Fun with football...and the Fuhrer?

The title of this post may be in poor taste, but it nicely sums up the day's activities. Due to our late night the previous evening, we didn't leave the hostel until about 3:30. We started by making our may through the Reichstag quarter and heading towards Bradenburger Tor and Pariser Platz. Predator was out making his rounds again, and this time Murph broke down and paid 2€ to get a series of pictures taken (look for Murph vs Predator, coming to theaters next summer). I have included pictures of Brandenbuger Tor pre and post football match for your viewing pleasure. The road behind Branderbuger Tor, Unter den Linden, was closed off for outdoor viewing of the game later that night.

From here, we made our way to a series of WWII monuments. The first was the Holocaust Memorial, followed by Hitler's "bunker"(in quotes because only all that remains is the plot of land where the bunker once stood). We surreptitiously joined a tour group and learned that Germany decided it would be best to not have any any sort of memorial where people could pay homage to Hitler, which is definitely for the best. Feeling a bit somber after viewing these two sites, we started heading towards Potsdamer Platz, one of the newest parts of Berlin. Along the way, we came across the Salvador Dali museum and decided to stop in. Among the works that were displayed were illustrations Dali created for Alice in Wonderland, which were pretty awesome. We left the museum and briefly walked around Potsdamer Platz before making our way back towards Brandenburger Tor for the game. 

      
The pre-game atmosphere was amazing to experience. Everyone seemed to be wearing either a flag, a jersey, or had their face painted. I was also pleased to see a sign forbidding any vuvuzelas (the horn that ruined the South Africa World Cup). Seeing all the people lined up in the street reminded me a lot of standing on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia during Live 8 a few years ago. After securing brats and beer, we found a good place to stand and settled in to watch the match. Germany scored around the 20th minute, followed immediately by the obligatory lighting of a flare (not sure why this is a tradition, but it was fun to observe). Denmark answered with a goal of their own and the score was tied at the half. We wandered around a bit and at some point Mike acquired wigs with the colors of the German flag, which naturally we wore for the rest of the night. The second half was slow-building and you could sense that the fans were getting restless. Then, around the 80th minute, Germany scored what ended up being the match-winning goal...and the crowd went wild.  My camera is not so great at taking pictures in the darkness, but I think the pictures below do a nice job contrasting the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. 

After the match, we headed back to the hostel and watched an episode of South Park in German and went to sleep. Today, we are going to channel our inner-European and rent bikes to explore more of the city. I will try to add a post tomorrow morning before we head to the airport on our way to Amsterdam.

Berlin

We arrived in Berlin yesterday and went to our hostel, the Meininger Central Station. After putting our bags down, we roamed around the government quarter (Reichstag) to check out the sights. We quickly realized how exhausted we were, so the walking was minimal. We walked to the Reichstagsgebäude (don't ask me to pronounce it), and of course got some brats. Two quick brat-related facts I have learned so far: 1) Currywurst is quite tasty 2) Curry ketchup, while a strange concept, is great on pretty much everything. Around the corner from the brat vendor, we ran into what appeared to be some sort of festival. However, there appeared to be no actual theme as we saw actors in WWII as well as a guy dressed as Predator. Finally, we decided to give into our slowly building sleep debt and slept for a few hours. 

Upon waking, we walked across the street from our hostel and watched the Poland/Czech Republic match on a giant outside monitor. Although the Czech Republic won, we were entertained by the antics of a group of drunk Polish fans yelling "Polska!" every 10-15 seconds. After the game, we headed back to our hostel and met a German guy named Janeck (yan-ick, not sure if spelling is right) who was looking to go out. We teamed up and headed towards a club he knew about on the 20th floor of a building with a giant Mercedes logo on the top. Unfortunately, the dress code prevented us from going inside (maybe it was Murph's zombie mime t-shirt). Janeck then suggested we try a different, more relaxed club called Maxxim. We got in and proceeded to cut a rug for the next several hours. Even though we can't speak German, every song they played was from the states so we felt right at home (kind of ironic). We left the club around 4 AM and got some Doner (a Turkish kebab sandwich) and headed back for some much needed sleep. Later today we will be heading to watch the Germany/Denmark game outside with thousands of fine German folk. Stay tuned for what promises to be an eventful evening of soccer/football shenanigans. 


Notes from Matthew J. Murphy-Part 2


My favorite part of Munich was probably the English Garden, although there was no nudity as Rick Steve's had promised, it was still pretty cool. The hostel is very different than what I had imagined and luckily it doesn't look like anyone is going to be kidnapping and torturing us. I got some nice German Pizza Hut with salami on one slice so there I go trying something new. The club last night was probably the sweatiest bar I've ever been in but it was a lot of fun. The songs that seemed to be the biggest hits were the techno song from Blade and the Fresh Prince theme song, which is interesting. I enjoyed the 4am Doner, but it was also the biggest mistake of the night.

Auf wiedersehen Munchen, guten tag Berlin

I am adjusting poorly to my second time zone change in 4 days, so this post is being written at 5:30 AM (11:30 EST, 8:30 PST). One benefit of having a jacked up sleep cycle is being wide awake for the sunrise.

Yesterday we journeyed to downtown Munich. I wasn't sure what to expect as this was my first time in a European city. Exiting the Marienplatz train station, we were greeted by the beautiful architecture of the Neues Rathaus.

From here, we wandered through the downtown retail area, eventually stopping at the Hamburg Fish Market for lunch (bratwurst) and a thirst slaking German Pilsner (the brewery was Jever). The brat was delicious, especially when topped with a curry ketchup. After lunch, we headed towards the English Garden (or Englischer Garten). This lovely park was located northwest of the train station and featured, among other things, urban surfing on a river flowing through the park and several nude sunbathers. After strolling through the park and paying to use the bathroom for the first time ever (not too bad, only 50 cents). We started making our way back towards the downtown area to find a place to watch some soccer/football. Upon finding a Paulaner beer garden, we discovered that the game had been delayed due to thunderstorms, so we ate some pretzels and walked west towards the Maximilianeum.

I know what you are thinking, here we are in the beer capital of the world and we have only visited one beer garden. With our walking tour of the city completed, we ducked into a Starbucks to find directions to the Hofbrauhaus. Apparently everyone else had the same idea, but luckily we met a fellow American (lovely lady from Georgia) who gave us her table. They had the France/Ukraine game on and we ordered our first round. About halfway through our first round, Mike, who was wearing a Phillies t-shirt, met a guy named Steve (also from PA) who joins our table. Steve, while nice, appeared to have no short term memory. Lack of a functional hippocampus aside, he was pretty hilarious and we he joined us for another round. We for most of the England/Sweden game and then made our way back to the culturally rich Holiday Inn. It is now 6:10 AM and our flight to Berlin leaves at 10:20 AM. Check back tonight/tomorrow morning for a post from the capital of Deutschland.

Willkommen

I preface this post by apologizing if the writing is poor. At this point, we have slept 2 hours in the past day and a half. We arrived in Munich around 11 AM (5 AM EST or for me 2 AM PST). By the time we reached our hotel, the extravagant Holiday Inn Unterhaching, it was 12:30 and we were 93 Euros lighter (yep, $120 cab ride). After checking in, we were shocked to see that our room had two floors and a skylight. After dropping off our bags, we sampled the local culture by grabbing lunch at a Chinese buffet. Remembering that we had been up for about 24 hours, we headed back to the room for a power nap followed by a quick stint in the sauna (fancy Holiday Inn). We watched the rest of the Italy Croatia game then headed to the restaurant/beer garden at our hotel. We sampled the local fare and beer called Ayinger. Below are a few signs that I found to be entertaining.


 

And now, Matt Murphy

Here are some random thoughts. The flight here was pretty sweet. There were TV's in the headrests and a buttload of free movies. I watched Sherlock Holmes 2, Mission Impossible 3, Underworld 4, but broke the sequel chain with Act of Valor. The German lady next to me game me her dinner roll, which was nice. The radio in the cab played nothing but American music, random 80s American music. It was weird to hear Big Girls Don't Cry and Send Me An Angel.

European Edition

It has been nearly 3 years since my cross country road trip, but my wanderlust has yet again gotten the best of me. This time, I will be exploring Western Europe with Matt Murphy and Mike Kutys. Here is the itinerary:

Plan from Newark to Munich, 6/14
Munich 6/14 - 6/15
Plane to Berlin 6/16
Berlin 6/16 - 6/18
Plane to Amsterdam 6/19
Amsterdam 6/19 - 6/21
Bus to Paris 6/22
Paris 6/22 - 6/25

I will be writing posts from each leg of the journey, Wi-fi permitting. With any luck, we will be able to take part in some Euro 2012 festivities (currently being played in Poland and Ukraine). Stay tuned for a post live from Munich (or Munchen as it is known in Deutschland).

Best of "Campifornication"

As promised, here are the best, and worst parts of Eve and my voyage:

Best City: Chicago (2nd Denver, 3rd San Francisco)
- We got to see all Chicago had to offer and most of Denver. I suspect that San Fran will end up higher with prolonged exposure.

Worst city: Omaha (2nd Reno)
- Omaha tried to emulate big city life, but failed miserably. Reno is just plain seedy.

Most surprising city: Salt Lake City
- Completely shattered my preconceived notions of that town.

Favorite Restaurant: Steuben's in Denver
- After middle America cuisine, this meal was not only well-received, but quite delicious.

Favorite excursion: Yosemite (2nd Having a drink with Jim at the Hyatt in downtown Denver watching the sunset over the Rockies)
- No comment necessary. See Pictures.

Favorite leg of the voyage: Crossing the Rockies (Denver to Wyoming to Utah)
- Seeing the mountains give way to enormous canyons (and eventually salt flats) was amazing.

Favorite State: California (2nd Denver)
- It's now my home. I might as well start feeling good about where I live.

Least Favorite State: Nebraska
- Speeding ticket + hours of staring at corn = flyover state

I will post more pictures of the apartment later.

Thank you to everyone who followed my blog. It was quite the adventure and I hope you all enjoyed being along for the ride.

Exploring the Bay Area

I know it's been a few days since my last entry, but the time has not been idle. With Eve's help, I have managed to furnish my room (sans desk) and unpack all the cardboard boxes. Between shopping and cleaning, Eve and I made our way to the UC Berkeley campus. We parked on the southside, and made our way across in search of Tolman Hall, the Psychology building. Along the way, we encountered a hole in the walkway with an inscription that basically stated that the ground in this hole shall never be part of any country. After taking a picture of Eve's feeble attempt at emancipation, we headed back to my apartment before taking the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transportation) into downtown San Francisco.

We exited the BART at the Powell Street station and followed Market Street down to the Bay. We followed the Bay down to Pier 39 (way to touristy) and then walked through Fisherman's Wharf. From there, we walked down to the beach adjacent to Fisherman's Wharf so Eve could wade in the Bay. After determining that the water was freezing, we walked up Hyde Street to the Ghiradelli Factory and treated ourselves to ice cream topped with their famous chocolate (decadence at it's finest). Next, we made our way to famous Lombard Street, the curviest street in the world. After climbing 2 blocks set at a 45 degree angle, we were rewarded with two excellent views of the city. Extremely hungry and tired from our walking tour, we ate dinner at Brandy Ho's Hunan Kitchen. My mouth and lips on fire, but pleasantly full, me walked back to the BART and called it a night



At approximately 5:12 AM, I dropped off Eve at San Francisco Int'l Airport. She helped me make this place home and I will miss her terribly.