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Alles ist Fussball
Probably the most famous of all monuments in Berlin even got a bad case of soccer fever. My Berliner friend Matthias, my Danish friends Astrid and Torben in front of Brandenburger Tor and a tiny football... One of the advantages of being a traveller and a woman of leisure is of course that you can do really time wasting things like watching TV all day or lying on the beach from dawn to dusk because you have the luxury of time. And so I decided when the soccer world cup began that I would watch all 64 games or at least attempt to. Having been deprived of quality soccer (I dont think I offend anyone by stating that you can hardly call the Knights quality soccer) for more than 6 years and of course being the soccer fan I am, I was more than excited at the propect of drinking beer and watching soccer every night with my dad and various friends.
In these times of terrorism and the increasing divide between certain cultures (I probably dont need to specify further), I found the soccer world cup a refreshing event that celebrates multiculturalism and gives everyone an opportunity to feel a certain pride in their country. Even as an outsider (Denmark unfortunately didnt make the World Cup and perhaps less surprisingly neither did New Zealand), I found it a great delight to watch supporters from Togo
Ein Berliner
Astrid and I enjoying a Berliner Fass Bier party with the Brasilian samba dancers while the Swedish supporters were singing in the background. Its like a great celebration of diversity unified by the love of the world's greatest sport: soccer.
Of course I also watch soccer for the love of the game not just to watch the supporters and everyone will probably be very interested in knowing who my favourite team is. It is of course the team with not only the greatest player of all time but also one of the sexiest men alive: Zinedane Zidane. And lucky for me I had this little agreement with him beforehand that I am watching the final in Paris and I would like France to make the final. So far it is looking very promising.
After this ode to the soccer world cup, it is not surprising that when an opportunity arose to go with a friend to Berlin for two days that I packed my bags immediately. The chance of being in the heart of the world cup was too good to miss.
So, off we went - my friend Astrid to look for an apartment in Berlin given the very lucrative housing market in Germany
at the moment and me, ready to discover another European city. And what a trip it was. In just 36hours we drove 1,000km between Denmark and Berlin, saw nearly every tourist sight in Berlin by foot, looked at apartments, went shopping and I even managed to go for a run as well. And this was all thanks to my friend Matthias who kindly donated his student home for us to sleep in and a lot of his time to be not only our personal tourist guide, but also home buying negotiater. So here's a big thanks to Matthias!
My pictures of Berlin probably sum up my impression of the city. Most obvious was of course the world cup fever - every car was displaying the German flag, every shop had soccer displays, many tourist attractions had painted soccer balls and flags including the giant TV tower and even the rubbish bins had been painted into goals! Apart from the dominating soccer fever, Berlin is a very interesting city with so much history. I found it remarkable to see a European city where half the city (the East) is so brand new. Almost every building in Eastern Berlin has been
demolished and brand new buildings have been built whereas in West Berlin the buildings are much older. However, the most interesting part is of course the history of the Wall and I can highly recommend the "Checkpoint Charlie" museum which features some fantastic stories of East Berliners attempt to cross the Wall and escape to the West. One of my favourite stories was of a woman hidden between to hollow surfboards on the roof a car. But there were many more stories of tunnels being dug, people dressing up as Russian soldiers, cars being modified as people smugglers and so on. It truly puts your life in perspective when you think of the struggles those people went through risking their lives in attempting to escape to what they thought was a better life. And the fact that it is only 18 years ago that this was still happening is even harder to understand.
After being in the midst of the world cup fever and seeing how confident the Germans were that they were going to win the world cup it was almost a shame to see them lose the semi final last night to Italy. However, they lost to
Even the rubbish bins love soccer
The headline reads: "Throw in - goal...." a better team. And so I am off to France to watch France beat Italy in the final. N'est-ce pas?
PS. In case you were wondering, yes, Astrid got her cool apartment in Berlin, so if you ever need a holiday home in Berlin let me know and I will put you on to her.
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mother eileen
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vanilla slice!
Glad to hear you are so much enjoying life, still!! You were so much in our 'presence' this last week, as I made THE VANILLA SLICE for dessert at a potluck supper!!! Managed to save a piece to bring home for Pamela so she could really 'celebrate' with you!!! Don't forget, if you get to Luxembourg, to look up my other sister, you would so much enjoy her. Good luck in your further travels. Mother E