Ratzeburg, short version

A nice little town, situated on an island inbetween 2 lakes. A scenic 26 km trail around the bigger one of the lakes. 1400 eager runners. And I arrived as number 45 in 1:47:40 h. Met some friends. Bought a new pair of waterproof trail shoes at a discount price from the runners fair. That was it in short. Get the longer review here (in German).

The 2. Ultimate Fori-Run 2004 :)

I uploaded some photos from last Saturdays ForumTeam fun run in Berlin.

I came close to my personal best over 10 km, with a time a bit under 39 min.

The next run will be the Ratzeburger Adventslauf in 10 days. It's a 26 km run around the Ratzeburger Lake, partly following the old border between East and West Germany.

Back from the Nürburgring

The last weekend I went to the final race of the Bonnfinanz Team-Cup at the Nuerburgring. Florian and me won the race, and I got 3rd overall this year. See the homepage for a race report and pictures.

On my way back home I stopped in Hamburg to visit Kai, before returning yesterday. Moreover I bought an used PC yesterday, a 500 Mhz AMD K6 with CD/RW and DVD-Player for just 76 Euro. So now I'm sitting here and transfering all my data and programs from my old Thinkpad, which is no longer working properly.

Next weekend I'll be in Berlin for the Ulimate 10k-run of the ForumTeam.

Photos from Spain

As promised, I'll uploaded some photos from my trip to Andalusia two weeks ago. The Star Tour pics will follow soon. :)

The Atlantic Beaches Especially the first days we went to the beaches near Benalup. Below you can the Bolonia bay, where the old Roman city Baelo Claudio was once situated. The last three pics are from a beach a bit north, from El Palmar and the Trafagar lighthouse.
The Roman city remains		Me relaxing...
...and Mom went swimming
Very find sand		Our long shadows...
...and my foot print		Mom at El Palmar
Near Bolonia	Beach at...	...the Trafalgar Lighthouse
Benalup This is the small village where Jesus and his family lives and where we stayed for the days.
Jesus Finca: La Orativa	Mom & Mules	Jesus & Jolle
Angela, Jolle, Jesus, Mom, Simone	Angela, Simone & Jesus	Jesus & Manolo
Parc Natural de los Alcornocales Benalup is situated in this Nature Park, which is famous for its forests of Cork-oak trees. The landscape has a lot of hills and rocks.
The rock of Medina-Sidonia
The corc-oak tree		cork harvest
The mountains When leaving the coast and driving into the mountains, we visited the famous white villages, which are mostly situated on a hill for defense reasons.
An old monastery near Alcala	Near Grazalema	The white village Ubrique
Ronda - a white village Not just one white village, but the most beautiful. People say. We also liked it a lot. It is situated on an two immensely high rocks, separated by a deep canyon, and connected by old and impressive bridges.
The big old bridge
Andalusian pottery	Famous Jamon Iberico	Iron door bell
The old city wall		The big bridge from below
Gibraltar One day we went to the British enclave on the Iberian peninsula. It was an interesting experience. Not the city itself, but the high rock, which lies strategically in the strait. From the top you can see the Mediterranen See, the strait, Spain, Africa - and a lot of cute apes, which live here.
Approaching the Rock	In the city	Reaching the top
Mom...	...talking with...	..some apes.
		Panorama from the top
Ape on a tree watching...	...the sun go down.
Tanger, Morocco Another day we took the chance to visit Africa. A day trip to Tanger in Morocco, started from Tarifa. We visited the old town, the markets, a typical restaurant etc. Quite a touristic trip, but a nice first impression of this culture.
Arabian Architecture	Snake musicians	Eating a Moroccan dish...
...while listening to the band.	Crowded streets...	...full of life.
Small shops...	...and traders.
	A bakery	The last stop for us tourists :)
Sevilla - the capital This city is the heart of Andalusia. It has an immensely huge old town, which is more like a labyrinth, where you easily get lost. A lot of old houses which show that this town was once the richest city on the peninsula.
A "solid city map"	A typical house with patio...	...seen from the Giralda,...
...the third biggest cathedral...	...in the world.
The huge...	...Plaza de Espana...	...with a map of Andalusia.
A large rubber tree.	A church wall
Coto de Donana The national park Coto de Donana is the most important refuge for birds migrating to Africa. We made a Jeep Tour through the park, along the beach, over the dunes, and along the lagoons. The latter haven't been fully under water at this time, so we didn't see much birds. You have to come in November or December for that.
Our jeeps
The sand dunes

I'll leave for the Bonnfinanz TeamCup in some minutes. On my return from the Nürburgring on Sunday I'll visit Kai in Hamburg, so I'll be back on Monday earliest. Have a nice weekend, Jolle!