Author: Chris McWain

I wanted to give myself a little time to write this because the Mercedes Benz plant was massive and it was a lot to take in. The plant was the size of some of the towns we visited, and inside the production warehouses and the production line gave the impression of complete chaos, but everything was calculated and in control. The guide told us that the production line is about 95% automated, and the other 5% is done by skilled workers. The amount of technology and part preparation that goes into such an automated system that can handle different car types with different modifications and specs must be immense, and it was. I, as someone who is not a mechanical engineering and does not want to work in production line engineering was both overwhelmed and very intrigued by their system. I wanted to know more about it, to get a more in depth analysis, but if course that would have been confidential and taken way more than the 2 hour visit we had.

Some of the numbers the guide talked about was 2200 spot welds per car, 22 stages for coating and painting per car, and that they produce 1800 cars per day. Those numbers sound ridiculous until you see the robotic arms they use and the size of the plant.

Running and European Culture

This isn’t a complete analysis of the culture in each of their respective countries, but just some things that I did and noticed that were different/similar to what I am used to running in Grand Rapids. I should also note that the majority of my runs were early in the morning, when the city was waking up.

The Netherlands🇳🇱

I had to run in the parks because bikes and cars will run you over with no mercy, it’s like making them stop or slow down for you is the worst thing in the world for them.

Luckily there was a park right next to our hotel in Amsterdam that was a 2 mile loop on a wide concrete path.

There’s a bunch of activity in the parks. There were still so many bikes, but because of the unwritten but understood directional traffic, it was a lot safer and easier. There were a surprising amount of other runners in the park.

There were also an absurd amount of dogs! The biggest difference that I noticed was that the dogs minded their own business. None of them got in anyone’s way (that I saw) and none of them were on leashes. It may be a small difference, but for some reason, it took me by surprise.

Also, in the other mornings in the Netherlands, I was able to find some bike paths to run on, where it was early enough that there were almost no bikes to deal with.

There was also no snow.

Belgium 🇧🇪

In Brugge, I ran on the outskirts of the city, there was little to no traffic because I woke up before the city. There were some early risers, mostly other runners. The whole city is just under 5 miles in circumference, which was nice to run. All of the paths were packed dirt, something strange to see for a city sidewalk. It was in Brugge that I met someone who went for a run, and got to talk to him for a bit. The few dogs I saw were off leash and tame.

There was also no snow.

France 🇫🇷

Paris immediately struck me as the most similar to the United States in terms of big city feel and smell. I found my way through the streets to get to the river, where I ran the docks along the major river most days. This seemed like the common people’s choice too, as there was a healthy amount of people also running along the river. The more I looked around each run, the more I noticed homeless people sleeping beneath the bridges I ran under and every now and again I saw some rats run across the sidewalk. When I ran past passenger/tourist boats, most of them had guard dogs leashed to them that barked very intensely at me. It was also weird casually running past the Eiffel Tower and the Paris Statue of Liberty.

There was also no snow.

Germany 🇩🇪

In Every German city we have seen thus far, runners were almost nonexistent in the morning. A couple people were walking their dogs, leashed on the sidewalk but free in the parks. Cars here are not afraid to hit you, so it’s your job to watch out and stop at stoplights, because they just fly through when they have the green light.

There has been snow in Germany, though it hasn’t been bad, the sidewalks have all been well taken care of.

Czech Republic🇨🇿

Prague running is interesting. I saw almost no one in the morning except for one man telling me to stop claiming he was the police to try and pull the “show me your passport” scam. The running was pretty available along the river, as there were always paths and few to no stops. However, the paths are super uneven and if you’re not careful you can hypothetically strain a hamstring a bit.

No snow here.

Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. It has roughly 3.7 million people, which makes it the second most populous city of the European Union after London. It is one of 3 independent cities in Germany. It has a rich history, both good and bad.

In the 13th century, it gained importance as an junction between 2 historic trade routes. In World War II, it was subject to 363 air raids, which destroyed most of the city and forced its citizens to flee. After the war, it was split into East and West Berlin, each a separate city in East and West Germany. West Berlin and Germany was the United States and Allied forces side, and the East side was owned by the Soviet Union, and was divided by the Berlin Wall.

Its current economy is based on high tech firms and the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, notably with several disciplines of engineering. It is also a popular tourist destination.

From my own personal experience in the city, it’s busy. We are right in the thick of the city, and looking out the windows I can see lines of restaurants, several story buildings, busy roads and sidewalks, and streetcar rails. I went out for a short walk around to check things out and the plaza area nearby was bustling.

Some other information about Berlin that I really like has to do with the Berlin Marathon. It is hailed as the fastest world-record-eligible marathon course, as the world record has been set there 8 separate times on the men’s side and 3 times on the women’s side. The current world record of 2:01:39 currently stands on the course as of 2018.