Daily Emilie

The Path of the Berlin Wall

2017-08-17T06:01:00.000-05:00

56 years ago, on the 13^th of August, 1961, 30,000 soldiers surrounded West Berlin and put up 160km of barbed wire overnight, separating the entire city. Thousands lost their jobs, families were separated and even their homes. This was another turning point in Germany's troubled history, one that is still felt today. The Berlin Wall grew, going from a barbed wire fence guarded by soldiers with guns, to a fully secured border zone, almost impossible to cross. At least 138 people lost their lives in Berlin trying to cross and only about 5,000 managed to escape into the West.

It's been 27 years since the Wall fell, and its damage can still be felt in the capital. A scar runs through the entire city, marking where the Wall had stood, and memorials scattered along it, mourning its victims.

Sunday was the 56^th anniversary of the erection of the Berlin Wall and many gathered to remember those who died trying to escape or even guard the Wall. Every year since 2011, an ultra marathon is held in Berlin, over the entire course of the Berlin Wall. Either solo or in teams, the runners run a distance of 160km, or roughly 100 miles. The record, by the way, is of 13 hours and 6 minutes!

I know I could never run that far, but cycling seemed possible. Some colleagues and I decided to try and cycle the entire length of the Berlin Wall in one day. If people can run it, we could cycle it. Our leader, William, offers to do about half the length as a tour with When in Berlin, so at least we had someone with us who was familiar with the course.

Photo credit: William Mollers

We set off at 6am, starting at the Brandenburg Gate, a historic place where many Berliners came to celebrate the fall of the Wall on November 9^th, 1989. We headed south and slowly made our way around the entire length. We started off at a good pace, stopping every so often at important sights and memorials, and taking breaks when necessary.

Here, Germany and Europe were separated until the 13th of November 1989 at 6pm.

Watch Tower near the Havel River

We passed Checkpoint Charlie, the famous American checkpoint in the centre of the city, and Checkpoint Bravo on the outskirts of the city, separating East Germany and West Berlin. At Wannsee (a big lake in southern Berlin), we took the ferry across and stopped for lunch at a Biergarten. After a beer and some hearty German food, we headed out once again, this time at a faster pace. Some of the roads after lunch were quite rough, some not paved at all, but mostly beautiful. We cycled through forests, next to canals and rivers, on roads and finally back into the city, ending our journey 13 hours later right where we starting, at the Brandenburg Gate.

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Bravo, or Dreilinden

Wannsee

In total, we cycled 140km (we skipped a 20km detour around Wannsee and took the ferry instead), which took 7.5 hours. With all our breaks and stops, our journey took exactly 13 hours, just as we had planned.

Five days later, my thighs (and butt) are finally not sore anymore, but my head is still spinning. I learned so much that day, about “unofficial” victims, what the Wall really looked like outside the city centre, remnants still standing, how much was destroyed in order to have this built, and how much is still left to rebuild because of it. It definitely gave me a renewed appreciation for how lucky I am to have been born in a country like Canada and how fragile it all is.

Near the very first Checkpoint to have opened on November 9th, 1989

I'm alive!!!!

The route itself was gorgeous, well marked and easily to follow. Other than a few parts that were quite rough on the bikes (big, uncared for cobblestones paths, for example), but for the most part, it was smooth sailing. You can be sure I will be doing this next year again!

Edinburgh

2017-08-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

In July, I made my way to Edinburgh, one of my all-time favourite cities to run my last and definitely my hardest Spartan Race. This was always a city I wanted to go back to and with the race, it gave me the perfect excuse! Luckily enough, I also have a friend who lives there now, so I had someone to show me around and do the tourist things with.

We spent the first day walking around the Old Town, up and down the Royal Mile and in the National Museum of Scotland. It is a huge museum on every possible topic and era! We must've spent a solid two hours just skimming through the history of Scotland part. When I go back, I will definitely head back to that museum. We went up to the roof of the museum where we had an incredible view over the city. From there, we could see Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano in Edinburgh. That was our next stop.

Last time I'd been here was only for two days and it was the middle of winter, so going up there alone didn't seem like such an attractive idea, but now with my friend who'd done it a hundred times, it didn't seem so bad. We also got very very lucky with the weather and had to shed most of our layers while hiking up! The view was breath-taking.

This year, I finally got the chance to go into the Edinburgh Castle. Last time I had been near the end of my budget and the prices were too much. This time, I calculated that in. I had to wait almost three hours to get inside, though. The lines were horrible. Once inside, I realized how huge of a fortress this really was! It was an entire town in and of itself! I got to see the 1 o'clock cannon go off, the crown jewels, the Scottish War Memorial, the Great Hall, and a few interesting museums, like the one about the medieval prisons of the castle.

To finish off my touristing, I decided that I couldn't leave Edinburgh without a Harry Potter Walking Tour. I had heard from a few people that The Potter Trail was a fantastic tour, so I headed to the meeting point and joined the tour. I was definitely not disappointed! We saw a few of the places that inspired J.K. Rowling to write her books, we went into the cemetery when "Tom Riddle" is buried and even scared some muggles by changing the traffic lights with our magic.

I couldn't have had a better trip to Edinburgh. The weather was beautiful, the people were lovely as always and if anything, it just made me fall in love with the country even more.

Paris

2017-08-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

In June, I headed to Paris for my second Spartan Race. Coincidentally, my dad was playing a gig nearby and we got the chance to meet up and spend some time in Paris together. I hadn't seen him in about 11 months, and my mom in 8. It was so wonderful to be in such a beautiful city and be reunited with my parents! We spent most of our times being tourists, going back to sights we'd been to 12 years ago, most of which I barely remembered. Our first stop was Montmartre. This part of Paris is definitely the stereotypical and picturesque idea that most people have of the city of love. It is so beautiful, up there, and you have incredible views of the entire city. Then, we headed to the Arc de Triomphe, and walked to the Eiffel Tower. It has been so long since I've seen these places and they are just as impressive as I remember them. The Eiffel Tower is just such an amazing structure!

We then met up in the morning and headed to the Notre Dame de Paris and actually managed to go inside. It is a breath-taking cathedral from the outside, and even more so on the inside. After eating in the Latin Quarter, we headed towards the Musée d'Orsay, a museum made out of an old train station. It has a huge collection of art, some very famous Van Goghs and when I was there, an amazing exhibit on impressionism.

The first thing we did on our last day together was to head up the Notre Dame de Paris. We got up extra early and got to go inside the bell towers of the famous cathedral. It was so worth it! My parents had never done it, so it was cool to be able to do this together. The gargoyles are really great and well preserved and you can just imagine yourself up there with Quasimodo! It doesn't really feel that high when you're going up and don't realize it until you look out and see where you are in the cathedral. The hard part was actually going back down the stairs as its an endless spiral staircase until you suddenly end up on the ground and the door opens back up. It takes a minute to stabilize yourself before being able to walk away!
After this, we relaxed for a while in cafés, walked along the Seine, checked out the Love Locks and made our way to the meeting point of our tour.
I work at Fat Tire Tours Berlin, and we are also have tours in Paris, so it just made sense to go say hi and do a tour with them as well. We picked the Night Tours, since I heard that was the best one. It really was! We biked around the city (it's way safer and a lot less scary than it sounds!), we stopped for the best ice cream in the city, had a lovely boat ride on the Seine and watched the Eiffel Tower light up. It was the perfect way to end a great few days with my parents in Paris.

I had the next day to myself after that so I headed to the Catacombs. I had heard so many good things about it, and having a sort of morbid curiosity, decided it was something I needed to see. It was definitely something out of of this world. Millions of skulls and bones all lined up and organized like a sort of weird arts project makes for a very very creepy underground visit. It was definitely worth the two hour wait in the blazing sun, though! I learned a lot about the underground world of the city and I don't think I'll ever see anything quite like it anywhere else.

I somehow managed to convince my boyfriend to come meet me after and we spent quite a bit of time walking around and taking pictures around the city before and after my race, which I will write about in a post soon! We only had about 36 hours together in the city, but it was well worth it. We finally had a bit of rain and some incredible sunsets, which made for perfect photography and a stunning end to a fantastic trip to the City of Love.

Slovakia

2017-08-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

Back in May, I headed to Slovakia to run a Spartan Race, my first ever! I decided to turn it into a holiday (what a better excuse to travel than running!). I stayed in Bratislava, right next to the Old Town. I love going to a place without having researched it and having no idea about the history or the sights. I took a free walking tour first thing in the morning when I arrived and got to see so much and learn a ton about the city's history.
One thing I love about Bratislava is all the interesting and seemingly random statues throughout the city. Wherever you walk in the Old Town, you're bound to run into something interesting.

I saw the famous Most SNP, or UFO Bridge, built during the Communist era, St Michael's Church, where 13 Kings of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were crowned, the Bratislava Castle (which to be honest, was very underwhelming.. at least from the outside), we walked past the old medieval gates of the city, and finishing by the Blue Church, which is probably the most picturesque church I've ever seen! It really looks like a cake or a Smurf church!

UFO Bridge

St Michael's Church

Blue Church

After the tour, I headed back to the old city with the medieval walls. Inside the tower is a museum about medieval weaponry that eventually takes you up into the tower where you have a fantastic view of the Old Town and its narrow streets.

One thing to do if you head to Bratislava is to go outside the city to a neighbouring town called Devin. This town sits at the confluent of the Danube and Morava rivers, two very important rivers in Europe, and just outside the city on top of a hill is the Devin castle. It's only 20 minutes by bus from the city centre and is 100% worth seeing. I was blown away by this castle. Or its ruins, I should say.
This castle saw many many wars and was eventually destroyed by Napoleon. The ruins are really well preserved and you can just imagine this castle bustling with medieval life, watching over the country. From the top of the hill, you can see the shadow of Vienna in the horizon. I must have spent over three, maybe even four hours exploring the area, which extended wall past the castle hill. Definitely the highlight of my trip!

My race wasn't actually in Bratislava, but in Nitra, which is about two hours outside of the city. It's a beautiful town, with a castle on top of a hill, overlooking the city, though it's more of a cathedral than an actual castle...

I am definitely impressed by Slovakia. The people were lovely, the food was amazing and the sights impressive. I will definitely be back eventually to see the rest of the country!

Hey There Stranger!

2017-08-03T10:28:00.000-05:00

Holy moly has it been a while since I've shown my face on this part of the internet! I have been so busy these past four months, and to be honest, haven't really had any motivation or inspiration to write. Here's what I've been up to recently.

In April, I ran three half-marathons and as you can imagine, ended up getting injured. In hindsight, three may have been a bit much.... I busted my knee somehow and though I'm still not sure what the problem was, my physiotherapist told me today that it's all healed! Only took four months..... Though I doubt the lesson was learned! I also started working with Fat Tire Tours Berlin, where I work as a tour guide on bike. It's a fantastic job (even on rainy days) and I'm so glad to be able to do something I love and have a great group of people to work with.

In May, I headed to Slovakia, where I ran my first Spartan Race. This year, I decided to do less half marathons and do something different; obstacle course. So I opted to do a Trifecta, which includes doing the three distance Spartan offers: Sprint (5+km), Super (13+km) and Beast (21+km). The trick is that you need to finish all of them within a calendar year. It gave me the perfect opportunity to travel a bit as well! I defeated the Spartan Sprint, I visited Bratislava, a beautiful city and a few castles along the way. The rest of the month was spent working and running (or trying to with a bad knee).

In June, I celebrated my 23rd birthday, and headed to Paris for another Spartan Race; the Super. That one was slightly easier than the Sprint, somehow, even though I was covered in cuts and bruises! My parents were in France at the same time, so we met in Paris for a few days. I hadn't seen my dad in almost a year, so it was a fantastic place to be reunited! Berlin in June was gorgeous, so I enjoyed as much of the summer weather as I could! I'm still discovering new things about this city every single day.

In July, I headed to Edinburgh to run the Spartan Beast, a half-marathon distance obstacle course. It was one of the toughest races I've ever done, it was freezing cold, raining, extremely foggy and windy, but I finished it and if I can do this, I can do anything! For a prairie girl, running up and down mountains for 6 hours with obstacles in between is quite the feat! I got to enjoy the beautiful city with a good friend, then headed back to Berlin, where the weather was much less than desirable, but there was work to do and tourists to entertain!

Now August is here, and I can't believe how fast time goes! This month is going to be action-packed. In just a couple of weeks, I will be heading to Iceland to run my second marathon ever! My Scottish bestie Megan will be meeting me there and after the race, we will be heading off on a road trip around the country. We already have a few things booked, our tent, GoPro and gadgets are all ready to go, now we just wait (im)patiently!

As you can see, lots of things happened in the last four months and I will try to catch up on all the races, trips and everything I've been up to in the upcoming posts.

Airport Night Run 2017

2017-04-12T14:41:00.001-05:00

Saturday night, I ran my second half marathon of the season, and of the week! I ran this one last year and absolutely loved it. Despite the fact that it's 6 days after the Berlin Half, I wanted to do it all over again!
It was, once again, the perfect day for a race. The weather settled, and the temperature was perfect. Just chilly enough to run comfortably and no wind! That alone was a blessing, considering we were running on an airfield!
Yes, you read that correctly! This race takes place on the runways of the new airport in Berlin which has yet to open. That airport has been a total disaster and the opening keeps getting delayed every few months. So for now, it is a pretty great spot for a night run!

I ran a bit slower than I had hoped, but with my injuries, I am glad I finished at all! It was a really great race and my running crew was there to cheer. They were probably the loudest people there!

photo credit: Fab @adidas Runners Berlin

The second race of the season is done, I got my glow in the dark medal and a beer at the finish line as per race tradition! Next race is in 2 weeks!

Berliner Halbmarathon 2017

2017-04-07T17:05:00.001-05:00

Sunday I ran my third Berlin Half Marathon! Just like last year, the weather was perfect! The sun was shining and it was quite warm outside, at least in comparison to the couple days before and after! Just like the last two years, it was a hell of a lot of fun.

photo credit: Hannes Glawe

I absolutely love this race. I get to run through Berlin, past so many really great landmarks and surrounded by 30,000 other runners. It's such a rush to be around so many other people on their way to accomplishing the same distance. On top of that, all the people who come out to cheer us on is one of the best parts!

This year, I got to run as a member of adidas Runners Berlin. I joined them in February and have been running regularly with them ever since. For all the major events, we get our very own race shirts, some kind of race base, where we can meet before and after the race and so it's kinda of like a "VIP" treatment for the run family. We also get to hang out with other adidas Runners from all over Europe! I will definitely talk more about that in a later post, don't worry!

photo credit: adidas Runners Berlin

Although I didn't run as well as I had hoped (2:21:33), I still finished the race with a smile and got a beer and my medal at the end! It was a great start to the race season and I can't wait to see what this year has in store for me!

Romania

2017-03-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Needing a change of scenery, I decided to take another weekend trip outside of Berlin. This time, I was eastbound. I was browsing Ryanair's deals and found some extremely cheap flights to Bucharest, Romania, and thought "why not!" My dad has been there once and absolutely loved it, and I have always wanted to see a bit more of Eastern Europe, so this was a perfect opportunity to start!
I didn't know much about Bucharest or Romania in general, other than Dracula, of course, so it was really nice that everything was new. It was also the first time in a very, very long time that I went to a country where I didn't know the language, and I loved being out of my element.

Bucharest may not be the most beautiful city in Europe, but it definitely has personality and a ton of history. I went on a walking tour where I discovered a lot about the different architecture styles; French, Turkish, Communist, Roman, to name a few. People from all over came through Romania with the Silk Route and left a piece of their culture behind or settled and brought their own architecture with them. The Communist architecture is the most noticeable since it is the most recent part of Romania's history. They're gigantic buildings, very square, very stern.

The biggest of them all if the Palace of the Parliament, the second biggest administrative building in the world (the Pentagon being the biggest) and my goodness is it ever huge! Unfortunately, it was closed due to the recent protests in the city (peaceful protests against the corruption in the government), but the outside was still very impressive!

The food was absolutely incredible. Romanians love porc and serve it with everything, and they sure know how to cook it! The best part of the food though, is the traditional dessert called "Papanasi," a sort of cheese dumpling or doughnut topped with sour creme and jam. It may sound like a strange mix, but it's actually amazing! The sour creme neutralizes a bit of the jam's sugar and gives it a perfectly balances taste that you won't be able to get enough of.

A trip to Romania would be nothing without a trip to Transylvania and a visit to Dracula's castle. Transylvania is a beautiful part of the country just beyond the Carpathian mountains and the view from every angle is breathtaking. I did a day trip where we headed to Peles Castle, a castle that was built by Romania's first king, King Carol I. It's near the top of the mountain, has incredible views and the castle itself is the definition of luxury itself. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, though, but I can tell you, the details in the statues, even the staircase pillars were mesmerizing.

After Peles, we headed to the famous Bran Castle, known as Dracula's castle. This castle was in fact built as a fortress and border control at the borders of Romania and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Since 1212, the first version of the castle, it has been destroyed and been rebuilt many many times. It is perched on top of the mountain to get the best view of the ancient border wall.

Secret Tunnel in the castle

Ancient Border Wall

The story of Dracula is actually an interesting one. In the 15th century, Romania had a king or ruler named Vlad the Empaler, or Vlad Tepes. He was famous for using empaling as a form of torture and execution. He had found a way to empale people so that the stake would miss the important organs and drag out death for 18-24 hours. All this, mixed with the fact that his father was often named "Dracul" which meant "the Devil" and Vlad was then "Dracula," of "the Son of the Devil," and all the other legends of Romania, an Irish author (who had never been to Romania) was inspired to write his famous novel, Dracula. Though Vlad may have never drank blood, or even lived at Bran Castle, he became famous once again for a whole different reason. Bran Castle was only chosen as his castle because it was the castle that fit the description in the book.
The things you learn, am I right?!

The tour ends in the beautiful city of Brasov, with a Hollywood-type sign above on the mountain and a beautiful central square where you can find musicians and the best restaurant of the city. On a sunny day like we had, everyone is in the square, enjoying the sunshine.

One thing that surprised me the most was how lively Bucharest was. The streets are extremely busy at all hours of the day. It may be the capital and not as big as Berlin (1 million people compared to Berlin's 4 million), but it felt busier. Also, it seemed like everyone could speak English, and very well at that! Everyone was very friendly and I never once felt suspicious or in danger. It still needs a lot of progress and work, but Bucharest is definitely an incredible city to visit. I wish I had spent a bit longer to see all the museums and all its quirks!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

2017-03-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

In early February, I headed to London for the weekend (like the typical European I now am) to go see the newest addition to the Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I bought my tickets over a year ago, not willing to take a chance in the tickets selling out or the play ending before I got to see it.
I have heard a lot of mixed reviews about it... Many people who had read the script alone had said it wasn't anything close to something Rowling would have written, and those who had seen the play were completely amazed. I decided to wait to see the play to read the script/book and I'm so glad I did.

The two parts of the play happen in the Palace Theatre, an enormous and beautiful theatre in the West End, the sort of "theatre district" of London. It's surrounded by small cafés and other theatres, but this one stands out with its red brick face and of course, the giant Cursed Child logo on the front. There are about 1,400 seats and is sold out every night!

The verdict? I'm torn.

The play itself, was amazing! The script was great, the actors were extremely talented, the sets were so clever and the entire mise-en-scène was spectacular. Being a story about magic, they managed to have spells with light, fire, things and people lifting up in the air, even a scene under water and not one of these special effects seemed cheap. You could hear the sighs and "wow!"s or the crowd with each new special effect and sometimes even just from the dialogue. Both nights when the curtain fell over the stage, we all left the theatre in total awe and excitement.

The story itself, on the other hand, I'm not so fond of. If you take the play for a single piece of theatre unrelated to the Harry Potter series, then it's fantastic. But if you consider it a part of the series, you'll be quite disappointed by the story. Without giving any spoilers away, I'll try to explain what I mean. The play is set 19 years later, and starts exactly where book 7 left off, on the platform 3/4, with Harry's kids leaving for Hogwarts. Of course, we have a whole new set of characters, but also a lot of familiar faces coming back as we find out what happened to them as well. I don't know about you, but people don't usually change drastically when they go from their teenage years to their adult years, at least not a whole 180 in personality.
There were so many characters that would say or do things and I kept thinking "No way, they would never ever do/say that!" A few events also made me shake my head, thinking it would be impossible for this to happen, making the story a little hard to believe, if -and only if- you take it straight from Harry Potter.

I compare it a little bit with The Hobbit movies, with all the extra storylines they added that were unnecessary. As a movie on its own, it's great, but if you follow the story, it's not so great. Cursed Child is much the same.

All in all though, it was a really wonderful play and would still recommend that every Harry Potter fan should see it. Five years after the last movie and nine years after the last book, we get to dive into our favourite story all over again.

Catching Up

2017-03-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

I keep opening this page, writing words, erasing them and giving up. I've been trying to write for a few months but I can never find the right words or the motivation to finish a post. Writer's block is killer! I just have to force myself to write and eventually, things will roll off the tip of my fingers.

My last post was three months ago! A lot of things have happened since and also, well a lot of things have happened before that last post that I didn't mention, so let's get started!

I've been living in Berlin for over a year now and I still love it. It was really really tough at first, but now things have finally seemed to settle and life is so much better, even if life is always going to be somewhat stressful.... I managed to get a new visa to extend my stay in Germany for another two years! I didn't get just any kind of visa. I got a freelance visa, which brings me to my next piece of news. I changed careers. Well that's a bit of an exaggeration, seeing as I have never really had a career to begin with, but I went for entry-level cook jobs to actually finding something I could see myself doing for a very long time. I started working as a language teacher! I now teach English and French at various schools in Berlin, ranging from kids to adults and I love it. I have also decided to go back to another love of mine and will be starting as a tour guide next week! Ironic how I came to Germany to speak German and I end up teaching and touring in English instead, right?

Another big thing that's new is moving in with my boyfriend! I had been spending more at his place than at my own (I have had crazy roommate after crazy roommate), and it just seemed logical for me to stay. It was almost more his idea than mine, so no one can say I pushed it on him ;)
It was quite the adjustment at first, but I really love living with him. His roommates have become my friends and it has become my home and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. It's also a big bonus that he is a very good cook!

One thing that hasn't change is that I am still running and traveling, and still craving any and every race I can find, any destination I can reach. I have quite a few races and trips planned for this year and I will talk about those soon in an upcoming post! The one thing about running that is different is that I joined a running group! Adidas Runners is an amazing group that offers runs every day, and workouts on most days, giving everyone a chance to run when they can, morning or evening, yoga, core training, pace training, etc all for free. It has become a community and though the season only started about a month ago, I am absolutely loving this sense of community and the friendships I have started forming! Running with these people and seeing them run extremely fast gives a renewed motivation to run, which is always a good thing! There's a point system so the more you participate, the more points you accumulate and get to be part of special events, get free registrations to races or all kinds of other goodies like community t-shirts or a discount at the exclusive store! All bonus things you get for being part of a wonderful, slightly crazy running community.

I promise I will be writing more frequently from now on! A lot of exciting things are happening this year and I can't wait to share it all with you!

Let's See How Far We've Come

2016-12-31T06:41:00.000-06:00

I'm back!
I haven't written anything since July.... I tried, many many times, but I just didn't have the motivation anymore, then when I changed jobs, I just didn't have the time anymore. I did miss blogging, but couldn't bring myself to pick it up again. Then my sister messaged me yesterday asking me to write more and even giving me a list of ideas to write about! So I might as well write something for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, and after that, we will see what happens. I have a ton of stuff to catch everyone up on!
2016 has been a rollercoaster of a year. A ton of good and a whole lot of bad as well. Even though the bad is easy to remember and complain about, I will try to concentrate on the good. After all, the good parts of life is what keeps us living.

2016: A Year in Review

January

January was amazing. I left Winnipeg on January 5th to start my travels in Great Britain. I landed in lively but rainy Dublin, explored the overwhelming Cliffs of Moher, spent a few days in Belfast and took a tour of the breathtaking Giant's Causeway, then flew to Glasgow. This is where things changed for me. Walking through Glasgow and taking a trip to the Highlands up to Loch Ness is how I fell completely in love with Scotland. Even more so in Edinburgh. There's just something about the Highlands that stay with you, touch your soul somehow. Edinburgh, this beautiful, old city where you feel like you stepped through time as you walk down the Royal Mile, was incredible. After the short love affair with this incredible country and vowing to come back as soon as I could, I headed south to Liverpool, to follow the steps of The Beatles. Heading more south, I visited a friend in Bristol, and together we visited Stonehenge before I made my way to London.

February

I finished my incredible trip with 10 days in London where I stayed with a friend of mine. Admittedly, I spent most of my time on the Tube, trying to get to one end of the city to another in order to really see as much as possible, but I did explore a whole lot of what London had to offer, including the Harry Potter Studios, one of the highlights of the trip! After fast-paced London tired me out, I flew over to Germany to visit my host family in Kassel, who had hosted me during my student exchange in 2013. I visited for a few days, but soon enough, it was time to start my new life in Berlin, where I had decided to spend a year. I was living in a hostel in the mean time and had a job lined up at a museum, so everything seemed to be coming together nicely. I started my job at the museum, which ended up being an unimportant internship where we had maybe one task a day and the rest of the time we tried to keep ourselves busy with random things on the internet (or blogging, in my case). I finally found a temporary apartment when my hostel room was robbed clean... I lost all my valuables aside from my phone, laptop, passport and money, which I thankfully had on me. But that meant my GoPro, my brand-new Polaroid camera, all my charging cables (including my laptop cable), my backpack which they used to take everything, and heartbreakingly enough, my running shoes. I gave a statement to the police (all in German, I might add), and then called my mom, crying. She told me to wipe my tears, that things would turn out okay. And they did.

March

March was a good month. Though there wasn't anything incredible that happened, it was when life seemed to have finally stabilized itself. I joined and sometimes organized a running group, where I met my running friend Gaurav, and just simply enjoyed living in the wonderful city that is Berlin.

April

I started the month by running the Berlin Half Marathon, which didn't go quite as I had hoped, but it was still a great race. The weather was incredible and I was lucky to be in Berlin. A week later, I ran the Airport Night Run, another half marathon, this one taking place on the not-yet-finished airport just outside Berlin, where I beat my personal record by NINE seconds! At the end of April, I found a new job in a restaurant, which was full time and paid a great deal more than the internship salary of the museum. So I went from invisible intern to full-time waitress.

May

In May I found a new, more permanent place to live and spent a lot of time running around the neighbourhood, which bordered the great Tiergarten, the "Central Park" of Berlin. I got injured, of course, with a case of Achille's Tendonitis, but that wasn't going to stop me. I joined the gym across the street from my apartment and started working out instead of running.

June

For my 21st birthday, I flew to Scotland and ran a half marathon on the Isle of Skye, where I renewed my deep love for the country. I camped in a campground just outside the capital of Skye, Portree. The whole island seemed to be straight out of a Scottish legend. Every gust of wind, every rock, mountain, moor and river has a story and you can feel it surround you. I dream of going back to Skye just to see its beauty again. Once I got back to Berlin, my parents came to visit for two weeks and together we explored a bit of more Berlin together. We hadn't seen each other in six months, so you could imagine how good it was to see them!

July

I worked hard in July, barely taking a day off, slowly dying from the suffocating heat. It seemed to be the month of travelling for everyone else as I had a ton of visitors! There was a solid two-week period where I was constantly spending time with people from home that were in Berlin! Between that and the running, it was definitely not a boring month.

August

In August, I ran my 10th (yes, TENTH!) half-marathon! I ran it in Rostock, a small harbour town in Northern Germany. Though the terrain and route was clearly never meant to be ran as a marathon, it was still a beautiful area and nothing beat the feeling of hitting the double digits. Right after I got back to Berlin, it was now my sister's turn to come visit! We found each other at the airport, nearly in tears, and then made sure to see as much of the city as possible. My sister really did her research; she had a list of things she wanted to see and what others had recommended she saw. We topped off her visit with a quick day trip to Tropical Islands, this amazing indoor tropical world just outside Berlin. Right when she left, I found a new job at a new restaurant as the boss of the other place had decided to shut down the restaurant and gave me a week's warning, so miraculously, I managed to find something else very quickly.

September

I slowly started adjusting to the new job, with an insane schedule. We were so low-staffed that we were all working way too much. But they invited me to join them in a team run in the Olympic Stadium. These types of run are very popular in Berlin; teams from different companies get together to run a 5km race or something as a relay. We definitely weren't the fastest, but it was so nice to be part of the team! The rest of September was spent really training for the impeding marathon, though it was really tough as we had a crazy Indian Summer with temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius...!

October

I ran my first FULL marathon in October! It was most definitely not the time I had hoped for, but I finished it and I was damn proud. I had met my mom in Munich to then road trip together to Lindau, a beautiful city-island on the Lake Constance in Southern Germany, where the race would start. This marathon is quite special: it stretches over three countries over its 42km. During this run, I ran in Germany, Austria and Switzerland! It's an absolutely beautiful area of Europe and I'm so glad I got to see it. We even did a small detour to visit Liechtenstein, and Rothenburg ob der Tauber on our way back to Munich. All in all, it was a really, really great trip.

November

Complaining of stomach pains, I went to my doctor to try and see what was wrong, and was sent to a specialist, who told me it was appendicitis and that "I have time today if you want, we can have it out within the hour, or we can wait a couple of weeks to see if it gets worse." So, 2 hours later, I woke up post-surgery. Talk about Germany efficiency! I was in the hospital for two nights, and then within 5 days, was back on my feet as if nothing had happened. Of course, one of the incisions got infected and I had to get it re-opened and cleaned out, because life can never be that simple, but once that was done, all was well again! While I was recovering, I took an online TEFL course (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and got certified to teach English. After sending a few emails to different schools, I landed three different job interviews and got two of the jobs! On top of offers to hire me once I got my visa for next year!

December

Christmas time in Germany is like non other. Markets and beautiful lights everywhere... It's magical. My good friend Megan came to visit and we explored the Christmas Markets as well as all the rest of Berlin, as any good tourist should. The day after she left, there was an attack on a Christmas Market in Berlin. One of the ones I had been too a couples day prior. It was heartbreaking and terrifying, but the Berliners are a tough bunch and within a few days, life went back to normal. I, on the other hand, ended up on the news across Canada, radio, television and online, as I gave an interview about the events. I hadn't been there the night of, but as a Winnipegger/Canadian in Berlin, they had wanted to know what I thought. I got my fifteen minutes of fame!

Christmas rolled around and it was a good one. I spent a lot of time on Skype with my family, had dinner at my boyfriend's parents' place and worked quite a bit as well, but all in all, it was a good holiday season. Berlin has truly become home.

Now here we are, it's the end of the year, and I'm looking back on this incredible year. So much happened in 2016, and I cannot wait to see what 2017 has in store for me.

What are your best memories of 2016?

Teufelsberg

2016-07-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

After the Second World War, Berlin was in ruins... So what do you do with rubble and ruins of thousands upon thousands of buildings? Well in Berlin, there's a place called Teufelsberg (Devi's Mountain). This mountain is a man-made mountain in the west of the city. It's one of the highest points in the city and it is where they stored some of the war's debris. It was created in the 20 years following the war, with over 75,000,000 cubic meters of rubble. Underneath all this was a Nazi-military college that was still under construction, and on top of this mountain? A US NSA listening station called Field Station Berlin, built during the Cold War. After the war, the building was abandoned and eventually taken over by a group who takes care of the place, and it has now become a huge street art/graffiti exhibit.

It's a pretty amazing place with so much history, though most of it is not visible on its surface. The debris was covered with greenery to try and mask/beautify the area, and without knowing what the buildings were, you would have no idea that they were an American spy station.

It's quite a long walk to get there, but it's definitely worth it. This is such a different thing to visit; very typical of Berlin in a way: it's quite hidden, not very advertised, not exactly beautiful in any way, but full of history and you can spend hours there, wandering and wondering.

Rather than try to explain it, I'll just show you. Here are some pictures of Teufelsberg!

3-Laender Marathon 2016

2016-07-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

This year is the year I really dive in. I decided that this year would be the year I run my first full marathon. I had been thinking about it for a while and finally set my mind to it when I heard of the 3-Country marathon. This marathon starts in Lindau, Germany, makes its way through Austria, Switzerland and back, finishing in Bregenz, Austria. The whole race takes place by Constance Lake, which is meant to be absolutely beautiful.

I'm so excited to finally be training for something new while at the same time, I'm totally terrified! 13.1 miles is hard enough as it is to add another 13.1! But I can do it!

I'll be using Hal Higdon's training plan which looks a little like this:

I'm just hoping I won't get any more injuries so I can finish strong! I definitely don't plan on quitting!

Isle of Skye

2016-06-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

The Isle of Skye is one of those places that you see in pictures on Pinterest on in travel magazines and wonder how much of it is photoshopped. It's just too beautiful to be true. It's an island on the western coast of Scotland and part of what the call the Hebrides, which is a series of islands on the coast.

Skye is known for its breathtaking landscapes, and that's exactly why I wanted to see it. That, and the half marathon, of course!

From Glasgow, I took a 7-hour bus ride to Portree, the capital of Skye, where the half marathon was taking place, and also where I would be staying. I had decided to do something a bit different than my recent trips and go camping! The Torvaig campground was only 1 mile from the town centre and was only £7 a night!

I'm glad I did. The campground was well-mantained, with hot showers, wifi, laundry, a friendly staff and the most amazing view of the Black Cuillin mountains. It was far enough from town that you felt deep in the woods while being conveniently close!

If you're on foot like I was, there's a network of busses designed for school children and adapted for the rest of the citizens so you don't need a car to make your way around the island. The busses will bring you to every tourist spot and reaches almost every town and village!

My first day there I spent getting oriented and went hiking around the harbour. Everything was so beautiful and green! I also did a boat tour to go see some of the wildlife around the island and got to see a sea eagle, some seals and lots of little sea creatures. I wasn't lucky enough to see dolphins though... Next time!

One of my most memorable days on the island was spent on a day tour of the island with the Skye Scenic Tours company (if you ever go, definitely go with them, they're great!). We visited all the sights to see and with our local tour guide, we got all the history and stories that came with each place.

On that tour, I got to see some amazing places on the island; the Old Man of Storr, the Kilt Rock, the Quiraing, the Fairy Glens and Neist Point with its famous lighthouse, though none of pictures do them justice.

Old Man of Storr

Kilt Rock

Quiraing

Fairy Glens

Neist Point

One of my favourite stories is of the Dunvegan Castle: for a long time in Scotland there was a clan system that basically governed all of Scotland. Each clan had its own tartan and land rights. On Skye, the clan MacLeod owned most of the lands. The Chiefs have been living at Dunvegan for over 800 years and in the early 2000s, the 29th chief was getting worried about his castle: the roof was leaking badly, and it was starting to fall apart. After all, it was an old castle. He brought it experts to survey and see what needed to be repaired and renovated. After a week, the surveyors gave him a long list of things and at the end, an estimated cost of 19 million pounds. The chief obviously didn't have that kind of money, so he decided to sell part of his land. The famous Black Cuillin mountains were on MacLeod lands, so he said they belonged to him and could do with them what he pleaded. So he went to Edinburgh and set up an ad: 10 million pounds for the Black Cuillin mountains on Skye. People weren't very pleased and eventually the government made a deal to help finance the repairs if part of the castle became a museum during the summer and the mountains stayed open for the public.

Only in Scotland, am I right?!

I also went for a wee dip in the Fairy Pools, and though the water was freezing, I was pretty proud of myself! This crazy Canadian went swimming in her underwear in freezing water at the foot of a mountain range. Doesn't get much better than that!

My last day on Slye was short: I rushed first thing in the morning to pack up my wet tent (it rained every day) and went to visit the Castle before I had to head back to Portree to catch my bus back to Glasgow.

What's amazing about this island is that there's only about 10,000 people living there all year, but it doubles during the summer season with the tourists. It's also totally normal to go a couple of days without any electricity as there's only one power station for the island and the closest hospital with emergency care is in Inverness, a 2-hour drive away.

It's such a wonderful place, and a perfect city-break. I fell completely in love and I can't wait to be back on the Isle of Skye.

To finish off, here's a bit of a conversation I had with a local about the weather on Skye:

"How much rainfall do you get?"

"Lots. We don't use numbers... We just say lots."

"How much sunshine do you get?"

"Depends on the rain."

"What about the average temperature?"

"Anything above 22 degrees is a heat wave and if it lasts longer than 3 days it's a drought."

Isle of Skye Half Marathon

2016-06-28T14:29:00.000-05:00

When I visited Scotland 6 months ago, there was one area that I really wanted to see but just didn't have enough time (or budget): the Hebrides. This is a series of Islands in the west of the Highlands and are known to be unbelievably gorgeous. Somehow, as I day dreamed of eventually going back and visiting the Isle of Skye, I stumbled upon a half marathon that was taking place on the island!

Of course, I had to register! Fate was calling!

After taking a month off from running due to some minor injuries, I was back on my feet and ready to run this hilly, beautiful scenic race.

And hilly it was. My god. As a prairie girl, I was most definitely not ready for it.

The runners gathered at the Portree High School, where the local pipe band lead us to the start line. It's the smallest race I've ever done, with only 800 runners, though for them, it was a new record for registrations! Finally we were off and the first 2 miles were uphill.

I saw the climb and thought to myself "I'm not gonna make it" but I did. I ran the first two gruelling miles and found my pace with a small downhill segment. I ran the first couple of miles next to a guy wearing a kilt! With the bagpipes, endless moors and kilts, I was constantly reminded I was in Scotland, which made my heart sing.

By mile 6 or 7, I was getting tired. I hadn't trained in a month, mind you, so I was a little off my game. That's also when the hills started again. For a solid 3-4 miles, it was a slow uphill course and we shared the road with cars, some of which did not seem to notice us and sped by.

What I found amazing was all the people who drove to different points of the race which were a little more isolated and blasted music from their cars and clapped as we ran by. Others had sprinklers going. Such friendly people who spent their Saturday morning encouraging us instead of relaxing at home. Thank you to all of you!

Anyway, I walked most of that uphill climb and then the last 3 miles were downhill, so I ran part of that before reaching the town, where I slowed down again. I was so hungry I thought I would faint if I ran any faster! Which ended up working out perfectly as the guy in the kilt caught up with me at mile halfway past mile 12 and I greeted him with a big "there you are!!" And he told me my bright yellow compression socks had kept him going the entire race. we crossed the finish line together and got our medals and our free little breakfast before watching the award ceremony.

We made a time of 2:33:48, which I was very proud of considering how tough of a race it was. I was glad to simply have finished it!

The record for this race is 1:11, and the record-holder ran it in 1:12 this year. Normally, a half marathon winner will run it in about 58-59 minutes, so this goes to show the toughness of it. But the locals are a tough bunch and ran it with seemingly no difficulty.

It was such a beautiful race, and even in the grey, humid weather conditions, it was still stunning landscape, the race was well organized and the people as lovely as can be. If I'm still in Europe next year, you can be sure I'll be back!

And of course, can't forget the victory pizza! I got myself a Scottish pizza: haggis, black pudding, spicy Scottish beef and Lorne sausage and cheese. It was amazing! All handmade in a stone oven. Perfect way to celebrate a great race!

Zoologischer Garten

2016-06-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

The Berlin Zoo is definitely one of my favourite places in Berlin. It was the first zoo in Germany, opening in 1844. With over 1,500 species and over 20,500 animals, it's one of the largest zoos in the world. It also includes a pretty big aquarium with all sorts of creatures! The zoo was almost completely destroyed during the second world war, but was entirely rebuilt to its former reputation and has remained one of the most reputable zoos in the world. Right outside the zoo is also the very famous destroyed Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which is another important sight to see in Berlin; another reminder of WWII.

I've been there twice and both times spent well over 5 hours in there, and both times, I managed to miss quite a few animals. I mean, the zoo extends over 85 acres, so be ready to walk. A lot. Of course, I love the zoo because of their elephants. There are a bunch of elephants, 6 or 7 females and 2 males, I believe. I spent a solid half hour watching them in total awe even though they were just standing around, barely moving.

I also happened to be around during the Orangutan feeding time and that was a blast! These creatures are so amazingly smart, it's surreal. They climbed on the fence the second they saw the zoo keeper and reached their arms out the fence to get some apples and carrots, picking them out themselves, then later on, they each got jugs of fruit iced tea. When they were done, they simply handed it back like small children do.

You have to get to the zoo right at opening if you don't want to wait hours in line (and also have time to see everything). By the time I left the zoo, it was around 3pm and there was a lineup to buy tickets that was at least an hour long.

Here are a few more pictures of the zoo!

Badeschiff

2016-05-31T05:09:00.000-05:00

Badeschiff is another really great place in Berlin that I recently discovered. Badeschiff, which translates to bathing ship, is a floating pool in the river Spree. It's slightly hidden between several old abandoned factories and opens up to a beach bar with a great boardwalk-looking platform with lawn chairs and the pool on the river.
There are parties and events almost every night, or even yoga classes during the day! It's definitely a refreshing area with a great view of the Molecule Men and the Oberbaum Bridge. You work a 9-5 job? Well that's fine! It's open from 8am to midnight every day, so you can enjoy the sunset on the river!

I went there at the begining of the month on a very hot day in Berlin and though the water was a little cold, it was a lot of fun! It's only 5 euros for a day pass, so make sure you head out there!

Shetland Islands

2016-05-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

I always say one of the best things about travelling is the people you meet. I met Megan in Northern Ireland while we were on the same tour to go see the Giant's Causeway. We just got to talking and been friends ever since! Megan is from an amazing place in Scotland that I had only heard of because of the ponies that come from there: The Shetland Islands. Today I'm letting her take over my blog to talk a bit about where she's from!

Hi there, I’m Megan! I’m from the Shetland Islands located at the far north of Scotland, in the middle of the North Sea.

When you think of Scotland a few things that come to mind probably include haggis, tartan and bagpipes. These things are the first to pop into my mind anyway. Considering Shetland is a part of Scotland the only one of these I see regularly is haggis (and that is because I love the stuff…). It is far more common to see reestit mutton, Fair Isle knitwear and fiddle & accordion music in Shetland.
Some downsides to living on Shetland include the lack of access to big shopping chains; not having reliable access to 3G internet (what even is 4G?!) and it takes one hour on a plane or 12-14 hours on a boat to reach the mainland. There are frequent transport disruptions due to weather and this can cause a lack of food in local shops. It is also very expensive to leave Shetland unless you book well in advance.
The beautiful landscapes, friendly locals and unique festivals quickly make up for the lack of these first world ‘necessities’. No matter what time of year you visit the isles, there is always something to see and do.

Up Helly Aa
Up Helly Aa Season is from January until March - in this time there are 10 fire festivals held in various locations around the isles. This includes the Lerwick Up Helly Aa, Europe's biggest and most spectacular fire festival. Want to see 1000 men dressed up as vikings, women and animals parade flaming torches around the town before throwing them into a Galley? Yeah, I would to! Head up to Shetland for the last Tuesday in January to see this fiery spectacle!

Northern Lights
Throughout the winter months Shetland is frequently graced with the beauty of what we call the Mirrie Dancers! Mostly green, but sometimes purple and red, lights dance across the sky and mesmerise you. Having lived in Shetland all my life I'm ashamed to admit I only saw them for the first time this year.
Fantastic walks
Shetland's never-ending coastline and rugged hills make for amazing walks with beautiful views as a reward. I actually have a Shetland bucket list which is mostly full of beautiful walks and islands which I have never visited. This list has grown vastly since my discovery of a website dedicated to showing you Shetland walks! If there is a particular area of Shetland you would like to explore, you can search for walks in the area and the website tells you the distance of the walk and how long it should take you!

Heritage
Shetland is full of brochs, archeological sights and evidence of our Norse heritage. Our local museum is well worth a visit to take you back in time to life during the viking times, highland clearances and both world wars. The Scalloway museum, set right beside the Scalloway caste, hold the history of Shetland's previous capital and that of the Shetland Bus.

Wildlife
As well as being home to the Shetland pony, we also have one of the best viewing points for puffins in Britain. Seals, otters and various bird species are dotted all over our coastline. We are even lucky to be visited by pods of orcas (killer whales) on the odd occasion.

I could go on for hours about how much I love where I am from. There are downsides to living on an island in the middle of the north sea, but in my mind the positives definitely outweigh the negatives. To make up your mind, you'll just have to make your way up here for a visit. No matter the time of year, or the weather, there is always something to do.

I don't know about you, but I am most definitely going to Shetland one day (soon!). The breathtaking landscape of Scotland never fails to amaze me and Shetland seems like a hidden gem that we all need to see.

You can follow Megan's travels on her blog, Travel and Trowie Tales, and as well as on instagram.

Tempelhof Airport

2016-05-18T12:27:00.000-05:00

Tempelhof Airport holds a special place in many Berliners' hearts. It's a symbol of freedom for many, it's a huge landmark in the city and a really great public park where anyone can spend the day cycling, running, playing with their dog, or have BBQs and picnics. I guess you wouldn't expect an old, partially abandoned airport to hold so much attention, but it does.

View from the entrance: "Zentrale Flughafen" (central airport)

Tempelhof's history begins well over 300 years ago, when the Prussian army decided to settle on these lands as their base. They also experimented with hot air balloon flights, so we can see that even in the 1720's, was already on its way to becoming an airport.

In 1905, there was a long-distance flight competition held at Tempelhof with over 20 teams from 8 different countries participating, and that's when talk of a real airport began. By 1920, the plans were made and the Tempelhof Airport opened its doors in 1923.

By 1930, using only grass runways, it was the busiest airport in all of Europe, though that didn't last long... Hitler took a personal interest in the airport and ordered major renovations and expansions. We can still clearly see the Third Reich architecture of the airport to this day, even though the renovations weren't all completed. In the meanwhile, the airport became one of the first concentration camps in Germany, though by 1936, it had shut down and was destroyed two years later. During the war, Tempelhof also served as a weapons-manufacture. Over 2,000 foreigners and immigrants forced into labour worked to make weapons and bomber planes.

The fondest memories of Tempelhof, though, are associated with the Cold War period. When the city was divided, the Soviets created the Berlin Blockade; they blocked every single land route of West Berlin, in hopes of choking that side of the city so it would surrender and they would have the entirety of Berlin rather than just half. Of course, the Allies didn't let that happen. With the help of the US Forces, they created what was called as the Airlift. They sent all the provisions, food, water, gasoline, etc, by plane.

The majority of those planes were landing at Tempelhof. The Blockade lasted 11 months, during which there were airplanes landing every 60-90 seconds. There were so many planes, that sometimes they couldn't even land to drop their goods. This called for another airport... so Tegel airport was built in a record-breaking 90 days and is still functional to this day. Over the course of 11 months, there were over 278,000 missions, and over 2.3 million tonnes of provisions given to the 2.1 million West Berliners, which definitely kept them alive long enough for the Soviets to give up the Blockade (and decide to build a wall instead... but that's a whole different story).

After that, Tempelhof returned to its original purpose: a civilian airport and served from the 60's until 2008, when it closed its doors. Many West Berliners fought very hard to keep Tempelhof and was given a protected status, so nothing can be built on the grounds. It is also home to over 150 different insect and bird species, some of which are endangered.

Tempelhof became a public building and space: the airport is home to a military base, a police force, a kindergarten, a nightclub, as well as hosts all sorts of events. There are 7 hangars, the smallest can accommodate 2,000 people, so you can see how using the space for charity balls or conventions would keep the place alive. Right now, it is being repurposed once again to help accommodate Syrian refugees.

As for the 300+ hectares of green spaces and paved runways? Well if you want to have a BBQ, fly a kite or go for a jog, it's the perfect place. It's truly an amazing place; the original signs on the runways are still there, there's even an old airplane or two on display in the field and the airport still looks exactly like an airport, all the gate signs and even the check-in desk are still there.
If you're interested in the historical part of things, there are signs scattered about with information about Tempelhof's history and tours offered inside the building. Lots for everyone!

Tempelhof symbolizes freedom for many. It helped save the lives of the West Berliners and they have responded in kind by saving its life.

Currently I'm...

2016-05-17T06:19:00.000-05:00

I took a small break from blogging as I was trying to get my life in order... I was nearly homeless trying to find a new apartment while barely having enough money to eat, but somehow I managed to pull through. I found a great apartment with nice roommates and a fun job that pays way more than the museum.... So life is finally starting to work out! So here's what I've been up to!

READING: Stilllllllll reading Harry Potter.... I'm trying, I swear! My goal is to finish it within the next week or so, that way I can start reading Outlander in time for my trip to Scotland!

WATCHING: Mostly romantic comedies... I finally watched Deadpool the other day and I definitely get what the fuss is all about!

LISTENING: SO MUCH ELVIS! I'm working at this American Diner with a 50s theme, so we listen to all sorts of classics like Elvis, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc.

WORKING ON: My fitness. I took a break from running while I was also taking a break from blogging to try and fix my legs... I've been dealing with shin splints and Achille's heel pain, so taking a break definitely helped. Now I'm slowly getting back on the horse and training for the half marathon in Scotland.

EATING: My favourite thing right now is actually grilled cheese sandwiches with a hardboiled egg in it. It's been my breakfast almost every day this week! It's so simple and yummy! Okay... and maybe a lot of ice cream....

DRINKING: Passionfruit juice. In German, it's called Maracuja, and I finally discovered that it means passionfruit, so I've been drinking it non-stop at work!

WANTING: My legs to cooperate with me so I can just run pain-free and finally stop worrying about the upcoming races!

THINKING: Where I want to go next. I'm planning on registering for a half-marathon in Rostock, which is a port city that has ferries to Denmark and Sweden, so maybe I could take a little vacation there....

CELEBRATING: Finally finding an apartment that's a little more permanent! I have finally settled in and even completely unpacked my suitcase! It feels so good, you don't even know.

TRYING: To find motivation to work out. Of course, I know I need to if I want my legs to get better, but it's so much work...

ENJOYING: Berlin! Now that most of my stress is gone, I can finally simply enjoying living in this amazing city. I've been to a pool on the river, visited the Zoo and I've got plans to see many, many more things in a weeks to come! Summer is going to be amazing and I can't wait!

I've Been Replaced!

2016-04-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's totally normal to repurpose your children's bedrooms once they leave the nest. When my sister moved out, we transformed her room into a sort of storage/crafts room. When I moved out, not only did I leave home, I left the country to go on this big adventure in Germany. So of course, my parents decided to repalce me.... with plants!

My room has a huge window and my mom had the brilliant idea of using my room as a greenhouse. She placed her "crops" on my shelf in front of the window, and from there, my dad joined in and now my room is overrun by plants of all sorts! The best part? It works. The plants are growing at record speed!

What did your parents do with your room when you moved out?

How My Grandparents Met Part 1

2016-04-20T12:48:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or do our grandparents always have the sweetest stories of how they met? I definitely think my grandparents have an adorable story, the kind that inspires us, and makes us sigh, wondering "when will I meet my own prince charming and live happily ever after?"

(please note: this is what I've been told and what I remember, so some of the details may be a bit blurry.)

Lucien was a teacher, and a good one at that. He was respected and his students loved him... unless a student stepped out of line. Which is exactly what Gérald did. Though the details aren't important, he landed himself in detention. They lived in a very small town, which meant everyone knew each other, or almost. When Gérald got home that night, he told his parents about the detention his teacher had given him. His sister Lucille was very angry over this; her brother had received detention unjustly!
She did what any big sister would do and marched over to the school to give this Lucien a piece of her mind. When she finally saw him, she forgot everything she was supposed to tell him, all her anger vanished. She could barely speak! Her brother's detention forgotten, she let this charming teacher sweep her off her feet and they talked and talked.
Eventually, she introduced him to her family, and as you can imagine, her brother Gérald was not very happy....
The rest, as they say, is history.

My sister and I with our grandparents, 1996

They married in 1953, Lucien eventually become principal of a school in a neighbouring town and had 4 children and 9 grandchildren, before moving to Winnipeg and started hosting an annual New Year's brunch. They were married for 58 years, before Lucille passed away in 2011. On top of Lucien's sense of humour and Lucille's feistiness, they are both incredibly kind people, and I can only hope to have as great a life as theirs.

My grandma Lucille's soup, by the way, is still to this day, the best soup I have ever tasted.

If You Walk a Mile in My Shoes....

2016-04-18T08:33:00.000-05:00

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you might always be craving new adventures.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you might be working two jobs.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you might feel guilty for spending so much time inside when it's sunny out.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you might have sleep issues.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you would have wonderful and supportive parents.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you would have a beautiful, hilarious, and energetic sister.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you might be a little jealous of your sister.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you might always be looking forward to something, and forget to enjoy the moment.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you might find comfort in libraries, forests and airports.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you might spend more money on race entries than drinks at the bar.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you would be addicted to Netflix.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you might hate the taste of coffee.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you would struggle not to say "that's what she said" outloud very often.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you might think "I need a pedicure" but be too embarrassed to go because of the battlefield-condition of your feet.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you would be addicted to Slurpees and candy.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you would never go to the gym.

If you walk a mile in my shoes, you would end up running a lot.

RunWiki

Where would I end up if I walked a mile in your shoes?

Click the image below to read the original post on Lisa's blog RunWiki.org:

Airport Night Run

2016-04-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, I ran the Airport Night Run here in Berlin. There's a new airport in Berlin that's under construction, which is set to replace the two current airports, Tegel (TXL), built during the Cold War era and Schönefeld (SXF), built during the Second World War. This new airport, Berlin-Brandenburg (BER) was originally set to open in 2010, though now the estimate is late 2019, so as you can imagine, it has been causing a lot of controversies and concern from its citizens.
Anyway, in 2006, the Berlin Airports company decided to organize a race at the construction site to showcase the progress of the airport. Eventually, the company Berlin Läuft, or "Berlin Runs," who organizes quite a few runs throughout the year, took over the project and this year marks the 10th annual Airport Night Run. And what an event it was!

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When I heard of this event, I decided it would be of hell of a good time. I love airports (I know, I'm super weird), and well, we all know I love running, so the two combined? Irresistible. At first, I was a little hesitant to register, seeing as it was only 6 days after the Berlin Half Marathon, but you only live once right? So I registered and let me tell you, it is by far, the best race I've ever done! It is much smaller than the Berlin Half, with just over 6,000 runners (compared to 30,000 for the Berlin Half), but definitely just as fun!

I made my way to the Schönefeld Airport, which is basically next door to BER and squeezed in a shuttle with a million other runners (Seriously, it was like a clown car. We could barely breathe, it was so packed!) and ten minutes later, we arrived at the airport, where the party started. We were in a courtyard at the airport's front doors, with a stage, beer tents, and a ton of runners dressed in their best neon colours.

I have been suffering from shin splints lately, and decided to try some KT Tape to see if it would make a difference, as it really hindered my performance the week before. I got myself all taped up (according to the official instructions, of course), put on my timing chip, warmed up and made my way to the start line. The gun went off, and so did we! We watched the sun set in front of us as we ran directly on the runway, where soon enough, planes will be taking off and landing. As the darkness settled in, the runway lights came on to give us a pretty spectacular run. One I'm sure to never forget.

The KT Tape, by the way, worked incredibly well. No pain at all!

As I ran, I noticed a man who was dressed in a suit that looked like those muscle leggings. Except it was an entire suit! We were running side by side, at the exact same pace, which by my standard was extremely fast (if I had kept it up, I could have run a sub-2 hour half marathon), and by the time we got to the first water station, around the 6km mark, we ran right past and he asked if I wanted water, and I said that I was fine, so we kept on running, and we got to talking. We kept on running together and we promised we would meet up at the finish line for a beer if we lost track of each other. I told him I would try to keep up and he said he would try to stay with me, so we kept on running together.

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I owe him the entire race. Without him, I would not have been able to run as well as I did. He encouraged me the entire time, kept me going, made sure I was still behind him, and even when I took a walking break near the end, he waved me on, told me to keep going. He could have easily kept running and done a sub-2 hour, but he stayed with me and pushed me hard enough that I managed to run my new personal best!!! I sprinted the last 500 meters, faster than I've ever sprinted, even though I couldn't feel my legs anymore.

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I ran my new personal best of 2:07:23! It's nine seconds faster than the WPS half from last year! Nine seconds! Considering I ran 2:20 merely six days beforehand, you can imagine how proud and excited I am of this new record.

At the end, we celebrated with a nice cold beer while I enjoyed the runner's high and watched the winners' ceremony, something I've never gotten to experience before. All in all, it was a really great run; perfect weather, beautiful sunset, awesome course and a friendly, relaxed and yet still competitive atmosphere.

**Roland- Vielen vielen Dank! Ich hätte es nicht ohne dich machen können.

Currently I'm...

2016-04-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Time for a bit of catch up! I wrote one of these posts a month ago and I thought I'd write another one!

READING: Sadly, I'm still reading Harry Potter... I don't know what's wrong. I used to be able to read a book in two days and now it's taken me over two months! I mean, I know I'm busy and all, but that had never been a problem before...

WATCHING: I've been watching a ton of Netflix! Lately I've been re-watching Gossip Girl, and all kinds of movies I should have seen as a film student but never got around to it. Like The Pianist, for example. What an amazing and heartbreakingly beatiful story...!

LISTENING: I don't know why, but I can't stop listening to country music. Maybe it's the sunshine and obvious signs that summer is coming, but country is making me look forward to bonfires and late nights.

WORKING ON: Right now, I'm working on... well work. I've got a job interview today, and working hard to improving my running and being able to afford my travels!

EATING: Instead of eating tons of döner kebabs, I've been trying to eat a little healthier. That's one thing I love about Germany. The food here is so cheap! I can eat healthy without breaking the bank!

DRINKING: All sorts of strange things! Germans love to try all sorts of weird combinations... Coke and Fanta (Spezi), Beer and Coke (Diesel), Beer and Fanta (Radler), Cherry and Banana juice (Ki-Ba)... Most of them are actually really good!

WANTING: A vacation! I've been working non-stop, seven days a week, since I got to Berlin and could really use a bit of sunshine and palm trees. I also want sugar. ALL. THE TIME!

THINKING: I watch too much Netflix and should really find myself some friends and hobbies...

CELEBRATING: Beating my half marathon personal best! On Saturday, I ran a half marathon and ran my fastest time ever! I'm just itching to get back on the road and train! I've got more motivation than ever before.

TRYING: I've been trying to find another half marathon to run this year, either in July or August. If I do, it will be my 10th half marathon! It's just a matter of finding something... It seems like most are in September or October...

ENJOYING: The imminent summer! It's sunny almost every day, the weather is getting warmer and things are really starting to work out for me. I finally got my visa extended, I found a decent apartment that won't be temporary, and it's summer in Berlin! Festivals, sunshine, music, happiness.