Berlin!

On Saturday we took the bus to Berlin. The bus was cheap, 23 euro for a round trip. Our first stop was Charlottenburg palace where the Prussian emperors lived. After that we went to a Bundesliga soccer game. Hertha Berlin (ranked 11) played Frankfurt (ranked 13), needless to say it was an important game that had a big impact on the championship rankings. I got a coke (which cost as much as the beer) and a pretzel, I also ended up getting a jersey. They were on sale for 30 euro, normally 85, how could I resist?! It’s the end of the season so they’re trying to get rid of them.

Hertha Berlin plays in the Olympiastadion which is where the 1936 summer Olympics were held. It’s the place where Jesse Owens won four gold medals and kind of ruined the image of Aryan supremacy. It was cool to be sitting in that stadium where so much history took place. I could almost picture Hitler sitting across the stadium in the special seats.

The game was an ok game, but the fans were amazing! At the start of the game they were announcing the players and the whole stadium was yelling and singing in unison, I got chills. The whole game they were singing, waving their flags, and drumming. It was an amazing atmosphere. The other team was relegated to their corner section but had a coordinated flag waving routine that looked sweet (I’ll try and post some movies). After half-time the Frankfurt side lit a bunch of fireworks, the fly in the air kind that pop, smoke bombs, and flares. It was very interesting. I think that Berlin and Frankfurt have some kind of rivalry, the play was pretty rough with 5 yellow cards in 60 minutes (we had to leave early to catch the bus home) and the fans were going crazy yelling and singing at each other. The only player I knew on the team was John Brooks, the American that scored the winning goal against Ghana in the last world cup. The game ended in a 0-0 tie.

The one annoying thing is that there are no rules against smoking in the stadium. I think I second-hand smoked a couple packs at the game.

The videos aren't working right now. I'll try and fix that later.

Charlottenburg Palace and grounds

I got a pretzel

This is right next to the stadium and was where the olympic swimming events were held.

The fans made an amazing environment.

Sweet flag waving.

The olympiastadion!