Guest Post: Match Day

We asked Tim if he'd like to be a guest writer on our blog and cover the highlight of our Germany trip: seeing a Bayern Munich match in person. He accepted the challenge. This is what he had to share:

Match Day
by Tim Botting

My first thought after waking up on April 23: Match day! Time to see “The Old Lady”! Indeed, after months of planning, the football match day had finally come. I donned my Bayern Munich kit, which I purchased earlier in the week, and we left around lunch time for the football grounds. Based on the apparel of the football fans in the subway and the short walk to the grounds, a club scarf is the most common and probably stylish way to show support for your club.

Upon arriving to the outskirts of the stadium, we immediately saw the Olympic rings hanging outside the entrance. Hertha Berlin plays their matches at the Olympiastadion, a stadium where some events during the infamous 1936 Olympics were held. At first glance, this was fairly obvious since the stadium looks like it was made of old brick which is quite imposing. I am sure that is was the idea of the designer. Adjacent to the stadium was a field hockey arena. After we gained entry into the Olympiastadion, we wandered around to look for other historic structures. We were shocked to discover that a field (where a cricket match was occurring) was actually an area where Hitler staged numerous troop rallies often seen in the historic photos documenting the events leading up to WWII. There was also a swimming pool under renovation, likely from the Olympic games, as well as small monuments from other Olympic host cities with the names of German medal winners.

The front of the Olympiastadion

People playing cricket on the Maifield

The Olympic pool next to the stadium

Hertha Berlin itself is also historic. Nicknamed “The Old Lady”, the club began in 1892 as the first exclusive football club in Germany. It was named after a steamship with a blue and white smokestack (club and kit colors) which had transported one of the club founders previously.  Hertha Berlin is also a founding member of the German Cup and German football league known as the Bundesliga. The Olympiastadion hosts the German Cup every year. Unfortunately Hertha Berlin was knocked out of the semifinals of the German Cup earlier in the week by Borussia Dortmund. The match we saw was a normal Bundesliga game versus Bayern Munich, a consistently dominant team.

Group selfie in front of the stadium

A big lawn area on the south side of the stadium

Grabbing some beers before the match starts

After completing our stroll, it was time to find our seats. Due to the high profile nature of the game between two teams in the top five of the Bundesliga standings, I had to scramble to get tickets the day they became available (approximately two months before the game) from the club website. It became obvious that I was not going to get seven seats together, so I frantically searched the sections and was able to purchase tickets in a group of two (seats next to each other), a group of three (seats 6, 8 and 10 – hoping that a stranger would allow us to swap seats) and another group of two (piggyback seats) in three completely different sections of the arena. All of the seats were located near a corner of the pitch just in different areas of the stadium. I chose to sit in the group of three seats with Brandon and Katie, since that particular section was close to the home supporters section, which I assumed was going to be lively and entertaining. I was not disappointed!

Match Ticket

Panorama of the pitch from our seats

Me and Katie enjoying the view

Brandon and Katie pre-match

Right before the match was set to kick off, the Bayern Munich visiting supporters lit off red flares (their club and kit color) which was met with loud jeering from the home supporters. Interestingly, Americans boo loudly when they are angry at sporting events, but Europeans whistle. These whistles are deafening compared any boos you would hear at an American event, probably with the exception of a Cleveland Browns American football game. While I was initially surprised by the flares, it is not uncommon for flares to be lit at football games across the world. The match was delayed for a few minutes as the wind blew the smoke from the flares across the pitch, likely obscuring the view of the television cameras.        

Bayern Munich fans lighting their flares

  

A view of the Bayern flares from Nate's seats

The first half of the match was pretty entertaining as both Hertha Berlin and Bayern Munich had a few chances to score but squandered them. Regardless of the play on the field, the endless number of faithful club supporters from both teams kept singing, chanting and cheering. Bayern Munich managed to score two goals in the second half: one on a deflection and one sudden shot that may have caught the goalkeeper off guard. The second half as a whole was much less entertaining than the first half, as Bayern Munich scored their first goal right after the start of the second half and subsequently maintained possession fairly well for the rest of the game. Their manager, Pep Guardiola, is known for teaching players that ball possession is paramount, a highly successful style he became famous for when he was the manager of FC Barcelona. It would have been incredible to see Hertha Berlin break the goalkeeper’s clean sheet and watch the eruption from the home supporters, but alas, Bayern Munich is a difficult team for any club to score on.

Hertha Berlin setting up for a corner kick

The game in action

After the game, the players shook hands and some swapped kits. A few Hertha Berlin players tossed their kits in a trash can, showing disgust for the match result. Players from each club went to salute their loyal fans and complete one last rendition of their club anthems. I was impressed by how many supporters from both clubs stuck around for this salute and remained upbeat, possibly aided by consuming copious amounts of beer. Indeed, Hertha Berlin and Bayern Munich supporters appeared to follow the timeless football motto ranking their priorities in order of importance: “God…Country…Club…”

Standing for the final minutes of the game

The final score

Our Awesome German Friends

One of the perks of doing a week in Germany, and specifically visiting Berlin, is that a friend of mine from work, Anton, and his wife Jaqi moved out here a few years ago, and I've been wanting to visit them for awhile. So luckily all the stars aligned and such a visit worked out this trip. I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's almost no better kind of travel than the kind where you get to visit your friends. And the same held true with visiting these two wonderful people.

We got to hangout with them twice. The first time was actually the first night we arrived in Berlin, and it was awesome. Quite possibly the best night we had of our Europe travels thus far. What made the night so great may have been the simplicity of what we did. After some back and forth on potential ideas for plans, Nate, Tim, Katie, and myself just went over to their place for the evening. We watched a German Cup semifinal football match on TV. We got to try two of Anton and Jaqi's homebrew beer creations that they conveniently had on tap in their living room. They introduced us to a special German spirit called Pfefferminzlikor, which was delicious. And, we learned the German way to "cheers" or "prost" with direct eye contact to avoid bad luck. They gave us their insights into German culture and various happenings around the area. And best of all we just got to catch up on life, share stories, and enjoy the good company of old friends. 

Anton, Jaqi, me, and Katie showing off our couch surfing skills at the end of the night.

Anton pouring us all some "Pfeffe"

The second time we got to catch up with them (and this time their son as well) was at a brewery called Vagabund Brauerei. The craft beer scene in Germany is pretty new. This place just started up a couple years ago thanks to a kick-starter campaign. Anton and Jaqi were among their first supporters being fans of good craft beer, so they seemed well known by several people at the bar. All four beers (American pale, double IPA, Irish red, and birthday cake porter) we tried were delicious, and we again had a great time just catching up on life. 

Our flight at Vagund Brauerei

Our time with them was too short, but that's how things go when you are in and out of a country in just a week. And it was especially too bad it didn't work out to play any soccer with Anton while we were around since that was our closest connection several years ago back in Michigan. Sadly I didn't bring the right footwear. Alas. Hopefully we can have a trip back to visit them again in the future, or at the very least catch up with them the next time they're back in the States.

A Busy Day in Berlin

Thursday was a busy day of exploring Berlin. We started the day at Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The camp is located in Oranienburg just outside of Berlin, but easily accessible via train. In fact, this train and the town were present during the operation of the concentration camp. The main headquarters of the SS were in town and people's houses abutted the walls to the camp. The entrance road to the camp was closed to the public on weekdays, but citizens were free to stroll down it on weekends. Thus townspeople had to have some idea of what was going on in the camp as well as daily interaction with the SS. This was surprising and disturbing to me, as I had always thought of concentration camps being in the middle of forests or farmland, not in a town. 

We took a two-hour, English-speaking guided tour of the camp, which was a good decision. Our guide was German-born, and it was interesting to hear her personalized thoughts on the camp. She pointed out things we wouldn't have picked up on from the museum exhibits. For example, she stressed that Hitler did not just take power (as she was taught in school), but was elected in a democratic system. She also emphasized how within three quick months the democracy was turned into a dictatorship. She explained the continuing controversy over the fact that the former SS training school and buildings have been preserved and are now a police academy. 

The camp was constructed in a triangular shape and was a model for other camps. Due to its proximity to Berlin and surrounded by SS headquarters, prominent officials and foreign visitors were given tours. Of course, visitors only saw what the SS wanted them to see. Over 200,000 prisoners were put in a space that was meant to house 20,000. Most were political prisoners, and 99% were men. But, as our guide pointed out that meant that at least 2000 prisoners were women, which is still a large amount. They suffered much brutality, and our guide emphasized many times that many of the guards were violent not because they were forced to be, but because they chose to be. 

It was also nice to get our guide's overview without having to read every display board and come across more sensitive details of the concentration camp. To be honest, I wasn't particularly looking forward to our visit to the camp and may not have gone if I had been visiting Germany alone. I went through a period where I read multiple WWII themed books as a kid until it eventually freaked me out. That plus some intense holocaust museum visits in both the US and Israel have been enough for me. 

I didn't take any pictures of the camp. I wasn't in the mood to take pictures. I didn't really feel the need to remember what the camp looked like. And, I felt that it's something you just have to see and experience for yourself. 

After leaving Sachsenhausen we went back to more central Berlin. We stopped at Treptower Park and saw the giant Soviet War Memorial. It was constructed in East Berlin by the Soviet Union to commemorate 80,000 Soviet soldiers who died there in battle. 

Giant arches opening up to a giant statue afar

The view behind us of impressive, neat lines of trees

Closer view of the statue with a garden in front full of Soviet symbolism

The centerpiece: Statue of a Soviet solider carrying a German child

From the memorial we walked to an abandoned amusement park. The park was started in East Germany before the wall came down and had a tumultuous financial history until it was closed in 2002. Since then the abandoned park has been used as a set for a few films. The park is surrounded by fencing and signs warning passersby of guards and to keep out. Even so, we hear that many people try to scale the fence and wander around. Although the park is next to a nice walking path and the lovely River Spree, the dilapidated Ferris wheel still moving in the wind lends to its creepiness. 

Ferris wheel slowly turning in the wind at the abandoned amusement park

The River Spree

People were renting paddleboats near this bridge to enjoy the sunny day on the river

The walk between the memorial and amusement park and back was much longer than expected. By the end, we were very weary. This combined with the scene of abandonment at the amusement park, the depressing themes of the war memorial, and the obvious emotional exhaustion of visiting a concentration camp made for honestly an extremely draining day. We were more than ready to grab some dinner and call it a day. 

Berlin has a Thursday evening street food market at Markthalle Neun that we wanted to check out for dinner. It was mercifully close to a subway station, and we easily reached the market and wandered around checking out the food stalls. We had heard that it was a popular market and the stalls often sell out of food by 8 pm. It was definitely busy, but it was still maneuverable. There was BBQ, ethnic foods, cheese and meat platters, bread, alcohol, desserts and more. We tried a lot of different delicious ethnic foods and then located the beer stall in the back. Happily, the market ended up being a more flavorful and lighthearted way to finish our draining day. 

Popular Markthalle Neun

Eating potstickers and drinking beer

A Whirlwind Day in Hamburg

We manged to see some interesting attractions in Hamburg, despite being in the city for less than two days. It was cold and windy most of the time, but we did a lot indoors and made the most of it. 

We took an ICE train from Munich to Hamburg. It was a 6 hour ride, but the time passed quickly. Train travel is definitely much more comfortable than air travel. 

The next morning we headed to the Hamburg Volkspark Stadium. 

Nate found several munzees as we walked to the stadium

Stadium with several small soccer fields in front

Hamburg team mascot

The stadium with UV lights on the far end to help grow the grass

From the stadium we took the train to the harbor 

"Skate or die" as proclaimed on a harbor wall

There's an old tunnel under the Elbe River to get to the other side. There's an elevator or you can take the stairs like us. 

Cars have their own special elevator as well

Cars enter the elevator and tunnel from here

View down the tunnel

We kept a close eye for leaks in the tunnel, but mainly saw artwork like this

Panorama of the Hamburg skyline from across the Elbe River

An classic photo of the city that would look better on a nicer day

The biggest attraction of the day was Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg, a place consisting of rooms and rooms of miniature trains, landscapes, villages, and people. It was amazingly detailed and expansive; it took us over 3 hours to work our way through all the exhibits. Every 20 minutes or so the overhead lights would dim to simulating nighttime. Lights in the exhibits turned on to allow us to see villages and night and peer into tiny, detailed rooms in the buildings. A brochure listed a dozen things to try to find, kind of like a "Where's Waldo?" or "I-Spy" game, which also entertained us. 

Miniature stadium with thousands of tiny fan figurines and a show playing on the stage

In a roped off area of the building workers were constructing a new exhibit based on scenes around Italy 

The Swiss Alps landscape complete with trains, hot air balloon, villages, and people

Dad, Nate, and Pam look like giants compared to the miniatures

The Alpen village at night

A "working" Swiss chocolate factory that would wrap and dispense real chocolate!
Obviously this was by far my favorite part.

Red Bull Flugtag event miniature

A castle at night

An entertaining scene of a bank robbery in action with the thieves tunneling toward the safe where police are waiting

A monk lowering himself via rope to his cliff-side monastery

Superman! 

Another cityscape at night

Just a small bit of what is needed to run all the trains and lights
P.S. Did you notice the little figurines?

Miniature airport at night

An airplane taking off and heading toward the movable panel in the wall ahead

The Millennium Falcon swooping in for a not-so-graceful-but-entertaining landing

The Millennium Falcon taxiing to its gate

Even the US Space Shuttle made an appearance, complete with a firetruck receiving party. The designers were very thorough. 

Ski Resort in the Alps

Jurassic Park

The control center

Miniature miniature golf. Very meta!

Volksparkstadion - The Hamburg football stadium we visited earlier that same day

UFO landing

Downtown hamburg

Hamburg Central Station

This building opened up to show even the inside details of the building

One of the rooms had some Minions partying

Brandon's goal was to find this little penguin family that was in the brochure. He succeeded.

A working drive-in movie theater showing an actual Pixar short

Area 51

These pictures depict just a few of the scenes at Miniatur Wunderland, so you can probably understand how we spent so much time there. Nate and Brandon lasted the longest, and they could have probably explored longer had the rest of the group's eyes not glazed over. As it turns out, it is exhausting looking at all the little details for hours on end. Afterwards the group set out to explore a non-miniature downtown before grabbing a bite to eat. But due to tired legs, hungry stomachs, and a bit of directional confusion, the only place we made it to before dinner was the Hamburg Rathaus.

The Hamburg Rathaus - Town Hall

Inside the Rathaus

Tim had looked up a bar in Hamburg called Schankwirt Schaft that had 12 craft beer taps available. Their selection did not disappoint. We tried at least half of their beers either through tasters, samplers, or a full pour. Our favorite was an IPL by Kehrwieder called Prototype. They also had some carnitas and vegetarian tacos on the menu. WIN!

Our beers

Best tacos we've had in Europe thus far

The one thing our restaurant lacked was dessert. This was especially sad since it was Nate's birthday, and we wanted to make sure we celebrated it adequately. We tried to get a recommendation from our waiter but he warned us that a lot of places were closing soon. Sure enough, nothing was open. We continue to be surprised with how early everything closes in certain parts of Europe. We eventually parted ways with Pam and the parents and continued our pursuit of dessert closer to our place. We finally found an open grocery store where we were able to purchase cake and ice cream, took it back to our place, and had a tasty ending to our night.

Happy Birthday Nate!