Besides Oktoberfest celebrations happening this weekend in the city, another large event took place; the yearly Berlin Marathon! This was an event that my husband and I really wanted to see. My Father-in-law has run four marathons, my husband is a good runner, and, well, I’m working on it! We were up early, but got a great spot standing close to the Brandenburger Tor. Here, we could see runners and wheelchair/handcyclist racers approaching the finish line from far back! The competition sees 40,000 participants come to the city to run the race. Now I know running just over 42 km is an incredible feat, but once I saw the event live, I gained a newfound appreciation for these runners‘ capabilities. The fastest runners complete the race in just over two hours, but the average runner can take 3-4 hours to complete it! The day was even more exciting because a new world record was set at 2:02:57! It was a beautiful day for an exciting event!

The runners ran through the Brandenburger Tor to the finish line.

Cheers,

Sara

Oktoberfest is a traditional Bavarian festival that began just over 200 years ago as a celebration of a royal wedding. Now it has become the world’s largest festival with millions of litres of beer being consumed during its 16-day run! Celebrations also take place in many other cities outside of Bavaria. On Saturday, I went to Alexanderplatz with some friends to experience my first Oktoberfest. Now I know it’s not like the celebrations in München (I’ve heard they are huge and crazy!), but there was a large crowd, lots of local food and sweets, and of course 1L beers! I would recommend going to Alexanderplatz if you want to experience some great German culture! The Oktoberfest celebrations at Alexanderplatz run until 12^th October.

One of the Oktoberfest stands at Alexanderplatz.

Cheers,

Sara