Like London, Berlin is filled to the brim with history. What’s more interesting is the way that many of these historical sites are often inaccessible to the public, and for the most part, not even used by the city of Berlin itself. When our product owner, talked about the Tempelhof Airport being opened for the registration parts of the Berlin marathon, I thought it’d be a great time to see the interior the building and see what it was all about.

The building itself is normally closed during the operation, but its hangers are often used for big events such as the Berlin marathon that attracts more than 40, 000 registrants to run it it. It attracts a huge number of visitors even just as spectators, and of course, as a result, many sponsors who want to showcase their wares. In a clever arrangement, as a person picking up their kit, you have to walk through two huge hangers filled with sponsor’s stuff (and of course lots of sales and equipment to buy) before you can pick up your kit. And of course, you have to walk past more on the way out. As one would expect here in Germany, it was all very efficiently and effectively run.

It was great to see the interior to the airport itself. It felt surprisingly modern or not as outdated as I thought it would feel. It was also the easiest time I’ve had to get through any type of security, simply paying €2 to get entrance into the whole event.

Here’s a picture above of a marathon record holder who also beat my time for the half marathon, effectively doing more than half my pace. Insane!

I couldn’t really believe how big the entire event was either, with the entire registration area attracting several cafes and restaurants and working to fill two or three different airplane hangers with merchandising, advertising and basically everything a running enthusiast would care for.

I’m really glad that we could go inside and see what it was all about. I’d highly recommend you go if the opportunity arises as wel.

On one of the previous weekends I hung around Berlin, I dropped into the DDR museum. It’s literally around the corner from where I stay and holds a lot of the memorabilia from the East Berlin side when the wall divided the city.

They had plenty of artefacts, everything from cars, school articles, clothing and newspapers and create a stiflingly close atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re transported in time. Perhaps it was also its popularity with people and the fact that the rain brought even more people than usual inside.

I didn’t get the audio guide, but there with plenty of signs to see, and things to interact with, there was enough in the two large sections to keep me busy for a couple of hours.

The DDR museum is found on Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 1 right on the river Spree and directly opposite the Berlin Cathedral.

I like to think that London has a many more green spaces when compared to New York City. Although I agree that Central Park is an impressive area, it’s not really designed to be accessible by all people and really only most beneficial for those rich enough to afford park side residences.

London has many more areas, though Berlin still puts London to shame. It’s not really a fair comparison though because Berlin doesn’t have the lack of space problem.

One of the parks I visited recently was Friedrichshain’s Volkspark (or the Folk’s Park). Friedrichshain Volkspark is a pretty awesome place. Different to Tiergarten, this one seems really built up for utility rather than just the green space around it. I saw everything from tennis courts, beach volleyball courts and a fountained area near a cafe where everyone can lounge around in.

It’s even got one of the hilliest points in the city that I’ve seen so far, with good vantage points of the surrounding area.

Located not far from Mitte, another great green alternative to the rest of the city.

Inspired by our ventures in the UK to do a high ropes course, Michael managed to find one located right in the heart of the city that we could take part in immediately after work called, “Mount Mitte“. Being centrally located, the chances of tree top adventures wasn’t very high – instead a three stories man made tower of diabolical courses that meant more flexibility and proved much more interesting because you could choose any path you would like.

They had special harnesses and a really cool safety mechanism that made sure you would always be attached as some point. They had two floating cars you could sit in suspended by wires, and even one of classic German “Standkörb” (canopied wicker chairs) to sit in above all the beach volleyball courts that surround the location.

It was great value and an awesome evening for it too.