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My first time – at a Formula One car race

Barcelona
My first time – at a Formula One car race

For a good long while Formula One car races were an integral part of our weekends. We were thrilled while we were watching countless races on TV.

But, as with many things in life, over time it got boring. Cars were going fast, but spectacular manoeuvres disappeared gradually from the races. At the moment, we’re rather surprised when a Formula One car race is taking place.

When I was in the middle of planning our Barcelona trip I noticed that we would be there during the race weekend between the 13th and 15th of May 2016. I admittedly only noticed when I looked up the opening hours of the race track. After thinking long and hard about it, we decided to pick up some tickets - despite the fairly high price point – for the free practice on Friday. We purchased the tickets for visiting the Formula One car race online in advance.

The choice of seating is rather limited for visitors that only come for one day. Most of the stands are only open for weekend visitors and we didn’t want a space on the open-air stands. Luckily the booking system with its panorama pictures gave us a good idea of the bit of the race track that we would actually be able to see from any given seat. We chose area E. The stands of area E are close to the end of the home straight – we had good visibility of the first turn, the pit lane as well as of other parts of the race track. Two big screens were right opposite of the stands and showed further information about the practice.
Once on site, we realised that this was a smart choice.

Free practice of Formula One races

Getting to the race track from Barcelona is easy on public transport. For 2.50€ (single ticket, per person) the R2 train took us from Sants Estacio station to Montmeló. The gates opened at 9 o'clock in the morning, the first free practice was due to start at ten. So we set off bright and early and shared the train with some English motorsport enthusiasts. The train ride took about 25 minutes. There are different options to get to the racetrack from Montmeló. One option is to take the bus (for another 2.50€ single per person) or a 30-minute walk following the signs for the race track through a pedestrianised area of the city.

We arrived a little early and used the extra time to walk along the race track before the free practice began. We noticed that access to the stands wasn’t really checked on that day and most of them appeared to be open to everyone. Where we were seated was check, however, as only day pass holders booked their seats in these stands.

Next, the elements of the free practice were introduced. We did not know that after the 1.5 hours of Formula One free practice, Formula Three practice and qualifications were going to be held there as well. For almost 8 hours straight cars were going to be flying around these curves at high speed.

The practice began and we were really lucky. The drivers were keen that day and completed many laps on the track. That meant that we got to enjoy how the drivers scorched down the home straight at 310 km/h and only about 100 meters before the first turn slowed down to 135 km/h. Many drivers took this turn in very noisy second gear at 135 km/h. A left-right bend followed that was still within eyeshot from our seats.
Naturally, only very few overtaking manoeuvres occur during free practice. But seeing the cars leaving the pit lane was also fascinating. Many times the drives had to come to almost a complete stop because a blue flag signalled that they had to let another driver on the track pass.
The second free practice needed to be stopped due to a burst tyre until a crane – also very clearly visible from where we sat – had lifted the car off the track. Thankfully, that was the worst accident on that day.

After the first practice session, we walked around the whole race track to get a better understanding of the circuit. In some areas around the track, different activities and entertainment for the visitors were taking place. Merchandise, a drummer band and much more mixed things up for the guests.

Will we be coming back?

We enjoyed the day in Montmeló. The weather was good, the drivers showed off their skills and my first time at a Formula One free practice was good fun.
If I will be doing it again in the future remains a question for another time.
The view of the track is, after all, better from in front of the telly and you’re fed more info about what is going on in the race. Visiting the track means hearing the sound of the engines and smelling the burning rubber. Let’s wait and see if there is going to be a second time.

Stand up paddle boarding on the Schlachtensee Lake in Berlin

It is Sunday and the sun is shining. We were invited to try stand up paddle boarding in Berlin on the Schlachtensee Lake. So, here we go to the Schlachtensee Lake in Grunewald. Before we started our stand up paddle boarding experience, we researched what SUP is and whom it is suitable for.

Continue Reading about Stand up paddle boarding on the Schlachtensee Lake in Berlin

A first for me – rock climbing in the Elbe Sandstone Highlands

Elbe Sandstone Highlands
A first for me – rock climbing in the Elbe Sandstone Highlands

Indoor bouldering is a great alternative for Berliners. Still, there is something about the idea to do “the real thing” in the outside world. We made rock climbing in the Elbe Sandstone Highlands our first outdoor climbing experience.

The Elbe Sandstone Highlands are part of a low mountain range at the upper reaches of the Elbe in Saxony and the Czech Republic.

The German part is called Saxony Switzerland. The highest mountain in Saxony Switzerland, the Great Zschirnstein, is 561 meters high. The Elbe Sandstone Highlands are very rugged Rocky Mountains.

A first for me – rock climbing in the Elbe Sandstone Highlands

We were intrigued by the many different textures and shapes – plains, clefts, peaks, Table Mountains and extensive woodlands.

We gained a little experience through our indoor climbing in how to secure others and ourselves and we also have a little bit of gear like carabiners, harnesses and shoes. But nonetheless, we did not want to climb all alone on a real rock without the grips and loops that indoor climbing venues provide.
Instead, we booked a guide and a beginner’s course. A good call, he picked appropriate routes and adjusted everything to our level of experience.

Rock climbing in the Elbe Sandstone Highlands

From our meeting point we had to walk through the forest for a little while before we reached the cliff that our instructor had chosen. We swiftly got our gear out and listened to the brief introduction from our guide. To be honest, I was a little surprised by how small the crevices and edges were that we were supposed to use. Sometimes a fingertip was all that we were able to fit on the little ledges.

And then we got down to business. Our rock was about ten meters high which is close to the average height of the walls for indoor climbing. But obviously, this rock was missing the convenient ropes dangling down from the top that we were used to for securing ourselves on the wall. Our guide quickly climbed all the way to the top to let a rope down for us. He didn’t even put his shoes on properly, didn’t secure his route even once and took less than two minutes. I am almost certain that my face didn’t look all that intelligent at that point but I had never seen anything like that before.

My turn came and I hooked up to the rope for my first steps onto the rock. It was relatively easy at the beginning. I still had enough strength in my fingers and the adrenaline was rushing through my body. Somewhere in the last third of the ascent, however, I couldn’t see anything that remotely reminded me of a proper hold. I got a friendly “can’t you see the edge above you?” from the bottom that was supposed to help. But this edge was a good 15 cm above me and jumping is quite impossible whilst hanging from a rock. “Wait. I’ll help.” from the bottom and our guide got me out of trouble. All of a sudden I was floating in the air and was able to sort out my hands and feet. I reached the top and my breath was taken away. We only climbed up about 10 meters but on the other side of the rock was a ravine 50 meters deep. What a view!

We did two more ascends on that day until we only had just about enough energy left to make it back to the car. Our sore legs and hands reminded us of that adventure often over the next few days.

A great, exhausting day of rock climbing in the Elbe Sandstone Highlands!

I found an exquisite article about Saxony Switzerland and the Elbe Sandstone Highlands on Crappy Radio Stations and Candy Bars . Go and have a look.

My first time – as a participant at the Lisbon Mini-Marathon

Lisbon
My first time -
as a participant at the Lisbon Mini-Marathon

We spontaneously decided to join the Lisbon Mini-Marathon. Was it worth it? Read more ...

Shortly before our trip to Lisbon, I checked the event calendar of the city. Sometimes you can find great events on these calendars that you might like to go to.

This time I had found something - on Sunday the 19th of March a half marathon was to take place in Lisbon. Actually, a great event to watch!

Our registration

On the website of the event, I wanted to get information on the route. Where would be a good spot to stand and observe? Doing this, the pictures of the last year caught my attention. They looked so great that I paid a little more attention to the details on the website.

The run should actually go right over the bridge of April 25th. A bridge which is normally only open for cars and trains. The start was supposed to be directly below the Christos statue. What a great route.

As I surfed the website, I discovered that in addition to the half marathon, the Lisbon Mini-Marathon was also on.
7.2 kilometres over the bridge, finishing at the monastery of Jerónimos.

I decided to sign up. The chance to walk/run over the bridge, simply great!

The registration is a quick and easy online procedure and soon after we received our confirmation email. About 10 days before the run, we got another email through with more details and information on the Mini-Marathon Lisbon.

Start preparation

With our confirmation email, we were able to pick up our runner’s bag with all the information up to 3 days before the start.
The location was great for us as tourists. In the middle of the former Expo grounds in an exhibition hall. Runners were able to combine picking up their start numbers with a tour through the premises.

We quickly got our starting numbers and picked up a “runner’s bag” (or as it used to be called: a gym bag) with ads of the sponsors, a T-shirt for the run and some free drinks.

A starting number was supposed to entitle us to free public transport on the day of the run. Unfortunately, the more detailed information on that was only available in Portuguese, but luckily the hotel staff helped with the translation.

My first time - as a participant at the Lisbon Mini-Marathon

Mini-Marathon Lisbon

Sunday, March 19th - 7:30 am, breakfast at the hotel. There were people in their running shirts with starting numbers pinned to them all over the place. We were wearing jeans and a T-shirt - should we maybe rethink our attitude and look more professional?

Directly at our hotel is a train station of the local train service. Here we hopped on a train which brings us directly to the start of the run. The whole train is full with runners, absolutely packed!

The train got us to the lower level of the bridge of the 25th April and then over into the station. Masses of people are pouring out of the train. All in running shirts and with starting numbers. Only the choice of the bottoms of some participants causes first doubts. Coming in jeans, mini skirts? Toddlers, seniors with walking aids, pregnant women with starting numbers? For the first time, the thought occurred to us that something more than the run might be taking place, more of a general gathering with the run itself just being a side note to the event.

From the train, it is about 20 minutes to the starting place. Here, a large area is closed off, police everywhere and security forces constantly checking the starting numbers. If you do not have one, you will be sent back.

Free baseball caps and loops were handed out. Just before the bridge, the mass of people is divided into semi-marathon runners and Mini-Marathon runners. We follow the group of Mini-Marathon Lisbon runners through the toll station on the bridge to a large enclosed area. There we are, standing in the middle, which was a real drawback in retrospect for wanting to actually run.

Our tip: If you want to run, you should push through to the front!

Where is the starting shot?

The start is at 10:30 am for the semi-marathon runners. The loud, booming music makes it impossible for us to hear a start shot. Only when all the other runners around us started moving at a moderate pace it became apparent that the run actually started.

The mass of people slowly moved past the Lisbon Christos Statue on to the bridge of the 25th April.
And now photography starts. In addition to all the walkers, people started stopping everywhere, taking selfies, looking down the bridge, and carefully pushing forward over the bridge’s grids. Admittedly, the road surface of the bridge is something to get used to. In addition to two wide concrete strips, the roadway consists of grids, which allow you to look at the railway track below.

Then the group of people started to spread out more so that you can zig zag through them. That stays like that until the finish line. Every now and again sprinters run past, only to then suddenly stop at random and get overtaken by us again. Whenever there is a band playing on the side of the road, runners slow down and listen.

The end of our run

The end of our 7,2 km zig zag run was the finish line at the Jerónimos Monastery.

Everyone crossing the finish line got a medal and a new runner’s bag with drinks and fruit and, to my big surprise, we all got a Magnum ice cream each.

Then a short recovery - 23 degrees and blue sky - on the meadow! A great finale for the run.