I arrived today in Berlin. The first time in this city and perhaps the fourth time in Germany.
After one day of sightseeing, I must say that Berlin is indeed a nice and exciting place to live.
I was quite surprised to get some reminiscences of German, at least to understand what people are saying... Seems like I haven't been studying German during seven years for nothing!

About the marathon, I have the feeling that the whole city is waiting for Sunday. Some streets are already closed to prepare all the stuff needed (security, television, supplying, etc). My plane was full of French runners, and so they were always talking about the event.