He said help yourself to the fridge and of course I did. All I have heard about Germany is how good the beer is so naturally I grabbed a beer (Brinkhoff no.1) and made myself at home. I mean when in Rome...or this case Germany. This of course made Andy laugh. He gave me a "you're not hear an hour and your already drinking!" I told him that I had just heard so many good things about it. Apparently Dortmund used to have a bunch of breweries in the 80's and 90's (don't quote me on it) and had some good beer. Now there was only 2 or so left. Brinkhoff was seriously a traditional Dortmund beer.
At soccer world I watched Andy train the kids in soccer. He is really good at it, even in a foreign language you can tell he's challenging and tough, trying to get everything out of the kids...while still being able to know when that fine line of too much is. I think he'd be a great coach one day. Andy showed me the empty pitch and it was breathtaking to see the endzone squared off with 30,000 fans ready to yell the opposition into submission. Quite an amazing site. We then went to eat with Josefin, Till, Wolf, and Kathe. It was a blast. I'm glad it was not so overwhelming this time being around a totally new different language. We then went to a little TRADITIONAL pub and had a beer and watched the soccer match.
When we got back Andy wanted to play Madden. I had been talking a lot of trash over the internet about how good I am and blah blah... I mean it's how we roll in the 205...(just ask Tumi, DB, or Bull) Of course I won! ha no but it was a really good game and I had to score in the 4th with 2 mins left.
The next morning we woke up to a symphony of Porsche enginge's boasting their horsepower. It was a beautiful sound...actually I think it would make a great commercial to have the engines playing Mozart or Bach! As you already know the Autobahn was an amazing experience...SEE PREVIOUS POST...
Then we came back and got ready for gameday. Dortmund Borussia vs. Bayer Leverkusen. The match would be intense throughout. On the way up to the stadium I walked the path with many fans clothed in the bright yellow and black...some bundled up with Borussia scarfs displayed, while others bared the cold weather to show off their team spirit. As I inched closer to the stadium, the crowd had already began to assemble. It's still a solid 2 to 3 hours until the match even starts. The smells coming from the Brats and Beer stands lining the path were great. I sported my new Dortmund jersey.
As I walked in I had to go under the stadium to get to the access for the business club. Mats Hummels, a friend of Andy and defender for the pro team, gave me the ticket for the game. He was a really nice guy, down to earth and I appreciate that. I started wishing I could speak German now to communicate. Actually I really start feeling like I want to speak a lot of languages. The ticket was great first row close to the middle or "50 yard line."
As I got to the business club it was a great buffet of currywurst, turkey, veggies, kraut, soup, the works...and beer. I ate and then walked outside to check out the scene. The Gelb Wand or "yellow wall" had already started to get a bit rowdy and there's still over an hour before the match starts, but don't worry they wouldn't stop. You'll just have to see how the rest of the match goes on my video below. It's 10 mins long, I know I know...I'll start making them shorter, but I really wanted to capture the atmosphere.
After the game we came back and hung for a bit. We got ready and went out to Justins, a nice club in Dortmund. They give you a ticket which stamps how much you owe throughout the night and you have to pay after the night is up. Anyways I almost lost this because it fell out of my pocket, luckily Josefin found it or else I would've been out 80 Euros. The club was great, we got a table and just enjoyed it. They had a saxaphone player who would play with the house music and that was really a neat sound. Some of the players from the team showed up and it was cool getting to be around them, but I have to say Till, Wolf, Andy, Josefin, and Kathe were a ton of fun!!
Till, Wolf, Andy, and Yours Truly
Josefin and Kathe
The next morning we went to see Dortmund from the tower which is 200 meters up. (working on another video to show that one, promise it will be shorter) You could see the entire town and it was extremely cold and windy. Andy, Josefin and myself had to share just 2 pairs of gloves. The one who didn't have them on really couldn't move their hands...it was that cold. The wind made it a bit frightening as well because on the very top there was not a good guard rail, only waste high. The wind really could blow you off if you weren't careful.
Kaiser Wilhelm
Afterwards we went to see the Kaiser statue. Kaiser Wilhelm statue, which is a lot bigger then it seems at first glance. We played around up their for a while and again could overlook the half frozen sea and some of the businesses in the valley below. Josefin actually drove right up to the statue which apparently you can't do...C'est la vie...
We ate at an American restaurant for Hot chocolate and nachos. The best American food I've had in Europe so far. I can't remember exactly when but it may have been earlier for lunch, Andy's mom made a TRADITIONAL German meal. Goulash with beef, these amazing green beans rapped in thing proscuitto like bacon that had been crisped(absolutely delicious), 2 salads, German bread which is really good, and for dessert a Waffle with cherry sauce and whipped cream. Absolutely amazing. I love home cooked meals, regardless of where I am...well atleast so far!!
Later was the Superbowl, not until after we played our own superbowl on madden and won with the Cowboys. We watched the game and I got pretty warn out from the non stop weekend and started to drift. The next day I had to fly out. It goes by too soon. Deutschland was good to me and for once I didn't feel like the giant walking amongst the French, but rather just an average human. The food and beer were also a lot less expensive in Germany, maybe why they are bigger people?!?
The flight got delayed an extra 4 hours so I slept in the airport and got a great 12 euro meal from Air France for my troubles. I wouldn't have traded it though. All in all it was great and I'm so glad I got to meet up with Andy. 
For My Troubles.
The Chocolate cake was really good. Like German Chocolate cake with a berry type of layer and a cream layer... Delicious
It reminds me that sometimes the friends you make are friends for life. You never know when your paths may cross again and when destiny may bring you back together. So meet new people, say hi to someone new today, you never know what type of friendship could develop from idk ... lets say a highschool weightlifting class and still remain friends after not seeing someone for 7 years... Or maybe reconnect with an old buddy.... either way, Life is short and People are worth it.
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