omg – i must have been victim to an urban legend!

viewing the gate from the observation platform, the horses faced away from us (east). my friends, who may or may not have been inebriated at the time, told me they originally faced west and were reversed by the russians when the wall was constructed!

so much for taking tourist talk at face value :(

@ rundangerously: not sure what kinda drugs you were on in the 80s but I lived my whole life in Berlin and the horses have never faced in any other direction than east. There is infact paintings of the gate when Napoleon marched through and they were facing the same direction then as well…the gate has never been destroyed so it never actually got rebuild…just had to be renovated over the years a few times…east it has always been and always will be

@linden: just found your blog and wanted to wish best of luck with the marathon training…i myself have run the berlin marathon 6 times now and can only recommend the experience….will you be trying for a certain pace or mostly just trying to finish the race no matter what? ….13:30 minute miles shouldnt be a problem but faster would be nice…just takes so long otherwise

@rundangerously: Sounds like quite an amazing trip. I really wish I was old enough to visit East Berlin when it was East Berlin.

Are you sure the horses faced west when you were there? It seems unlikely to me. I found a couple pictures on Wikipedia that clearly show them facing east.

It’s so funny how our memories remember things. I could have sworn that I remember my mom dragging me (8 at the time) and my little brother out of bed late at night to show us the newscast of people crawling over the Wall on November 9th. And I remember it being night in the images. But that doesn’t really match the time difference: If it was midnight there, or even later, we wouldn’t have been in bed yet. My mind just added the extra story to make it more interesting.

oh yes! my friend was worked at templehoff at the time (non-military). he picked me up at zoo station and the first thing we did was go to the observation platform at the reichstag. it overlooked the brandenburg tor – at that time had the horses faced the opposite direction!

very amazing introduction to the city. later that week we went to east berlin.

will be back one day to run berlin marathon :D

@rundangerously: Yep, it’ll be my first marathon, but not my first time in Berlin! Did you get to see the wall? Bet you had a great time–it’s such a fun city. I’ve subscribed to your blog–looks interesting!

@kevin: It’ll be run to “run together”! Who are you getting your running plan from? The group you’re training with? A personal trainer?

@lifestudent: Ha ha! I don’t know… But maybe it just feels like you aren’t getting faster? I know I don’t!

What does it say about you if your life doesnt get easier … and you also dont get any faster?

Hi, i’ll be rooting for you as you go through your marathon program. you have a very well scripted plan. i should be getting mine soon. can’t wait.

just found your blog via 5ks and cabernets! will berlin be your first marathon?

what a great city. i was there almost 25 years ago (summer of 1984). stayed with friends in spandau for a week. great memories.