A rainy morning in Berlin. I’m pretty tired, but still extremely happy from the soccer match last night. It was a Hertha BSC (the Berlin team) v. Cottbus (a city in Bradenburg, Germany) and even though Hertha lost, it was still absolutely insane. Held at the Olympiastadion, where the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals were played. It was the stadium where, in the 1936, Jesse Owens shocked the Nazis. Music was playing and people where everywhere, all decked head to toe in their Hertha blue and white gear. The smell of sausage and beer permeated the air.
We walked into the stadium itself and stopped to gawk again. It’s absolutely enormous. Throw in about 51,000 screaming, intoxicated and soccer-crazed fans, and you’ve got a good night.
The game was intense and even though we didn’t understand half of the cheers — my German classes didn’t prepare me to translate soccer match chants — we tried to chant along anyway. We left the game with a herd of fans, anticipating chaos when we arrived at the U-Bahn. But the Germans, always efficient, got us out of there in no time. Plus, we had two students on the trip with us, Josh (who became the U-Bahn direction extraordinaire) and James (who always picked the exact right spot for train doors to open). We rode home in a packed car full of still-cheering fans — and we all counted it as one of our best nights.
OK it’s time for breakfast and another day. We’ve been touring all week and we have a free day today. We’re going to the largest and oldest open-air market in Berlin. I can’t wait.
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