Large Vacation - Germany
Day 1
Flew into Berlin and took a bus down to Dresden where I was picked up by Jens . We went for what was going to be a short run, but he suggested we go up Wilisch (1500' of climb!) for the view and ended up with about 12ish miles and we ate fresh fruit from the trees along the way!.
For dinner we went into Dresden for some ramen and saw some of the sights. Absolutely gorgeous architecture!
Day 2
Due to all of the sleepiness from travel and trying to fix my sleep schedule, I ended up sleeping until 11am we went out for some brunch, walked around the Neustadt area of dresden, and visited the New Green Vault. It was an absolutely astounding museum with so many beautiful treasures. I took so many photos and am so astounded by the work of the artists.
Day 3
Pretty low key day. Took the train from Dresden to Munich and got in around 1pm. I did a lot of wandering around old town and the Viktualsmarket. Had some weiner schnitzel not once, but twice! I went to the Flowers Forever exhibit at Kunsthalle Munchen and looooved it. So many different mediums: paintings, sculptures, digital, pottery, etc, it was wonderful!
Day 4
What a day!! Compared to the chill day I had before, this day was packed to the gills with fun stuff!
First - I had slept in a hostel the night before. I was thinking I would go cheap on a place to sleep in exchange for doing all the cool things. Bad idea. Lots of noise all night and an uncomfortable bed. I woke up in the middle of the night and started looking at other hotels for the next night. Woke up bright and early at 6am and went for a run. I wanted to see the Endless Staircase, so I made my way there passing the Oktoberfest grounds, seeing the Bavaria Statue, and some other cool sights on the way.
After the run, I had a tour scheduled. This was the best decision and so far one of my favorite parts of the trip. I met with Oz and 5 other people for a tour that included a stop at a few beer halls, the bug sights, some personal stories with inspirational messages, history, and politics thrown in. So, so wonderful.
The tour ended at The Residenz, so I bought a ticket and saw a lot of opulence (a lot had been recreated/restored due to damage from the war). Unlike most other museums I've been to, they didn't have signage for the pieces and it was all audio, which I didn't really enjoy. The museum I really wanted to go to (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art) was only open Friday-Sunday, which I didn't realize when I'd been planning.
Since I'd reserved a new hotel, I headed there and was IN LOVE. This was my kind of hotel. It had a rock and roll vibe/theme. I cannot say enough good things about the Ruby Rosi Hotel. The breakfast buffet was to die for as well.
On the way to the hotel, I stopped at Eisbrunnen, a plant-based creamery and had a flight of ice cream: mohn marzipan, chocolate, sesame, popcorn, pb&j, and pistachio. I chilled and decompressed in the room for a couple hours before heading out to find dinner. I wanted to eat at the famous Hofbräuhaus (which had been a stop on the tour earlier), but it was PACKED. I walked around and around for 20 minutes looking for a seat, but found nothing. Okay fine, I'll go somewhere else. At that point I was hangry, but remembered another place I'd looked at the previous day - der Pschorr. Until this day, I'd never had sauerkraut. I've always found the smell and the look of it to be stomach-turning, but when in München! It was really good! I ended the night with a drink in the hotel lobby, super satisfied with such an amazing day!
Day 5
I started my day with a 6-hour train ride to Hamburg. Yes, SIX. And I only planned on staying one night. Probably crazy, but soooo worth it. After checking into a super cute hotel, I set off for a baked potato restaurant. Yes, a restaurant that specializes in baked potatoes. I got mine with avocado, arugula, mozzarella, and pomegranate arils - basically all of my favorite foods in one dish. It was incredible.
After that I had a tour scheduled at the Chocoversum. I got to taste chocolate on every step of the way. The tour guide wanted two adults to volunteer to try the raw (with pulp!!) cocoa bean. It was so cool! I made my own chocolate bar and was in chocolate heaven.
I headed back to the hotel for a short nap before going out for a run. I saw St. Nikolai Church, St. Michael's Church, the St. Pauli Piers, and some other gorgeous sights on the way. It was all so great. Next was the whole reason I wanted to go to Hamburg - Miniatur Wunderland!!!
It is home to the largest rail system in the world (over 5 miles of mini train tracks!!). I couldn't get a reservation until late in the night, so I arrived at 10pm and would have 3 hours to see everything before it closed. Three hours was definitely not enough. I could have spent 12 hours in there and still wouldn't have seen everything. It was INCREDIBLE!! I took over 100 pictures there, lol. There's so many tiny, funny things going on in every little pocket of space and I think it became nighttime every 20 mins? They also had buttons you could push to make certain things happen like lightning storms (only at night) or a skateboarder on a ramp. I loved it so much! One good thing is that the crowds really thinned, so I believe I got a great experience despite the short time available.
Day 6
I am the worst and before leaving Hamburg, I decided I wanted a hamburger. I knoooooow. It's obnoxious, but I amused myself. I took the train to Berlin and checked into the H4 (the race headquarters) and headed out for some sightseeing.
After being in much smaller cities for the last several days, the big city of Berlin was kind of jarring. All of the old historic buoldonfs are gorgeous though and there was so much to look at. I randomly came across a free museum with some modern art, so I had to check that out.
One thing I had planned was to visit Monsterkabinett, an art installation. It's hard to describe, but it is weird animatronic monsters with techno music in a dark basement. Maybe goth industrial Jim Henson? It was amazing!!
For dinner, I met up with the Dences and we were joined by Matt and KJ and enjoyed some yummy Bavarian food at Höfbrauhaus. A nice day that ended with friends.
Day 7
Berlin wanderings & race prep! Slept way in again, but met Matt and the Dences in the lobby to go to a museum on the way we stopped by a gorgeous church full of statues. The museum was the Topographie of Terror and I could not handle it. I think I was in there for about 20 minutes before I got sick to my stomach. It wasn't gory or over the top; it was very personal stories with the letters showing people being ordered to the camps. It was rough.
I left and picked up my packet and attended the race briefing - race nerves definitely started creeping in. I did my shakeout run to the Grafitti Wall, attended dinner with the gang, and crashed into bed.
Days 8-9
This was the Berlin Wall 100! Click here for my race report!
Final Thoughts
I had an absolutely amazing time on my trek through Germany. I know there are still so many amazing things I missed that I wanted to do and even more things I never had time to do. I am so glad I got to do the race with my friends and that it was the impetus of taking this incredible vacation. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime for me! I want to go back, but at the same time I want to explore more places around the world. Looking forward to more adventures!!
