Recently in Life in Germany Category

The past week has been filled with work, at my job and with our kitchen renovation at home. To top it off my wife was gone most of the week on a business trip, so I had to keep everything running myself.

I managed to get in 4 runs last week, most of them only an hour duration, but since I'm not really training for anything it was enough. I also managed to squeeze in two additional half-hour swim training sessions to supplement my freestyle swim course last Tuesday night. The swim course is hard, I seem to be pretty thick-headed when it comes to learning the correct technique. I want to try to get in another half-hour swim tonight so that I can practice the drills before my next course night.

Our kitchen renovation has turned into a major renovation, we need to replace most of the water pipes in the house, include the main connection. The contractor worked three days last week and needs another day or two this week, its going to be expensive. On the positive side the contractor is a good friend of ours, I could just give him the house key and save my vacation days. I spent most night and all day Saturday (and half the night) plastering walls and trying to get the kitchen ready to wallpaper. It is going to be a few weeks until its done.

On Sunday my wife needed the day to work on a project for her school. I accepted an offer to go on a cycling trip with RB and some other friends from my running club. Despite a foreboding overcast sky we managed to get in 80 km (50 mi.) without getting rained on. We ended up in Speyer around lunchtime, so stopped at the Domhof across from the famous Speyer Cathedral long enough to fill up on some good food. With full stomachs we pedalled home at a leisurely pace, enjoying probably one of the last halfway warm days before winter sets in.

The Speyer Cathedral (archive picture):

The Domhof Restaurant and Hotel:

The Domhof Restaurant (inside):

Have a great week!

Last week was extremely hectic from the seemingly endless kitchen renovation. The project has left very little time for sport or anything else for that matter. On the positive side it has given my legs a chance to recover, that's also an important part of training.

I ran only twice this past week, once the 6.8 mile loop with my running club on Wednesday, and the second time on Saturday with my friend Conny who is training for the New York Marathon. On Saturday I met Conny and a few other friends about an hour and a half before our normal running club run and we ran a total of 16 miles, including the normal loop. After all the renovating through the week this was enough for me.

I thought about running another marathon in October or November, but in the moment the Kitchen project has priority, so I'm leaving this open, it doesn't have to be. Tonight is the second evening from my freestyle swimming class, on the first evening (last Tuesday) we practiced the kick; I'm curious what is on the agenda for tonight.

Die Letzte Woche war extreme hektisch durch die scheinbar endlose Kücherenovierung. Es hat leider wenig Zeit gelassen für Sport und sonst etwas. An die Positiv Seite hat meine Beinen Zeit zu erholen, das ist auch ein wichtiges Teil von Training.

Ich habe letzte Woche nur zweimal gelaufen, einmal die 11 km Rund mit meinem Lauftreff an Mittwoch, und das zweite Mal an Samstag mit Lauffreundin Conny, das trainiert gleich für die New York Marathon. Ich habe Samstag eineinhalb Stunde vor unserem Lauftreff mit Conny und ein paar andere Freunden getroffen und wir haben insgesamt 26 km gelaufen. Nach alle der Renovierungsarbeit von der letzten Woche war das für mich genug.

Ich habe überlegt ob ich noch ein Marathon in Oktober oder November laufe, aber die Kücherenovierung Priorität hat, so bis jetzt ich keinem festen Plan gemacht habe - es nicht sein muss. Heute Abend ist der zweite Abend von meinem Kraul Schwimmkurs, den ersten Abend (letzte Dienstag) haben wir die Schlag geübt, ich bin gespannt was heute Abend kommt.

I took several pictures while pedalling around the Fürth area of Germany, mostly towards Erlangen to the north.

Here is my trusty steed, an "all terrain" bike that is tough as nails, but leaves you feeling like you have been sitting on one after a couple hours. The main advantage is that it is compact and I can squeeze it into my small car:

Here is a picture of Eltersdorf, south of Erlangen. Here I turned onto another bike path and rode over open fields towards the Pegnitz River and the Rhine-Main-Danuble Canal.

A view towards the Pegnitz River:

The Pegnitz River:

It was a beautiful day for cycling:

The Rhine-Main-Danuble Canal:

And the bike path that I rode on:

A reason why I love the area, just beautiful:

While heading back into Fürth from the south, I stopped here for a break - nice huh!

Here is the market square at the Gauklerbrunnen (Juggler's Well) at the Grüner Markt (Green Market). Note the nice timber-frame house to the right:

Around the corner was the entrance to the Fürth Wine Festival, they were still setting up when I rode by:

As Rachel said yesterday, "What a great way to tour a new place while on vacation."

Yes indeed!

We were in Fürth, near Nuremberg in Bavaria this weekend visiting my wife's aunt. The ladies like to spend time with one another, so I was able to cut loose and do some running and cycling.

On Saturday after breakfast at the hotel my wife drove over to her aunts house and I laced up and went for a two hour run. I circled the roughly 5 mile municipal park (Stadtpark), then followed the Pegnitz river in the direction of Erlangen to the north. The weather was mild and sunny, a bit cool still, but perfect for running. I ended up running almost 21km, my longest run since my last marathon three weeks ago.

After showering and changing I studied the regional map a bit and mapped out a cycling route. My plan was to ride north to Erlangen, which was 16 km (10 mi.) away, and then come back along the Rhine-Main-Danuble Canal and circle south of Fürth and check out that side of town. Around 11 a.m. I collected my water bottle and headed out.

I followed the Pregnitz river, covering the same route that I ran earlier, but then moving on towards Erlangen. After pedalling for awhile along the flat bike path, I came across a curious site, a hill covered with solar panels. According to Wikipedia this is the solar power collection station on the former landfill at Atzenhof - what a great ideal!

I continued on towards Erlangen, following a well marked bike route, eventually turning west towards the Main Canal as I reached the city limits of Erlangen. When I reached the canal I turned onto the bike path that follows the canal back towards Fürth. According to Wikipedia, the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal connects the Main and the Danube rivers across the European Watershed, and runs from Bamberg via Nuremberg to Kelheim. The canal connects the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea, providing a navigable artery between the Rhine delta (in the Netherlands) and the Danube Delta in eastern Romania. The canal is 171 km (106 miles) long. Who new!

In any case it was great cycling along the fine gravel bike path on the bank of the canal. There were several barges and boats heading in one direction or another, the weather was almost perfect - around 27°C (80°F) and sunny, and just a slight breeze.

I passed by Fürth, turning off the canal path to the south and making my way back through the town. During my journey I passed the Rathaus (town hall), using the tower as a landmark.

I took a couple wrong turns and ended up going in circles, but a kind stranger pointed me towards the tower of St. Michael, which was in the direction I wanted to go.

Fürth survived the Second World War with less damage than most German cities, and many historic buildings remain (Wikipedia). I can attest to this, as I bumped and banged my way over the cobblestone streets of the old city center admiring the old builidings, many still displaying the timber frame construction. I passed by the Gauklerbrunnen (Juggler's Well) at the Grüner Markt (Green Market), which is shown in the picture below:

Around the corner from the well the town was holding the annual Wine Festival. I didn't participate, as it was getting time to meet my wife and her aunt, but the food looked fabulous.

Finally, I headed back passed the City Center shopping facility and the Stadttheater (Town Theater), the latter where we often attended concerts with Aunt Sigrid.

I ended up with just over 40 km, not a lot, but with my old mountain bike definitely enough.

I rejoined my wife and her aunt and enjoyed a nice evening sitting in a Cafe in the main market square of Fürth. On Sunday I was up early and ran an hour through the municipal park before breakfast. It was a nice close to a great weekend. I have a few more pictures that I took that are still on the camera, I'll try to post them tomorrow.

In an effort to get rid of some of the wrecks on the road, Germany is offering 2500 Euro to anyone who sends their 9 year or older car to the junk yard to be scrapped. This wrecking bonus, or in German Abwrackprämie, is limited to 1.5 million Euro so people around here are jumping on it.

I was reading the newspaper a couple Saturday's ago and the Renault car dealer where my wife bought her car had an ad in the paper announcing 2000 Euro off several models. This together with the wrecking bonus made it temping enough to drive my 12 year old station wagon over and take a look.

We looked around the lot carefully and reserved a car, telling the salesman that we would call him the following Monday with our decision. After going back and forth with the idea we finally decided to buy the car. My wife added the condition however that this was to be my birthday present this year (I'm turning 50 in July).

I'm okay with that and we picked up my new ride, a Renault Modus, this past Friday. The following picture I "borrowed" from renault.de, the only difference is my car is dark blue. Although my wife has driven it more than me thus far (what's up with that?), I find the car much more comfortable then my old wagon and definitely more economical. And of course the fact that the car cost us only 2/3 of the new price is sweet!

An Dienstag, 30. Dezember habe sieben Mitglied von meiner Lauftreffgruppe in Linkenheim getroffen um eine Wanderrung nach dem Bernstein (Bad Herrenalb) zu machen. Es war ein eiskalt -4°C, aber wir waren warm angekleidet und hoch motiviert.

An Tuesday, December 30th, I met seven members of my running club in Linkenheim for a Wandering to the Bernstein (one of the highest points near Bad Herrenalb, with a splendid view of the Northern Black Forest). It was only 25°F outside, but we were dressed warm and highly motivated.

Wir haben die Straßenbahn nach Frauenalb gefahren und hoch durch dem Wald nach Bernbach gewandert.

We rode the streetcar to Frauenalb (a town near Bad Herrenalb) and wandered over the first "mountain" to Bernbach.

Nach Bernbach haben wir schnell noch hoch gesteigert bis wir haben unser Ziel erreicht. Die blick über die Schwarzwald war nebelig, aber trotzdem schon.

After Bernbach we quickly began climbing again, eventually reaching our objective. We were rewarded with a splendid view of the Black Forest, despite lots of fog.

Nachher haben wir ein andere Streck nach Bad Herrenalb genommen um ein Cafe zu besuchen. Nach ein Tasse heiße Kaffee oder Glühwein und ein Stück Küchen (oder zwei) haben wir zurück nach Linkenheim mit der Straßenbahn gefahren.

Afterward we took a different trail down into Bad Herrenalb to a Café for some cake and hot coffee or Glühwein. After visiting for a bit we made our way back to Linkenheim with the streetcar.

Ich freue mich das ich könnte die Tag mit so ein nette Gruppe von Freunden verwenden. Ich freue mich auch das ich habe ein ebene Gesundheit erreicht das ich könnte so ein Tag Geneissen!

I am so happy that I could spend the day with a great group of friends. I am also so thankful that I have reached a level of fitness and health that allows me to enjoy such a day!

We arrived safely back in Germany this morning, I will try to catch up on my posting this weekend.