This weekend, I was in Germany to see my family for some early Christmas celebrations. Therefore, I spent most of the weekend wearing silly hats and drinking mulled wine:
I’m lucky in that I get to travel a fair bit; both for pleasure and work. And whenever I find myself in a new (or in this case, old and familiar) place, I’m always looking forward to the moment when I can finally put on my running shoes. I love exploring new places on foot; it’s always an adventure which is exciting and relaxing in equal measures. These runs are about enjoying the sights and not about the pace or distance covered – in fact, I make it a point to stay comfortable so that I am sure that I can keep going for as long as I like.
In that spirit, I enjoyed a nice long run along the along the Rhine river in Cologne this weekend. It’s a place where I’ve spent many days during my childhood, as Cologne was once my hometown. Revisiting these places presented me with a strange paradox, as it was both inherently familiar and so different from what I remember. Things change so much, so quickly. Nevertheless, it was good to be back, even if it was just for one weekend and a single long run.
Girl Runs Wild 
Mmm mulled wine, I must get some. I love it in Europe at this time of year…I spent a winter in Hamburg a few years ago and the Christmas markets (and mulled wine!) were amazing. Plus there was proper Christmassy snow instead of rain!
The Christmas Markets in Cologne are amazing – even though I was only there for two days, I made sure that I went to one of the Christmas Markets to drink mulled wine and eat fried potato cakes – another nostalgic moment right there! Although it was cold enough, we had no snow this weekend, but I’m not complaining. =)
On foot or by cycle are the only way to see and get to know new places and their people.
I couldn’t agree more!
Hey! Thanks for stopping by M&MRC. This photo looks very familiar! Got to love all those organised German running and biking paths! And the mulled wine on every street corner at the moment is a bonus for post run fun! Happy Christmas 🙂
Happy Christmas to you too! It was nice being back home for a few days, and the mulled wine is always a bonus!
I travel for training for work, and I’ve taken to using my daily run as a chance to explore new areas and sight see. Needless to say, my run times are slower on those trips – I gotta take some pictures right!? haha!
Take care!
Hey and thanks for stopping by! I find running is a really beautiful way of exploring new places as well, and stopping for a picture is one of the best reasons to take a little break!
Exactly! 😀