Berlin, Germany / Women's World Cup Game

So Berlin means swamp town, and it's pretty much a lot of water and a big town.. Which for us meant we got to stay on a hostel boat. Plus, being that it was a boat we got a "cabin" (still not our own bathroom or shower) all to ourselves for 3 days. This is great because it means we don't have to pad lock our stuff up every time we leave. It also means we so read out a little more than normal, and packing when we got home from the game at 1 AM last night (for our 8AM train) means that I put my Berlin map (with all the specific names of the sights and a few notes) In my souvenir bag (which is getting quite big, I think I'll be purchasing a cheap small hand bag to carry everything home)... So, I'm just gonna list some of the things I enjoyed (or I find funny and/or interesting):

-Ampelmann: you probably don't know, because I sure had never heard of him, but Ampelmann is the little green man that let's you cross the street (he is red too, but I'm partial to the green one...not only does he let you go, but he is cuter). Anyways, when we got into Germany we started noticing the different ones, and in Berlin it became obvious that these specific little guys are the best. They even haven their own store (dont worry, we got Ampelmann souvenirs). Not only are they just awesome for being just what they are, but they pretty much represent the trip. As we have moved along we have had to figure out the proper way to cross the street everywhere. For instance, in most of Italy you just go. The car isn't stopping unless you're in the road (eye contact is a must, though). But, Ampelmann makes it easy (also, the fact that crossing on red will get you a pedestrian ticket).. You just wait for the cute green guy. Only disadvantage thus far, there is no yellow man....so when it turns red you run the rest of the way.. And if it's already red, you wait

-Paris plaza and the famous arch way (remember, lack of names..): first, there are all kinds of people there for tourist. From a big group of guys break dancing to yoda and Mickey mouse...if you want to have someone force you to give them money after you get a picture, this is the place to go. Also, this plaza is home to the famous aldar hotel (name?) aka the place the king of pop (yes, Mr. Jackson) dangled his child over the railing.

-I've actually known this but can't remember if I wrote it. Germany is a baby. It didn't actually become "Germany" until 1871 (95 years after we did in 1776!) just a fun fact...

-we walked over to Hitlers bunker (that place where he killed himself), well, it waste there. It's a crappy gravel parking lot where people take their dogs to poop. Apparently there are two reasons for this, first, to keep the neo Nazis from creating some sort of sick shrine. Second, because who the hell cares about Hitler and wants to "memorialize" this place.

-Hitler was married on April 29th...the same day as William and Kate

-I mentioned it in the Munich post, but in Berlin one of their big 
monuments is this giant (football field or bigger) area with all different sized cement rectangles that go up as high as about 15 feet. It's the perpetrators of war memorial to the Jews (or something like that) and apparently is meant to be locked at and taken to mean whatever you want it to. Our guide gave us a few ideas of what it could represent and they all made sense. You feel small and lost walking through, like they must have felt. It resembles a grave in Prague that has a significance I can't recall right now... And a few others. But, after seeing them both, I'm definitely more a fan of the 122 small memorials in Munich. Mostly, because of what I'll say next, but also because it makes you actually care about it, and you learn something by looking up what the small memorials mean.

-I've decided there are two things I can't stand in Europe. First, beggars. Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for every homeless, foodless, poor, etc. Person I see...but in Europe, they are everywhere...and it may be an ignorant opinion, but in my opinion, at least some of these people could do something else to find enough money to feed themselves. Anyways, I've gotten a little more stern when I just say "no!" to them... Cause after being asked the 100th time for money, I'm kind of over it...and, ironically, if you say no in the native language they immediately walk away..... Number two, tourists at memorials. That may sound strange, but let me explain. Tourists are there to run around laughing trying to take in the "culture" ..which I do too, but at memorials it doesn't stop. They take their pictures posing in front of these places, they run around joking... The beach is made for little jumpy pictures of you in front it...not the Berlin Wall. In my opinion (again, all mine), these places are to learn about why they are there, reflect on that, decide for yourself how you feel about it and take it from there in terms of what you are going to do with the insight you got out of it... I just want to smack these people (not always kids, either, and when they are I want to smack their parents for not teaching them some sort of respect). To me, it would be like walking up to the Vietnam Wall and taking a picture of you smiling, two thumbs up, with it in the background. If you don't see something wrong with that we can chat later and I can explain it a little clearer. 

-our guide told us about a book that sounded interesting, in English it translates as "The Life of The Others" ... About East Berlin and all the secret police and stuff that was going on. As you go through all these tours and hear overwhelming amounts of information, every now and then subjects will peak your interest more than others.. I think the German history so far has been some of the most interesting (and terrible at the same time).. And I definitely want to continue learning about it when we leave.

-I didn't know too much about the Berlin Wall before coming here.. So brief history lesson. It was built overnight on August 13, 1961, to split east and west Berlin (the details behind why I still want to find out a little more detail in). It was actually two walls, a small wall before the large one gave way to what is known as the death strip. It was full if mines, barbed wire, guard dogs, and in shooting distance of several guard towers... There are a lot of famous stories about people trying to escape, and one of the most famous was an 18 year old boy, who in the 70's got into the death strip, his friend got over the big wall, and as he was trying he was shot down. As people on the other side yelled at the guards to do something they watched him bleed to death over the next hour. If you didn't notice it, this was in the 70's.... It just blows my mind that this sort of segregation and hatefulness was going on then (and until 1989 in this case).. But then I realize that stuff like this is going on all over the world today, we just may not be aware of it. It's sickening to think that someone can dislike someone so much for something that has nothing to do with the person they are, I cant even imagine wishing that sort if thing in someone let alone being part of it. 

-another place that was destroyed and never re built was the SS guard and Gestapo headquarters. It's now home to a museum sort of thing called topography of terror. Unfortunately, like many things, we didn't have time to see it. I guess I can add that to things I can't stand about Europe...there is just too much to do.. And not enough time to do it

-we saw check point Charlie...aka the replica for tourist.. We heard a story or two.. I didn't get much out of it.

-our nerdy selves have been trying to remember the conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit so that we had some sort of idea about the weather, we finally remembered it and figured it out as we were walking after our snack break. 

-also, this is when we learned that sharf in German means hot/spicy.. We needed to know for our plan to find amazing and cheap Thai food...which we never actually found, but luckily found pretty good Indian instead. 

-Ikea is Swedish.. After the soccer game last night this may be the only thing I like about the Swedish (joke, kind of....)

-there is a square in Berlin in which I found 3 things very interesting. First, the opera house is there, and it was the only building to be destroyed twice during WWII.. Because Hitler liked his opera, so when it was bombed in 1941 he rebuilt it, only to be bombed by the Americans again in 1945. Second, this is where Juristische Fakultat is, the place Einstein (and some other important people) taught before he  immigrated. Finally, it's where the Nazi book burning took place. Another part of history I've heard about once or twice but didn't get much out of. After learning more about the time period and the Nazi party it was obvious that it was to get rid of any outside thought, anything that was different or unique. Basically what that entire time was about. But, my favorite part is the little memorial there. It's underground, you look into this two foot by two foot semi opaque cover in the ground. And, if you look hard enough you see empty book shelves on the sides of the room. It's really quite meaningful, and yet so subtle. There is also a quote on the plaque near it that reads in English "what starts with burning books, ends with burning bodies" ...and this is a quote from a man in 1820... It's so true though, and the guy who said this obviously had the idea right. Attacking someone for being different, or thinking different or liking something you don't like, will lead to nothing good. Maybe it's because I read a lot into song quotes and find my own personal meanings to them that are so much bigger than they were ever meant to be, but that quote and the idea behind it speaks to everything in the world that is wrong. And it's what we try to teach out children from a very young age, just accept your "neighbor" for who they are... Color, religion, personal beliefs, sexual preferences... I really don't care, and if it was possible to get everyone on the same page, that in the end, that really doesn't matter.. We would live in the most peaceful world anyone could imagine. 

-alright, enough with the seriousness. The TV tower in Berlin, that big giant pole sticking up inn the middle with a silver disco ball on it, was built by some important guy...he was from east Berlin...and in my opinion it was him showing the other side that he has a bigger stick. It made me think of my obnoxious 18 year old neighbors in Auburn that all drive these huge, for no good reason, trucks...and the guy with the biggest truck just happens to be shorter than I am. Ironic? I'll let you decide. But, the people of Berlin so call it "Walters last erection"

-on the night the wall opened (with a drunken, underprepared mistake from the guy in charge) the people of east Berlin celebrated and one of the things they were welcomed to freedom with was a movie... The movie that night was Dirty Dancing... 

So, that was Berlin in a nutshell. We also went to a kind of hidden bar that night after Indian to watch the Germany vs. France game. It was crazy, we walk in this place and it's like a movie theatre with a bar in the back. It got extremely intense, lots of loud cheering, people standing and sitting and just all completely focused on this soccer game. It was spectacular, and a good warm up for the next night in Wolfsburg. 


Wolfsburg day trip:
Way back when Women's World Cup single game tickets went on sale, we got a ticket to the USA/Sweden game in Wolfsburg. Back then we really had no idea what our plan for Germany was.. So it was easy to kind of work it into the trip. Granted, until 5 days ago we didn't exactly have a plan.. We were going to keep going to cologne, but realized we would be stuck with our bags, then we looked for a hostel in Wolfsburg...only one..it was booked. So then we finally got smart and realized it's only an hour outside if Berlin so we would just take a day trip. It worked well. We got up and got there at about 1030 (probably top early, because there isn't much in Wolfsburg unless you have an odd fascination with VW cars, or have time to see some neat science type museum there... Neither of which we qualified for)...we did however find the mall. And the cheap take out style Chinese food inside. And the pet store....and a few other places. Then when stuff finally started picking up at 2 we started having a little more fun. They had a big area for the pre game stuff, a stage, an American tent with giveaways, an electric bull... And a few other things. So, we hung out for a while and a few more boring Wolfsburg hours later finally got to head into the game! 

As I told Courtney, being at this game was tied for the most excited I've ever been to be at a sporting event. It only tied because every tine I said it was the top I kept remembering the national championship...so, I declare it a tie. Point is, just seeing the grass got me excited. I was like a kid in a candy shop, attached to a toy store...with no parents around. I was giddy. Then the goalkeepers stepped out of the tunnel to warm up...literally 100 yards from me I was watching Hope Solo warm up for this huge game... I literally was like a 15 year old girl with all my excitement. So, I took way too many pictures...them the tea, came out (Abby leading they way the entire warm up). It was crazy, and I've seen the US women play before, but between the environment and players on the field that I'm just completely in awe of, it was easily a highlight of the trip for me. 

And, by this point we all know how the game went.. I was also 100 yards away from the (crap) PK call and the free kick that even I am not sure how got in...the only bad part of live games is not a lot of replay. I'm glad I can watch it when I get back again, because as of now I'm convinced the referee had way too much influence on that game. I mean, I'm obviously biased, and I definitely thought we weren't playing to our full potential first half, but a few different calls (or calling some of the crap that the swedens did...they were very scrappy, a lot of dirty stuff off of the ball) and it would be a completely different game. But, that is why I love and hate this game. If one of those post balls would have snuck in... Or that PK not been called...we would be in a different position today. 

I am pretty excited, though, that we get the chance to take Brazil out now. I'm not impressed with them, and I would just love to see our girls take it to them. Plus, how sweet would a Germany/USA final be?!

My room temperature canned ravioli is getting cold, so this post is now over.