22/05/2012

German Tour 17/03/10 - 22/03/10

VfL Wolfsburg v Rubin Kasan - 18/03/10 (Ground #166)

 So, about 6hrs kip after me grantham trip, it was time for me german groundhop hols!  me mate picked steve up then me, then it was off to ponteland airport for a pre-flight pint. On the plane to dussledorf we had our 1st german beer of the holiday, was free aswell. After touchin down on german soil we got our bags, did the monorail to the station & then got train to the main dussledorf station. 


Got some supplies in, then did train to munich. Was no game on there, but just made for a canny train trip to make most of our all-line german rail rover! The train reached speeds of up to 160mph! Which was awesome! Arrived in munich about 6.20, found our hotel checked in then went in search of some beer. After a long trek round we ended up in the bar nxt to the station, where i jus had a cupla JDs then we headed back to the hotel where more JD was drank, then went to bed.
Woke up on the thursday mornin, me first german footy day had arrived!! After a spot of breakfast we did abit of shoppin then went to munich station, stocked up on beers, then did the 10.30 train up to Hanover.


 where we changed onto train to wolfsburg arrivin at t.time. 


Did taxi to hotel, sorted our stuff out, then walked into town to the ground to take some pics while it was still light. The pub next to ground just happened to have a do on, so no beers there then. We were directed to the sports bar at the side of the ground. When we ordered the beers in we were told it was non-alcohol beer! Steve was gutted not to be drinkin proper beer on his birthday!! It was canny tho, so we had a cuple more before headin into ground. Inside was awesome!!








 Had some scran then more non alco beer. As the ground filled up, we took our seats, non alco beer in hand. Was suprised the amount of fans that made the trip over! so after a few non-alco beers, we enjoyed our first game on non UK soil. typical that THAT ex mag scored! Rubin scored a crackin goal aswell. more non-alco beer was supped durin the match, as the tension & enjoyment kicked in. so, Extra time it was, it was after 11pm now! Wolsburg scored a cracker just as pens looked likely!! great game, great atmosphere, great day!! game finished about 23.45, we headed strait back to B&B for sleepage :)


FC Hansa Rostock v MSV Duisburg - 19/03/10 (Ground #167)

After breakfast we got taxi to station, then train to Hanover



 where we got train up to hamburg. Hotel was only cupla mins from the station so we were back out to station in plenty of time for our train to Rostock. This was our first venture into the old eastern side of Germany. The town was about 10 mins walk, we found a nice little bar which was part of a hotel, they had a good sized beer menu. The beer was quality & cheap! 



After a few hrs in there, we made our way to ground via taxi. I cudnt believe it when we there, plastic pints of beer were availiable to buy from kiosks outside! 




We found our turnstiles, got some scran, pint of beer, we were jus about to get into the terrace when rostock scored! I was lovin the ground, food & beer, then a good goal put the home team 2 up. HT 2-0, more beer & food were purchased. We also had a look at the merch stall. With more beer we took our seat for the 2nd half. The atmosphere was class, rostock went 3 up half way thru the half to secure the win. We were jus on our way out when the visitors pulled 1 back. FT 3-1. We got to the station in plenty of time for our train. We stocked up at the station offy. On way back to hamburg we had to change once at Lubeck ,arrivin about 10.50, we cudnt really be bothered to go for a pint so it was back to the hotel for a canny kip :-)






DSC Arminia Bielefeld v SC Paderborn - 20/03/10 (Ground #168)

Early start for this saturday double header, had to get 7.45 train from hamburg down to dortmund. 


Arrived around 10.30, taxi to hotel, checked in & had to leave bags coz rooms wernt ready yet. So it was taxi back to the station, more scran, got cupla beers for train to bielefeld. 


Was about 20 mins walk to the ground. This was the only game we didnt have tix in hand for, we had to pick them up at the ground which was abit of a farce as me printer was fuct & cudnt print email off! After findin somebody who knew what we were on about, we were directed to a gate where our tix were in envelope!


 So we got in, got beer & made way to our seats. Cupla mins later a lovely cross was headed in for bielefeld! HT 1-0. Time for scran & more beer! We found some empty seats with a great view for the 2nd half. A class free kick made it 2, paderborn pulled it back to 2-1. A class strike from the edge of the box made the game safe for bielefeld. Sometimes ppl leave games early to beat traffic or get to the pub, but 10 mins b4 the end of this game i went for a pint & brung it back to me seat! By this point i wished i lived in germany & went to games everyday, such was the quality of it all. FT 3-1. We had plenty time so finished our beers with more scran, then made our way back to the station calling in a offy along the way, then did the train back to dortmund :-)


Borussia Dortmund v Bayer 04 Leverkusen - 20/03/10 (Ground #169)

After we got off the train at dortmund we actually a found irish pub! 

So i had my 1st cider in germany. Had a couple in there then got taxi to ground, which turned out to be a shite idea! Traffic was really bad, we ended up jumpin out b4 the ground. A brisk cupla mins walk & we were inside the ground.




 We were jus goin round the concourse lookin for our block when BvB scored, which turned out to be the only goal of the half. Beer & scran was good & required! Got nutha beer & made way to seat for 2nd half. The visitors didnt have many chances, whereas BvB were dominant scorin 2 which cudda been alot more! FT 3-0. I dont usually comment on attendances, but this crowd was awesome, 80,100! We then went to the mega clubshop which had 2 floors! I got mesel a BvB hoodie type jacket & scarf. We were then made aware of tram stop 10 mins walk away that wud take up back into town. On way to then tram stop we came across a scran van & next to it was a van sellin plastic pints of beer!

 Which was very nice indeed! After a few pints there & a canny burger we headed for the tram. When we got back to the station we ended up chattin to some BvB fans, then finished off me pint & got taxi back to hotel where we picked our bags up & went to our rooms. What a day! 2 games & possibly 22 beers!! :-)

FC Union Berlin v Alemannia Aachen - 21/03/10 (Ground #170)

 Early start again, got taxi at 7.20 to dortmund station to catch 7.50 train to berlin.


 The tour & early starts was clearly takin its toll on steve as he slept most of the way as i had a few beers. Arrived in berlin around 11.30, got directions to hotel.

 He wanted to get taxi & get to bed! We found out that we cud get a local train there changing once. So thats what we did. Booked into the hostel, then i ordered taxi to the ground as time was gettin on. We got to the ground, our turnstiles was a canny walk round, but we got in jus before kick off. 





Got a beer in & took our seats. This ground (& as was the hostel) is in the old east side. Shame the game didnt live up to the atmosphere. We were in the opposite to the main home end which was full of flags, banners & lots of chantin. The away fans had half of our end. They were decked out in amber & black, was almost like watchin Boston United! Aachen is defo gonna be a ground am goin to on next germany visit. It pissed down for alot of the match but it didnt stop the flow of beer! Tbh, not alot happened in this game, FT 0-0 was a fair result. After the game we found a nice little pub, had a beer & few shots of jagger then it was taxi back to hostel. steve had very early nite, i stayed in hostel bar & got pissed!


 In the mornin we got local train to east berlin station so to get better seat on dussledorf airport train.


 He slept most of the way again whilst i drank beers. Wasnt much at the airport after checkin in, just a bar, paper shop & a pathetic food outlet that didnt sell owt like chips or burgers! So beers & crisps it was. Had free beer on plane,steve spilt his! Had some scran from greggs on arrival at ponteland airport, then got lift yam off me mate. 5 games in 4 days, great beer, great craic cant wait to go back!

 








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