they are young. Back home, it's mostly women that carry around babies.

I finished off my evening in the hostel listening to a Canadian woman play her viola. She has been traveling a bit and hasn't played as much as she would like. We were her first audience in several months. I got to catch up on a few things and enjoy some live music while I was at it.

My visit was quick but I was looking forward to my next stop. I got on an early morning train to Munich in order to start Oktoberfest celebrations.

Berlin

And just like that, the Berlin Marathon is over.

After our visit to Amsterdam, Lindy and I took a train to Berlin. The train was pretty uneventful, except for the fact we played musical chairs for a good part of our trip since we didn't have seat reservations. Once we figured out the method to the madness, it was a little too late. Now we know.

We arrived at the shiny Central Station and headed out to Charlottenburg, where our Airbnb was. The couple showed us around their nice top floor apartment. Fortunately it wasn't a walk-up. Going down all those stairs after the marathon would not have been pleasant.

Once we finished settling in, we headed to the expo. I knew the expo had to be pretty decent since Berlin is one of the Majors, but it's Europe so I wasn't entirely positive it would be smooth. But then again, we are in Germany. We got our bibs and bags in no time. Yay for German efficiency. We wandered around the expo to do a little bit of shopping. Lindy was in the market for a watch, and I was looking for my marathon souvenir. Which is usually a running jacket or sweater. We were successful and found both.

My next major marathon.

We will Berlin.

We wanted to start to rest up, so we got some pasta and called it an early night. The following day would bring Lindy's friend Kaj from NYC, and his friend Philip from Munich. Then it would be time to focus and get into marathon mode.

     
The next day, Kaj and Philip both arrived, and since they needed to go to the expo, Lindy and I did a little bit of sightseeing. The good thing about this being my 3rd visit to Berlin, is that I didn't feel the need to see everything. We stuck close to the Reichstag, and walked around a bit in that neighborhood. We saw the Brandenburg Tor, which we would run through the following day, the Holocaust Memorial, and some of the Berlin wall. After a couple of hours, we wanted to sit down desperately. We headed back to Charlottenburg to rest up and carb up.

Brandenburg Tor.

Holocaust Memorial.

Berlin wall.

Leading up to the Berlin, as usual, I stalked the weather forecast. Since I packed over a week before the race, I prepared for a colder morning. But as the race approached, the weather turned warmer. I had in my calendar that it was an 8am start. It was actually a 9:15 start. That meant I wouldn't be finishing until around 1pm. No good if it was going to be warm. The latest forecast said 50s at the start, and high 60s/low 70s at the finish. Not ideal. Hopefully my summer training hasn't gone away and it will all work out.

Since it was a late race start, we all got a good night's sleep. I woke up, ate some food, and got dressed. We headed to the S-bahn and 15 minutes later, we were walking to the start village with about 40,000 other runners. Lindy and I were in the same start corral, while Kaj was one ahead of us, and Philip was behind us. We found Kaj's bag drop, and then Philip's. But couldn't find ours. We said good luck to Phillip and parted ways. We wandered around until we finally found our tent to drop off our bags. A little later than I would have liked. The map wasn't super clear on where we needed to go. Once that was done, it was time for the porta potty. At this point Kaj left us. Of course the line was too long. So we risked it and continued on our way in hopes to find another. And we did. We finally stopped right before we entered our race corral. And boy was that the most inconvenient spot to put a porta potty. We had to maintain some sort of order in line, but also let the racers through since that was the only path to the start. I was trying to hold my anxiety in. This would be my first suggestion to the race organizer.  We finally took care of our business and made our way to the start. 

Pre-race.

Then we were running. We had to wait for a few minutes to get into our corral, but soon we were off. I spotted my second NBR runner, and worked to get into my pace mode. As with my last marathon, I needed to figure out my kilometer pace. I haven't decided whether I Iike races in miles or kilometers. In a marathon, kilometers do go by so fast, but there's 42 of them, instead of 26. Since I'm in Europe, I'm happy to run in kilometers for now.

So what was my goal pace? Based on my race history, a 3:15 marathon isn't out of the realm of possibility. Based on the last few months, 3:16 is probably more realistic. But you know, this is a marathon. Anything could happen. If I get a PR (breaking 3:19:55) I'll be very happy. If I get close to 3:15, I would be thrilled. So my plan was to aim for 3:20 for the first half, which would be a little conservative, but oh well. I have to start somewhere. I would then see what I could do for the 2nd half. This would mean starting with 4:45 kilometers (7:38 miles) and then speeding it up.

I had Lindy in sight for the first 5k, but then lost her at the first water stop. I assumed she was behind me since her goal was slightly behind mine. I just went on and ticked off the kilometers. Some were on target, some were not. Either they were a little fast or a little slow. The race was fairly crowded, so I put partial blame on that. I couldn't really get into a groove before I ran into someone again and had to pass them. I was hoping it would lighten up earlier in the race, but it didn't. It was consistently crowded the entire time. Eventually though, I think I was in a good place and wasn't encountering as many people. I feel good when I pass people, but I know I'm adding up my mileage, a tiny bit at a time. Adjusting the starting corrals would be my second suggestion. 

At the half marathon point, my time was 1:39:58. Right on 3:20 pace. But it was time to speed it up. I carried on, and at one point, Kaj found me. We did a quick check and separated. I was feeling pretty strong and wanted to see how long I could keep my pace up for. I was still hoping for a time close to 3:16, even though it would be challenging.

Somewhere in the 2nd half of the race, I picked up a running buddy. I found out later he's French, but we didn't talk at all while we were running. I didn't want to chat anyway. Fortunately he wasn't one of those annoying guy runners who can't stand having a girl pass him and then try to stay with me when he clearly can't. One of the things I noticed about this race in particular is the number of men running. Since it's European, I assume not as many women run like back home. And since I'm fast, I was hanging out with all the guys. I was happy when I spotted a fellow female though. I cheered for her on in my head. 

Back to the French guy. Like I said, fortunately he wasn't annoying. He actually helped me out at one point with water. We pretty much just ran side by side for most of the remainder of the race. He wasn't there the entire time, but when he wasn't, he'd reappear shortly thereafter. Soon I only had a few kilometers left. At this point, I was fully aware that I was running a marathon and was ready to wrap it up. My pace was slowing a bit, even though I tried to maintain my goal pace. At about the 40k mark, I couldn't go any faster. The French guy waved me on to encourage me to stay with him. But I couldn't. I figured at that point, if I can get a 5 minute pace for those last 2 kilometers, I would still PR. So I just needed to maintain. And keep counting to 100 in my head. 

Finally the Brandenburg Tor was in sight. I knew the finish was right on the other side. Although I do think the finish should be right at the gate. But that's another discussion. I finally crossed the finish in a time of 3:18:47. Not the 3:16 I was hoping for. But hey, over a minute off my PR. My tired legs and I will take it. 

I got some water, collected my stuff, grabbed a nonalcoholic beer, and headed to the Reichstag to wait for my friends. Fortunately it was nice weather, so I didn't mind stretching in the sun. And I'm glad the heat didn't bother me during the race. It took a while and some miscommunication but Lindy, Kaj, Philip, and I were reunited as finishers. We had some PRs and a first timer thrown in for good measure.

#11 finish.

Finishers.

We went to find alcoholic beer and rest our legs. 

Post-race beer.

Then we showered, and replenished our lost calories with German meat and beer.

Prost!

The following day, Lindy, Kaj, and I limped around around and did a little sightseeing. This involved more beer of course. We did a nice tasting at Brauhaus Lemke. And then took a nice walk around the Charlottenburg Schloss grounds. 

More bier.

I'm so glad I decided to go to Berlin. It was a nice relaxing weekend with a marathon thrown in for fun. I made some new friends, and got a PR in the process. Maybe we will run London or Tokyo together. I'm very pleased with my performance and was glad there was no rain. I think I still have room for improvement but I will hold off on that until the next marathon. Which could be Boston 2018. We shall see. 

Amsterdam

After I got back from my Trip Around the World, I spend the summer at home in Upstate New York, and on Nantucket. I hung out with family, caught up on life, and ran. And just like that. It was over. And I was off on my next trip. This time to Europe.

My first stop was Amsterdam. My friend Lindy and I made plans to visit the city before heading to Berlin to run the marathon. After only a couple of hours of sleep after my sister's wedding the night before, and one last run over the Brooklyn Bridge, I met up with Lindy to head to JFK. Of course our Uber wasn't as quick as we'd like. I'm used to public transport, and tried to not get anxious with the amount of traffic we were encountering. Fortunately once we arrived at JFK, checking our bags and going through security was seamless and didn't take much time. A rare occurrence at JFK for sure.

Last day in the USA for a couple of months.

Once we boarded, my plan was to watch one movie (Allegiant) and sleep as much as possible. Which wasn't much. Leaving at 5:30pm from NYC doesn't bode well for sleeping a lot on the plane. I got about 1.5 hours according to my FitBit. It was something I guess. We arrived in Dublin, had a bit of a layover, and I took another nap on the flight to Amsterdam.

Dublin airport shenanigans.

I visited Amsterdam 5 years ago, and it was nice to see it again. It was Lindy's first time, and we got to visit with my friend Raz, who I met last year in Thailand. He was a great host and showed us around the city when he wasn't in class. Our first day was a little low-key as we were crazy jet-lagged. We grabbed food, walked around the beautiful canals, and drank some beers on a boat. A great first day in Europe.          

Our sunglasses hiding our tired eyes.

                                                                                                     

Visiting Raz!

Canals galore.

And then it was time to sleep. And sleep we did. Over 13.5 hours. I haven't slept that much in a very long time. If at all. We woke up refreshed, and it was like were new people. The first thing we did was go for a run in Vondelparc. It was nice to see the park, even if it wasn't for very long. I was reminiscing when I ran through it at the end of the Amsterdam Marathon 5 years prior. 

Post-run pancakes. 

We spent the next couple of days exploring the city. We looked for secret courtyards "hofjes", went to the Anne Frank House, walked along more canals, and went to a museum. Lindy went off to the Van Gogh Museum (I had already gone), and I went to the Moco Museum to check out Banksy and Warhol.

Bicycle scene.

Warhol and Banksy.

And of course we got our obligatory 'I am amsterdam' photo.

Proof we were in Amsterdam.

Another fantastic visit to a lovely city. I can't wait to return. 

Philadelphia

I made it to the city of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia was my final stop before officially concluding my trip in New York City. Why Philly? To visit friends, and of course do one of the things that I love, run. The Broad Street 10-miler has been on my bucket list and since I got into the lottery, I figured why not. 

I was staying with my friends Cori and Jeff, who were also running the race. After a pick-up from the airport and settling in for a few minutes, Jeff and I headed over the bridge to New Jersey to go to Wegmans. My first excursion back in the Northeast. It was amazing. Yes, this upstate girl loves her Wegmans. I really had to try not to buy too many items. Philly may have been my last stop for this part of the trip, but it would still be weeks until I settled in at home. I didn't need to be carrying any more things than I already was. 

Wegmans.

Since I arrived the day before the race, we headed out to a local Italian place to carb up for dinner. And drink some wine. I had trained for this race, but I wasn't going to be doing my best out there. I figured a little bit of wine wouldn't hurt. Maybe it would even help. 

Pre-race meal.

We didn't stay out too long but eventually headed back to rest up. 

Rochester reunion with Cori.

In the hours leading up to the race, we were keeping our eye on the weather. Unfortunately the forecast didn't change by the following morning. No May-like weather was happening on the 1st. It was April showers all the way. 

Staying dry.

We headed to the race start and tried to stay as dry as possible. We crammed onto the SEPTA and arrived to long baggage lines. There has to be a better way to organize the baggage for this massive race. I waited in line for way too long. I then got in another long line for the porta potty. What a difference from the last race I ran. I was running out of time, so I left the line to find a shorter one. Fortunately I did, and was in my corral before the official race start. 

The race started, and I made my way down Broad Street. The course was really flat, one of the reasons it's a popular race. I had my "not the best you are capable, but a good effort" plan, which fortunately included a PR. I started out with 7:30s, and just tried to maintain that and get a little faster in the 2nd half. The cold definitely caught up to me. I wasn't wearing proper clothes and I was reminded of last year's Boston Marathon. Add this to the race to come back and get weather redemption. I finish as strong as I was capable of, which was faster than the first half, and finished with a PR of 1:14:12. I know I can get a faster 10-miler in, but considering my training and the weather, I took it. It was now time to stop shivering, take a hot shower, and get brunch. 

Finish line shivers.

Once Cori and Jeff finished, we headed to their friends to relax, eat some bagels, and drink some beers. A perfect day to spend a rainy race afternoon. 

Downtown Philly.

The weather hadn't improved much the following day, but at least it wasn't raining. I got a few recovery miles in along the Schuylkill with some good views. However, it wasn't as uneventful as I would have thought. About halfway on my run, a guy got in a bike accident. I didn't see what happened, but heard it. I turned around and ended up calling 911. Bleeding from the head area wasn't a good sign. That was definitely a first for me. A few other pedestrians stopped as well, and we waited together for the paramedics to come along. I think he was fine. Or at least I hope so. It really reinforced that you need to pay more attention. Everyone needs to be aware of their surroundings. I'm generally pretty good, but it can't hurt to be a little extra aware. 

Recovery run.

Later in the afternoon, I walked around Philly a bit.

Row houses.

And enjoyed some of the spring weather. The sun even came out later in the day. 

Rittenhouse Square.

Later on I met up with some more friends, Eric and Sara, for drinks and dinner. Unusually for us, we had a low key evening. Good thing since I was pretty tired. Even though we just had a few hours to hang out, it was good to see them and catch up. 

More friends.

Before getting on the bus to NYC the next day, I got in one last run before leaving town. I have run plenty in Philly, but I got to try out some new places on this trip, which is always exciting. I also appreciate the running paths and won't take them for granted, no matter what city I'm in. 

The Schuylkill.

Just like with my previous stops in the USA, Philadelphia just aided in my transition back home. I got to see more friends and be in familiar places. A great way to end my trip. Off  to NYC, where I started my trip. And where I'll finish it.