We have been wanting to go and check out some event at the Berlin Olympic Stadium for some time. We have only ever been past it before, but never in it or to an event.
Our mate Tom is a big sports fan, and a big 'football' supporter. He and Danika invited us to come along to 'our' local team match at the Olympic Stadium. Perfect!
The match was between Hertha BSC (our team) and Kaiserslautern. These teams are currently in the second division of the Bundesliga, and prior to the match were ranked second and third respectively.
We met Tom and Danika at Wittenburg Platz after their German class finished. From there it is just a straight trip on the U2 U-Bahn line to the Olympic Stadium. Once we got there the place was swarming with Hertha BSC fans.
Tom had to get himself a Hertha BSC scarf right away. What a loyal supporter. Plus it was freaking cold.
We didn't have tickets so went to look for the ticket booth. Before we got there we were approached by a few people trying to sell us tickets. We were very wary of these people, but one guy seemed very genuine and after some awkward procrastinating by the group we decided to buy tickets from him. We got the tickets for 15 Euros each, which we knew was a decent price.
To alleviate our fears, the guy said he was from a ticket agency and would show us his ID. We said what good is that if he takes our money and the tickets turn out to be phony. He said he would let two of us go in first and once we saw they were genuine we would pay him. So we did just that, the girls went in first, no problems. Tom and I paid the guy and we also got in with no issues.
Prior to the match we got some beers, 4 Euros for a 'small' (500ml) and 7 Euros for 1 litre. The stuff was reduced alcohol (3%) but tasted good.
It took us a while to find our seats but hey, more of a look around is okay by me. Up on the first level we could see more supporters coming in from the U-Bahn.
We took our seats in the historic stadium, built between 1934 to 1936 for the 1936 summer Olympics. Our seats were near the Olympic cauldron - which looks pathetically small given the colossal surroundings! The stadium is pretty much as it was in 1936, aside from some seating improvements and a large roof which was constructed for the 2006 World Cup.
The match started with a great atmosphere. Hertha BSC supporters far outnumbering Kaiserslautern. As the players were introduced, the announcer read our the first name and then the crowd would shout out the surname. The names were displayed on big screens so we could shout along as if we were Hertha's biggest supporters!
It was so cold out there. I had thermals, two shirts, two jumpers, a jacket, gloves and a beanie and I was still freezing. Nordine and the others were less warmly dressed so they were icicles even more so than me.
In the first minutes of the game Hertha BSC were awarded a penalty. They missed. Not many other scoring chances for either side after that in the first half. The second half resulted in our team scoring a goal and that was the final result, 1-0 to us!! The win put us on top of the league table. Take that Kaiserslautern.
The game was over and we filed out of the stadium with the 37,000 other fans (the usual capacity is double that). Everyone was going a particular way around the stadium so we followed. We ended up pretty much walking around the whole stadium before we got back to the U-Bahn. An unexpected external tour of the grounds!
With all those people waiting for the train we wondered how long we would have to wait to get home. A train came and most people managed to squeeze on - sweet. We were home so much easier than expected - no delays.
Our mate Tom is a big sports fan, and a big 'football' supporter. He and Danika invited us to come along to 'our' local team match at the Olympic Stadium. Perfect!
The match was between Hertha BSC (our team) and Kaiserslautern. These teams are currently in the second division of the Bundesliga, and prior to the match were ranked second and third respectively.
We met Tom and Danika at Wittenburg Platz after their German class finished. From there it is just a straight trip on the U2 U-Bahn line to the Olympic Stadium. Once we got there the place was swarming with Hertha BSC fans.
Approaching the stadium is quite a site. Given its history starting with the 1936 summer Olympics and imposing Third Reich architecture - the searchlights certainly set an imposing sight.
Tom had to get himself a Hertha BSC scarf right away. What a loyal supporter. Plus it was freaking cold.
We didn't have tickets so went to look for the ticket booth. Before we got there we were approached by a few people trying to sell us tickets. We were very wary of these people, but one guy seemed very genuine and after some awkward procrastinating by the group we decided to buy tickets from him. We got the tickets for 15 Euros each, which we knew was a decent price.
To alleviate our fears, the guy said he was from a ticket agency and would show us his ID. We said what good is that if he takes our money and the tickets turn out to be phony. He said he would let two of us go in first and once we saw they were genuine we would pay him. So we did just that, the girls went in first, no problems. Tom and I paid the guy and we also got in with no issues.
It took us a while to find our seats but hey, more of a look around is okay by me. Up on the first level we could see more supporters coming in from the U-Bahn.
We took our seats in the historic stadium, built between 1934 to 1936 for the 1936 summer Olympics. Our seats were near the Olympic cauldron - which looks pathetically small given the colossal surroundings! The stadium is pretty much as it was in 1936, aside from some seating improvements and a large roof which was constructed for the 2006 World Cup.
The match started with a great atmosphere. Hertha BSC supporters far outnumbering Kaiserslautern. As the players were introduced, the announcer read our the first name and then the crowd would shout out the surname. The names were displayed on big screens so we could shout along as if we were Hertha's biggest supporters!
It was so cold out there. I had thermals, two shirts, two jumpers, a jacket, gloves and a beanie and I was still freezing. Nordine and the others were less warmly dressed so they were icicles even more so than me.
In the first minutes of the game Hertha BSC were awarded a penalty. They missed. Not many other scoring chances for either side after that in the first half. The second half resulted in our team scoring a goal and that was the final result, 1-0 to us!! The win put us on top of the league table. Take that Kaiserslautern.
The game was over and we filed out of the stadium with the 37,000 other fans (the usual capacity is double that). Everyone was going a particular way around the stadium so we followed. We ended up pretty much walking around the whole stadium before we got back to the U-Bahn. An unexpected external tour of the grounds!
With all those people waiting for the train we wondered how long we would have to wait to get home. A train came and most people managed to squeeze on - sweet. We were home so much easier than expected - no delays.
No comments:
Post a Comment