Weekend marathon

As thousands coursed through Berlin this weekend for the Berlin marathon, I did my own marathon of sorts. On my bike of course.

Saturday I met up with Elizabeth, who is also in my program, at our favorite market in Kilowitz Platz for lunch. Then I headed to Mitte to meet another, Ira, where we did a ride along the river to another market. Where ever I went, I seemed to run into parts of the inline skating race or the foot race for youth that both preceded the marathon on Saturday. Ira and I sort of got trapped in the town's center by skaters whizzing by us in spandex. It was a fun scene though with people cheering and music playing, and the weather was nice, so we just hung out and watched the mayhem. It took about a half hour once before we could grab our bikes and run for our lives across the road, hoping not to become road kill.

On Sunday, I caught a glimpse of the real marathon on my own run. Then I spent the afternoon at Rathaus Schoenberg, where JFK gave his famous speech. There is also a market there on Saturdays and Sundays. After I wandered through tents and piles of second hand clothing, I entered the Rathaus, looking for the Liberty Bell. No one else was there, so I almost felt like I was intruding. I followed signs that said "Turm," which I thought I remembered means "tower." There were about three separate steep metal steps I climbed, in warehouse like corridors. I finally made it up the final spiral staircase, where the bell is. From the top, you can see the whole city in every direction. There is a strange sort of quiet up there in the tower with the bell, with the wind whipping through the cage it's kept in, and suddenly it felt good to be alone.

I spent the afternoon in a cafe with a glass of wine and my journal, as the sun set through the spires of a church nearby the cafe.

Lessons learned: I think I've done it all here and I can go home.