ACB

You how sometimes you have a feeling the Universe is trying to tell you something?

Well, this morning the Universe was telling us that we were not meant to attend the 11 o’clock service at the American Church in Berlin.  We knew there was a fat chance of us making it on time, but we weren’t intending to miss the service completely.  It just so happened today was the 41st BMW Berlin Marathon and our directions had us biking through the middle of the course.   It was one of those things where no matter what side streets we took, we would always end up against a wall of 40,000 people.

Exhibit A:

Stuck. Also, please note David’s brand new helmet. People don’t wear helmets in Berlin, but why wouldn’t you when you could wear one that is bright teal?

If that’s not the Universe at work, then I don’t know what is.  We made it eventually – we found a subway underpass and managed to cross the street.  We walked into the church to hear the final blessing and the postlude.  The beautiful thing about church is that there is always next week!  During my time in Paris, I found a true community in the American Church in Paris and it seems the American Church in Berlin will be the same.

Back to marathons.

David and I had different reactions to seeing all these people running 48km.  It inspired me to want to run and maybe sign up for the Marathon du Médoc in Bordeaux, where you run from Château to Château drinking wine and eating oysters while wearing a ridiculous costume.  I like the idea of oysters more than I like the actual food because they remind me of boogers, but a marathon with oysters sounds a lot better than a marathon without, so I’ll take it.  David, on the other hand, has no inclination to ever sign up for a marathon.  He made a good point – the first person to run a marathon actually died soon after finishing.  It seems I will be all by my lonesome should I ever decide to sign up for the Marathon du Médoc.  Anyone care to join?

The aftermath of 40,000 people running through Berlin… a sea of plastic cups. Photo credit Bird 1.