Huzzah! A 'Z' parkrun is in the bag.
Backing up a bit, the overnighting spot was more than pleasant and though we had a trigger on the trail cam, the animal triggering it remained elusive. Emma-the-Tracker did, though, spot badger prints in some nearby fresh mud, so chances are that was the elusive chap at hand.
Moving on, as we approached the parkrun city of Halle, both residential and industrial sprawls were writ large. We're no massive fan of such things but parkrun-needs must and all that. To add to the jeopardy - and as I'd slightly feared - entering the city proper also meant an ever-so-slight transgression of an Umweltzone. We shall repent.
Anyway, one way streets, tram tracks and weight-limit signs duly observed, we eventually found ourselves at the venue of the Ziegelwiese parkrun.
Turning a blind eye to the occasional bench-bound troubled souls here-and-there slugging on pre-9.00am tins of lager, the park itself was pleasant enough and was hosting many a wholesome activity, including various sports, informal leisure pursuits, and a well-attended open air Tai Chi session. One bench-dweller was semi-slumped right close to the Tai Chi session. A poignant juxtaposition indeed.
The parkrun itself was very well organised, friendly, and welcoming. It was also a purely German affair. Very often UK ex-pats are at the helm of these things, but not so here. There were, of course, many Brits in attendance, some (like us) undoubtedly motivated by completing the Parkrun Alphabet Challenge.
Anyway, though it was quite tough going in the extremely sultry conditions, we both did OK and are now both a step closer to completing said challenge. Happily, we can bag the initial letters that remain within the UK.
It took another solid hour of driving after leaving the run venue to clear the sprawl and we eventually took a quick random lunch a little way from the autoroute we'd been on. Whilst there I spotted marbled white butterflies and what I think we're red-tailed cuckoo bumble bees (as well as hundreds of other insects) on a small and isolated patch of un-mown wayside verge. Build it and they will come...
The last hour's drive saw us in the very east of East Germany and very pleasant we found it, too. The eastern bit we were in, at least, was sparsely populated and pretty much all pleasant-and-rolling hills dominated by plantations and semi-natural woodland, interspersed with what looked like reasonably sensitive farming. If the number of raptors and chirping grasshoppers were anything to go by, it seems all is going reasonably well in these parts
Tonight's intended overnighting spot was a pretty easy find and its discovery helped in no small part by some software (Komoot) Emma uses to navigate on her bike. From the spot I've spotted a decent number of bird species, the most notable being crested tits. A few roe deer have also emerged as daylight's started to dwindle and the trail cam is now also poised.