Great run from Buchwitz to Friesack, Germany. Dedicated this one to my Mom and the taking down of the Berlin Wall. This run was a sharp positive contrast to yesterday, which was my worst day so far on the run. We traveled more than 12 hours in the car before getting to Berlin for the night, my run was cut short by construction and we went to the wrong hotel which cut down our “free time.” The final icing on the cake was when the massages the Green Team had scheduled which we looked forward to all day were canceled.

Today I had a bit of it all, forest and farmland with some rolling hills and a cooling headwind. Parts reminded me of Vermont. Poppies and lupine bloomed and every so often there would be a stone memorial of some sort set off to the side of the road. I ran the 9-10:30 am shift and traffic was sparse. Not many people or critters, but I did pass an older man up in a tree pruning or something. I yelled Guten Morgen and he responded by asking me where I was headed in such a hurry. I told him around the world for safe drinking water on the Blue Planet Run team. He then shook one of the tree branches and responded in German, that’s great, have a good trip.

Germany has many windmills, as did Belgium and Holland. I think they are beautiful and, along with all the small cars, are a responsible environmental statement. There is however not a very green attitude about water and recycling. People here don’t generally drink out of the tap. They buy bottled water and toss the containers. We ate in an Italian restaurant last night and were served small fancy glass bottles of Tuscany water, tap not available. Seems inconsistent with what we’re doing but it’s the culture.

This is Day 15. Hard to believe we’ve come from NYC to East Germany in just two weeks. We have a big event this afternoon in Berlin then off to Dresden. A local guy named David came to look me up at my 10 mile exchange point and stayed for the hand off ceremony. When told there was someone there to see me, I hoped it was one of my cousins but so far none have caught up with me. We still have some days in Germany. It’s great here!!!! Wasser ist Leben.