Nick has officially christened Berlin the “City of Missed Opportunities” because each weekend we find ourselves agonizing over which fabulous street festival, museum exhibition, or one-day cultural extravaganza to choose—which also means agonizing over which equally amazing events we will have to pass on and save for next year. Given that Nia and I suffer from acute, terminal FOMO, picking just one thing to do each weekend can be downright excruciating for us.
Allow me to fill you in on two recent activities that did make the cut . . .
The Berlin Mini Marathon
Two Saturdays ago, on September 26th, Nia had the incredible chance to run in the Mini Marathon, an event held in conjunction with the world-renowned Berlin Marathon. I caught some stats from the main marathon showing over 56,000 runners from 162 countries taking part, including a massive contingent of 7,700 Americans! Nick filled me in on why securing a bib here is so coveted: beyond the iconic route winding through historic Berlin, the course is notoriously flat and sits right at sea level, making it a fabulous place for record-setting runs.
And while the headline 26.2-miler takes over the city on Sunday, Saturday is devoted to a series of auxiliary races: wheelchairs/handbikes, inline skating, a 5K, a pre-k “bambino” dash, and the Mini Marathon for school-aged kids. Nia’s course was measured out to exactly one-tenth of a full marathon (4.2 kilometers, or roughly 2.6 miles), and brilliantly routed so the kids had the thrill of sprinting across the final stretch through the arches of the Brandenburg Gate!
Nia’s school was allocated 80 coveted slots for runners aged 11 to 17. They have a long-standing tradition of competing in the event, and we were thrilled she decided to throw her hat in the ring for one of the slots. To prepare, Nia logged a few training runs around the neighborhood with a personal goal of crossing the finish line in under 30 minutes. Thank goodness for the school’s bright yellow event shirts or we may not have been able to spot her in the sea of 11,000 energetic kids!
When all was said and done, she got it done in 29 minutes and 30 seconds! She said it was really thrilling to be running through Berlin’s streets while thousands of people cheered you on. So thrilling, in fact, that she’s already talking about next year’s race and what her new goal will be. We’re super proud of her and had a fun time racing around the course trying to glimpse her at various points on the route.
Seasons: An Immersive Laser Light Show
This past weekend, our main excursion was a laser light show that was ending Sunday. When I first stumbled across it in a Facebook ad, it caught my eye because it looked vibrant and entirely different from our usual weekend picks. The installation took over a massive, pitch-black warehouse, featuring a continuous 45-minute choreographed laser and light spectacle themed around the four seasons, with the color palettes and music shifting to match each change. Parts of the room were staged to mimic an abstract forest, so when the beams bounced just right off the hanging elements or ground foliage, you actually felt like you were standing deep in nature. Benches and swing sets lined the perimeter, and there were zero rules on how to experience it—some people sprawled out on benches to watch, while others danced or wandered slowly through the space.
Not gonna lie, I found it a bit overwhelming at first. The music was LOUD, and my perimenopausal self is extra sensitive to sound these days! The soundtrack leaned heavily into electronica, giving the whole place a distinct underground club vibe—shrouded in darkness, hard to make out who was standing next to you, and with the heavy bass filling every square inch of the room. Eventually, my senses adjusted and I was able to relax and enjoy the ride. I wouldn’t rank it as an all-time favorite, but it was fresh, unique, and felt like a quintessential “Berlin experience.” I managed to clip together a short video so you can get a taste of the magic yourself—hope you enjoy it!
The Most Random Things I’ve Seen in Berlin This Week
- A full wedding party casually boarding the S-Bahn on a Friday at noon, champagne flutes in hand.
- Hipsters lining up to enter Sisyphos—one of the city’s legendary techno clubs—at noon on a bright Saturday. Apparently, the venue swings its doors open Friday night at 10 PM and keeps the music going until the wee hours of Monday morning, with hard-core clubbers often staying inside for 24 hours or more!
- Casual lakeside nudity. While strolling around a nearby lake with a friend, I was caught off guard by a dozen locals happily sunbathing, swimming, and chatting with buddies in the buff. Germans have an admirable, zero-shame relationship with the human body, but I hadn’t mentally prepared to encounter that on my afternoon walk in October! I knew there’d be nude beaches in Germany, I just wasn’t expecting it to a) be happening right by my house, b) cover the entire body of water rather than a designated zone, and c) for some reason, assume there’d be warning signs posted. Shows what I know!
