DXB Brinkworth

Late last month Elle and I took advantage of my parents coming to Dubai and jetted off to Germany for a long weekend on our own. Despite appearences, it wasn’t just for a dirty weekend, there was actually some purpose to the trip. I’ve set a goal to complete the “Big 5″ marathons of the world, and decided that Berlin would be a good place to start.

The trip started off on a sour note, when we got bumped from our scheduled flight due to the extremely busy Eid long weekend rus of passengers.  For the uninitiated (like we were), the break of Ramadan means public holidays so a lot of people make the most of it and travel. 

We managed to get on a flight later in the day, but had to change our plans as we missed our connecting flight from Munich to Berlin. We ended up arriving in Munich at around 9:00pm and then had to find a hotel for the night. We got completely confused by the train ticketing machine completely in German, so we decided our best bet would be to get a taxi to Munich to find a hotel. we probably should have done more research, as we discovered once we were in the taxi and on the road, that Munich city is actually quite a distance from the aiport and hotels are scattered all over the place.

The taxi driver tried to discourage us from trying the nearby hotels saying they would be fully booked due to the Oktoberfest.  His suggestion was that he drive us 55 Euros away, and then take us back to the airport in the morning - after another 55 Euros later.  But we insisted he stop at the Sheraton so I could see if they had room.  The lady at reception looked at me strangely and said, of course we have vacancies.

Something else surprised me at reception.  In Dubai pornography - anything close to it - is strictly illegal so you just don’t see it at all.  However, when I was standing at the hotel’s front desk, staring right at me was the cover model for Playboy completely topless!  I don’t think I’ve been overly interested in such images since I was 17, but having this strange sight was extremely distracting.  Quite a Europe welcome.  A similar thing greeted us in the rooms, where the TV had 1 movie channel and 4 adult channels.

The next morning we caught a flight to Berlin and managed to hit some random buttons on the ticket machine which spat out a ticket enabling us to catch a bus into the city. After asking a friendly policeman for directions, we eventually located our hotel.  We stayed in the Mercure de Charite.  With the terrible currency conversion between the UAE Dirham and the Euro it was disappointing to find that Charite didn’t mean we were staying in a shelter for the poor and destitute.  Actually we found the hotel through the marathon’s web site according to the distance to the start line - which was just perfect.

I had a few worries going into the marathon.  Most of my training has been through the summer period with frequent and mandatory water stops, so I wasn’t sure I had done sufficient distance training.  My concerns became reality at around the 25km mark when my legs started cramping terribly.  I was on track for a reasonable time until this point.  But with all the stops I saw all my goal times pass me by.  In the end I realised 4hrs was at risk so I really had to knuckle down.  Towards the end I felt terrible agony.  Everything was telling me to stop, except for the million+ spectators. In short it was an amazing experience.

Folllowing the race I was hobbling quite a bit.  I met up with Elle on the steps of the Reichstag where I had to sit for some time.   The Corona helped a little.  The walk from the finish line back to the hotel probably took 10 times longer than it did that morning. I slept extremely well that night. 

We missed a day in  Berlin before the race due to the missed flight, so we decided to change our plans a little and try to see a few of the sights the next day then hit Munich and the Oktoberfest later in the day and night.  We did the Reichstag Dome tour, a look around Brandenburg.  Then we left the big smoke for the largest palace in Berlin at Charlottenburg. The whole area was beautiful, and something definitely worth seeing.

We caught the underground back to the airport and made our way to Munich.  By this stage we were seasoned veterans at buying tickets in Germany, but we didn’t need to.  A very friendly German guy gave us a tip that the tickets were priced so they were cheaper as a group of 3 or more - which he had the ticket for already. We got out of it for free, although we gave him 10 Euros anyway.  He was a lovely guy and kept us entertained the whole way.  We knew we were onto a good thing when he mentioned he works at the airport in IT and “it’s shit”.

Unfortunately my limping got worse, so we found our hotel and crashed.  Any thoughts of hitting Oktoberfest that evening were dashed by the allure of a nice warm bath.

We had plenty of time at the airport so I trialled all the local beers on display to try and compensate for missing Oktoberfest the night before.

The w’end flew by, and we arrived safe and sound in Dubai late on Tuesday night.

Ryan Adventures, Newsworthy Berlin, Germany, running, travel

Some of my pix from the Terry Fox Run & Abu Dhabi - click for more.

This morning I decided to participate in the 14^th Annual Terry Fox Run in Abu Dhabi. To get to Abu Dhabi around 8am for registration meant I had to catch a 6:20am bus from Bur Dubai. Some people warned me against catching buses, but although it was quite smelly and cramped, it got me there in time. I think the main problem with my seat was that I was one of the last to board the bus, so the only seats left were the dodgy ones above the back wheel. Just like I found on the abras, they don’t leave until it’s full. Luckily it never takes long on either to get packed. To get to Abu Dhabi was around 2 hours each way. And to go there and back cost a mere 35 AEDs – about $14 AUD. You can’t complain at those sort of prices. Although taxis are relatively cheap here, I’m scared to think how much they’d charge to cross an emirate, and go the same distance.

I wasn’t able to find an Abu Dhabi map the night before when I hatched the plan. So as I didn’t know where the Sheraton was from the bus station, I hailed a taxi. I have previously written how much better things in Abu Dhabi are. An exception to this, are their taxis. The majority of the fleet are either the Nissan Sunny – which in Australia we know as a Pulsar – or a Toyota Corolla. Another concern I had with my taxi was that there were no seat belts. Fortunately the driver seemed to drive much safer than his Dubai counterparts.

They didn’t have the facilities I’ve come to expect at this kind of event, such as portaloos. And as I went there on my own, I had a bag with a few things and there was no where to leave your belongings. Unfortunately the nearby Sheraton said they don’t have these kind of facilities, but I slipped the guy at the desk a 50 and he happily looked after it in one of his cupboards. As long as I didn’t tell anyone.

After I registered, there was still plenty of time before the 10am start. So I searched out a small supermarket which was hidden away, and bought a local newspaper, and a make-shift breakfast of a chocolate donut, a can of Red Bull, and a water bottle. Nearby there was a tall building being constructed, where they were trying to lift in and install a massive generator. So I plonked myself down in a chair there where I could view the activity. The shopkeeper came out to join me. It seems he was surprised to see an out-of-towner. He asked where I was from, what Australia was like, where I was living over here, and what I was doing here. He we such a nice, friendly and genuine guy I gave him one of the Terry Fox shirts I bought. I only had a big denomination note with me when I registered, so I felt bad clearing out their change so I bought two shirts which made it slightly easier for them. It wasn’t until that night when I saw my reflection in the lift that I realised it says 2008. I’m not sure if I bought some old stock they were clearing out – or was the run meant to have happened last year.

After I finished the paper, two guys wearing overalls came up to me and started talking Arabic. I had no idea what they were trying to say, and they didn’t understand any English. But going by their dodgy charades I think it was their job to wash the cars in the parking lot. I thought that maybe they thought I was impinging on their turf by sitting where I was. Not sure, but they seemed friendly enough at the end, after initially looking a little perplexed.

Anyway, when I went back to the race area there was around half an hour to go. By this time, the place was buzzing with people. I had a chat with some people from Aussies Abroad – Abu Dhabi in matching yellow shirts that grabbed your attention. Although they don’t have a chapter in Dubai, they suggested keeping in touch and keeping an eye on the events on their web site. They’re certainly a well-organised group.

One of the crown princes was also in attendance as a dignatory. He walked extremely close-by, and it looked to me like he was not a big fan of all the attention. The attention was a bit like a pop star, or movie star. I have Googled for him, but have found no information. His name was Chakram, or something similar, and he was one of the sons of the Abu Dhabi ruler.

There were some really stirring speeches before the run from people who had survived cancer, including Canadian paralympian, Jeffrey Adams. The Canadian Ambassador in the UAE gave a nice history of the Terry Fox legend, and explained how much the event meant to Canadians, and how encouraging it was to see so many people out to support the work of one of their national heroes. Of all the places where the Terry Fox Run occurs around the world, Abu Dhabi is the second largest. The only bigger one is in Terry’s home country of Canada. To get a full description of the event, and learn about Terry Fox you should go to the official site, but I’ll just say it was very emotional to hear the accounts, and to be part of an event to support his legacy.

took the camera with me on the run, and stopped to take pictures whenever I spotted an interesting site. I haven’t been running properly for over six months now. Thankfully there were many things to take pictures of to punctuate the run. It wasn’t until around the half way mark – when I had snapped most of the land marks – that I started to break a sweat.

It was a picture perfect day in terms of weather. One of the buildings had a temperature display where I saw that it was a pleasant 22 degrees. Everyone keeps telling me it’s just going to get hotter from now on, which is a bit of a worry. Particularly since I forecast my long training runs for my next marathon will fall in the middle of Summer. Depending on who you talk to, and which web sites you read, it either doesn’t get below 25, 30, 35, or 45 in the hottest months. I’m hoping it’s the 25 – but I don’t think so. On the impartiality of the media, I have heard there’s an edict that when the temperature is recorded as being over 50 on any given day, people don’t need to go to walk. However, the newspapers have never actually reported it being over 50, despite most thinking it certainly has been.

When I finished the run, I visited my new mate at the Sheraton who told me I made his day, which was a nice end to the event. I found my way back to the bus station by following the general direction I remembered from the taxi ride, and looking out for a street numbered 4 which made things simple. It doesn’t make it easy at other times, when there are several streets with the same number.

I took a few pictures on the way back to the bus station. Including one picture of a random stranger. I was snapping a mosque between two high rise buildings that caught my eye, when he was set to pass me. But instead, he stopped and stood in front of me, and motioned for me to take the picture where he beamed a nice large smile.

For after the run, I actually packed a towel, change of clothes, and a can of deodorant (shower in a can). But I decided to not use any of these to get some revenge on the other bus passengers for the odours I had to endure on the trip to Abu Dhabi. I don’t think I made any impact though. I think it all just blended in. At least I had a more spacious seat. I read my book until I fell asleep, just like on the first trip. I made sure I fell asleep with a tight grasp on my bag which contained my valuables. Just in case.

After I got off the bus back to the Bur Dubai bus station, I caught an abra for the first time. These are the motorised boats that cross the creek. It’s an interesting experience. Everyone who comes to Dubai should try. I expected a normal boat ride, with the sounds of the sea. There were plenty of seagulls flying about. But nope. Just like their roads, there were horns going off every which way. And the drivers of the boats, pointing and motioning with their hands in quite a violent manner to each other.

That got me within 10 – 15 minutes from my apartment. So I walked back, to have a quick shower, a skype with the wife and kids, then head off to a friend’s place for a lamb roast dinner with other expats. It was absolutely beautiful! Plus I got a doggie bag.

It was quite a wonderful day. I look forward to doing the Terry Fox Run again next year. Although, I may drive there next time.

Ryan Adventures buses, Crown Prince, media, running, taxis