Germany

Sporty Saturday Vol.4 – autumn ride(s) .

I have some news, I have recently rediscovered the beauty of cycling. I know the page is called runningarchitect.com but I have spent the first seven months this year in running shoes and have been looking for a little twist lately. Living in Brandenburg you do not get very far by foot, so everybody rides a bike here..

After finishing the cycling adventure [1] last September with my dad, I needed a little distance from my mountainbike – it is acctually just a hardtail, so some of you might not consider it to be a proper MTB 🙂 Anyway, spending the winter time in Slovakia and my behind needed some rest, I have focused on skiing and hiking, which has turned into occasional running and I did not miss it until the summer started and I have realised I have no means to get to the beach! I wanted to expand my playground and despite my trips to Saxon Switzerland [2], I felt like missing something.

Therefore, I have bought myself a new bike. After a heated discusion with my closest, we agreed a cyclo cross will be the right choice for me on these flats. It is basically a robust road bike with bigger tires, so you have no problem on gravel roads and can still be fast on proper roads as well. I would have never believed, how much extra speed can you gain by a good bike. Before, I would have rarely finished a ride with a faster average speed than 20 km/h, suddenly I could get up to 24 km/h without any further training.. Nevertheless, I have improved a bit and on good days, I can go 26 km/h – it is still working progress but it feels completely different. On that thought, I might do a separate post on the experience of riding a CX soon as I am quite enthuiastic about it these days. Till then, I have collect at least some pics from my latestest expeditions. The variety of landscape is so impressive here, I have only seen a fraction of the surrounding but there are such huge differences – you can check out the little gallery I have put together for you below. I think that is the main point I love about cycling – everything around you is constantly changing and it gives me a feeling of freedom.

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[1] Long ride: Cottbus-Brezno link for unfinished article here. And I promise, I will try to finish it in the near future 🙂 Anyway, pictures are already uploaded, so you can skim though..

[2] Two older posts and these are actually finished, enjoy reading.. link 1, link 2

October 18, 2016 0

Weekend in the hay – Secrets Festival, Berlin

It has been quite a summer. I have so many drafts open, I might need the whole winter to finsh them all for you guys. Nevertheless, I have decided to share at least some of the activities of mine..

You might get the clue from my previous posts, I am a musically challenged person. I like music but I cannot read note sheets, neither do I play any instruments. What is more, when it comes to my playlist on iPod – it is a very unique thing, yet so mainstream. There are some no-gos for me, e.g. hard stuff and german rap. Otherwise, I am very open to any nice song and then I usually comit to it, my roomates could tell you stories about one-song-loops going on in my bedroom for a whole week. This, a rather strange habit of mine, is also a reason why I do not have any favourite interprets and I have not been to many concents so far either.

Despite these facts, I have wanted to attend a festival for some time now. I have been hearing about how great those weekends are and how much fun people have there etc. But never got invited. Who knows why 🙂 So, I when a dear friend ofmine asked me whether I would accompany her, Iwas very excited. We have survived a research project in Italy for one month in one hotel room, this would be another small adventure. Plus, we have not had a girls time since she has become a mom! I had little idea what are we going to attend, I fully trusted her taste (yes, she has one!). It was very spontaneous decision, I cleared my scedule and hopped on the train to Berlin. To he honest, I have struggled when packing and threw onto the pile even my large water wheel and frisbee as well – who knows. The rest was pretty basic – I was surprised how many packing lists could I find online and some of them were helpfull as well.

To my relief, it was not crowded at all. Secrets Festival 2016 [1] was just the right fit for me. We had a great weekend, listening to live music. Even the electro dance party on Saturday evening was acctually live 🙂 However, we spent the rest of weekend on the beach – it took place directly at Kiekebiusch See [3], covered in hay and sand, drinking beer and enjoying the songwriters songs. They were so many street musicans playing there, I really loved it. You can check out the names for yourself in the program [2].

..it would be a shame not to end this post with my new favourite song, so here we go: Katie O’Connor – Wishing well [link on Youtube]. Let the one-song-loop-party begin! :))

[1] official site here

[2] link to the progam and artists here

[3] Kiekebusch See, Berlin N 52.353917, E 13.537958 here

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September 1, 2016 0

Sporty Saturday Vol. 03 – Rocking the rocks, again.

If you are following me on instagram (for those who want to join me @runningarchitect) you would know, that I have returned to the Saxon Swizerland few more times. What is more, I have the feeling, I will be coming there more often as that place rocks – so let me show you what I am so crazy about.

Looking at the map, the area does not seem to be so huge. Do not let that fool you, because it is a very large and diverse place. You can go there for an easy family trip with your kids or you can power out and even work in some vertical meters as well. As I have learnt before, the map I have got [1] is not as accurate as it can get – some of the drawn paths are missing in the reality. What is worst, the german marking system sucks. If you have every been walking or hiking in Czech Republic of Slovakia, you would know what I am taking about. You must deliberately want to get lost to wander off a path there. So, to avoid confused looks into my map at each crossroad I would have pass, I have started planing the routes in advance [2] and it turned out to be a great time saver. It would send me to a strange places from time to time :-), but I was able to pick up pace a little bit and run wild. Yeah, I have got some strange and confused looks from people I was passing by as the trail running is a new thing here. However, I have met few guys on the train, who were (judging from their outfits and gear) definitely going for a run there – so I have got high hopes. And now to my favourite part of posts, I have put together few shots for you in the gallery below, please enjoy.

[1] Scale 1:25 000, by Kompass.

[2] Using the Suunto watch Ambit3Sport link here and movescount.com.

GPX-file 01 [26k]

GPX-file 02 [12k]

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vernacular architecture in the CZ PL DE triangle

May 15, 2016 2

Sporty Sunday Vol.02 – Saxon Switzerland

Moving to the southern Brandenburg (DE) has at least one great perk – I live closer to Saxon Swizerland [1]. So, I have finally packed a small backpack and went for a hike accompanied by a friend of mine (hence, there are also pictures of me in the gallery 🙂 ). I have already been in the southern part of the mountains before but I think the northern part (everything above the river Elbe) is even more impressive. Mountains never get old for me and to be honest, I haven not seen even half of those charming spots there yet. I am sure, I wil be returning there soon. If you are a fan of climbing on sandstone or you just love rocks, I would definitely recommend putting it on your list. I am sure, you will be able to find some recommendations on the Internet – there are plenty of routes, some are more challenging than others. You can check out our route in the file attached below. The best part is, the most of the paths are completely runnable if you can chatch a breath.. Enjoy.

GPX-file

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[1] You can read more about Saxon Swizerland at Wikipedia.

May 6, 2016 1

Growing up in the mountains, Nizke Tatry (Slovakia), it has been a hard transition for me to get used to living on plain. If you have ever visited Brandenburg or you happen to live here, you would know, how flat this area is. I was used to climb up a hill and be able to see things from above – to gain a certain distance from the rush in the town. It was always easy to find a piece of quiet up there, even though I have gained that perspective only recently. As they say, you become aware of good things only after you lose them. Nevertheless, I am not the first nor the last person longing for opportunity to stuck my head into the clouds. So it should not come as a surprise, there are plenty of lokout points in Brandenburg. Today, I would like to present my two favourites to you – they oth have been built as a part of IBA 2000-2010. Both objects are very interesting, yet not in the same way. If you fancy interesting architecture, you would love Rostiger Nagel. You can take plenty of nice shots there. However, if you are planing on seing magnificent nature and find some peace, you should visit the one at Felixsee.

1) Tower at Felixsee, Bohrsdorf. N 51.616487, E 14.547338

If there is a one sport I have fallen in love with living in Germany, it would be swimming in the pond. I have to admit, I used to be quite scared to swim in open water, I was horryfied I will get tangled in waterplants and drawn. Yet, going to the beach with my friends and swiming in Groups helped me overcome this fear. So, I cannot imagine spending a sunny Saturday anywhere else than somewhere close to water. It is safe to say, there are so many ponds and lakes in Brandenburg (..and also in Mecklenburg-Vorpommen, etc.). Some of them are muddies than others and soem of them larger beach attached etc. If I were to pick one lake I like the best, it would be the Felixsee (1). The water is so clear, and the lake is quite deep so there are barely any plants there. It is a perfect place for a daytrip in summertime – I would bike there but you can definitely get there by a car as well.

The tower itself is a ca. 30m high wooden structure and you can enjoy a nice view from the top – the lake, vast forests, some chimneys from the powerplants close by, and of course you can find some wind-wheels on horizont as well. To get some impressions, check out the gallery attached below.

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2) Rostiger Nagel, Senftenberg. N 51.527224, E 14.099115

I have acctually heard about Rostiger Nagel in class. So, we have decided to check it out afterwards, yet it was too far to walk from Senftenberg. Considering the fact, we had no clue in which direction the thing was – it was kind of spare-the-moment-trip-and-jump-on-the-train, we have ended up eating icecream in Senftenberg and returned home. Ever since, it was on my list of things to visit one day. So, last weekend I have finally manage to get there. 🙂

The tower is literally a 30m-tall rusty nail (Rostiger Nagel) placed in the middle of a former strip mine landscape which is currently being flooded. It was built out of corteen steel and has some impressive details as you can see in the gallery below. Waiting four years to see the thing, I was a little bit disappointed by this project. it might be a very impressive object but the landscape around is still transforming and I missed the opportunity to lay down on the beach and swim in the lake.

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