Hertha - goddess of fertility...and fussball?! ;)

So my friends invited me along to the 1936 Olympic Stadium where one of Beriln's soccer/fussball teams plays.

The crowd on their way....






There are the Olympics rings...oh how times have changed and for the better!









There's the Olympic swimming pool...gotta admit...it's all very 'fascist'-cement looking...hmm...








The side view....











The inside! It was truly cool and I enjoyed the atmosphere!

Hertha apparently is a messed-up version of an old Germanic fertility goddess....who would've thought?! ;)




And...they're off! Play! Play! We, Hertha, didn't play so well...I was under-impressed....








If you look to the left you'll see a kid with his soccer scarf on his face, it's because a guy in front of him was smoked a pipe several times during the game - LAME!!

Why do smokers think that is appropriate?





The victorious (undeservedly, however, due to their performance) Hertha lead the crowd in a 'hurrah' cheer!

Germans...or should I say Hertha fans are very 'calm' when it comes to a victory...in the States people would be yelling and screaming 'we're number 1!' etc....in the stadium the fans just clapped, yelled just a bit and then sang a song that sounded very 'calm'..... just odd, from an American perspective....



The view of the Olympic flame cauldron...








And the list of the Olympic winners from 1936....

What? What does that say you ask? Only OWENS, as in JESSE OWENS, USA!! Woot-woot!

(Of course he showed the racist Nazis that they weren't the 'master race', but then he came home and the white Americans treated him like dirt....UGH! Whatever...no more comment...)

I didn't realize this...He also got an gold medal in the 'Weitsprung'...which I am guessing is the Long Jump....but I'm not sure....

After we left the Stadium, Jesse Owens Street! Woot-woot!

Coppers on their ponies to 'keep the peace'....

And the cop vans to 'keep the peace'....

And the S-Bahn ('Fast' Train) station where we got on to go back to our abodes....

Thanks to my friends for making my first Hertha game a reality! (It ONLY took almost 3 years...but hey, better late than never :)

Ostpolitik - new ways of thinking...

Near where a friend of mine lives (old West Berlin) there is the Swedish ambassador's house (I hope this doesn't cause problems...hehe....) where it says that in 1966 the Mayor of West Berlin, Willy Brandt, met with a Soviet official. This is significant because Willy Brandt later became Chancellor (prime minister) of West Germany and initiated what was to be called the new 'Ostpolitik' or 'Eastern' foreign policies. Up until that point West Germany refused to recognize or have diplomatic relations with any country that recognized the East German state (which meant, most of the Eastern/communist bloc countries, i.e. Czechoslovakia, Poland, etc.). Willy Brandt is the one who pretty much said 'we have to move on' and established relations with these countries, even visiting Poland!

And it all started here....oh those neutral Swedes! What they and IKEA can't do?! ;)

(This plaque just gives the history in German...)

London School Trip in May: and the rest...

One of the things that popped up for me to do was to go to St.Martin's in the Fields and attend a 'candlelight' concert....Vivaldi and crew were on hand to show us a good time...











You can kind of see the candles by the pillars and up front...it didn't make much sense for the first half of the concert because of the longer summer night, however, it was nice for the second half....






I had been waiting for almost 6 months to see Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) in 'Oliver!' and finally got a ticket! Woot-woot!

Here is a memory of WWII. A bomb dropped on that date near the theater.....

Hmm...it was pretty good. Their version (and I guess that is 'the thing' now for 'theatre' to do) of 'Oompa-pa' was quite naughty and that surprised me. Rowan was good....his Fagin was kind of 'creepier', not so pitiable like the movie-version I grew up with....

Anyway, I'd waited and saw it and that's good too!

Sir John Soane's museum. When I lived in London my roommates went to this museum during their 'candlelight' showing that the museum holds once a month. I've been wanting for 2 years now to see it, but was always in London at the wrong time!

Too bad you can't take photos, because it was truly interesting! Old Grecian urns, Roman archway pieces, copies of ancient statues, Victorian wood, etc. all in one house! The guy had it as a museum WHILE HE WAS ALIVE! So that says something....it was truly worth it and I'd recommend it to anyone....

British Petroleum (well-known in Alaska) had it's 100th birthday bash in the British Museum and a protest was outside.

Cops to 'keep the peace'....

Protesters trying to distribute pamphlets and not let the cars in....

I then went and saw 'Hairspray'....again...a bit more naughty for what I signed on for...I especially found that sad because I am a fan of the original-original film.

Thanks Hairspray, but I don't think I'd recommend you to others....

London School Trip in May: Ahoy!

So I had to go to London for some school workshops and something on my 'Things I need to do in London' list was the HMS Belfast! It's a warship that served in WWII and the Korean war that is just sitting in the Thames with Tower Bridge in the background....crazy, eh?





You can probably hit this photo and you'll be able to see the details of the ship....







This shows you where HMS Belfast served...the 'Arctic' and North Cape (if I remember right) were off the coast of Norway, then it was at Normandy on D-Day and then in the Korean war....






This is the ship's bell...and the most interesting I thought was....














Apparently a ship's bell in the Navy doubles as a BAPTISMAL BASIN! Hilariuous, eh? Look at all those names of babies born to crew members and then baptized in the bell! That was just so funny to me!

The rear guns....

Inside...big guns!

Calling in the orders....(I hate war! UGH!)

Big bullets/shells!

The HMS Belfast even had torpedoes! I didn't realize that ships also had torpedoes!

I thought it was awesome to see how these guys lived...that was their 'laundry', i.e. a bucket that the guy (on an interview I listened to) talked about taking to shower with and 'washing' his clothes in it while taking a shower....

Why do people sign up for the Navy? Seriously?!

This is the ship's chapel...

I thought it was funny...they really did used to have cats on-board to keep the rats under control! LOL!

And then I don't know if it's because Madame Tussaud's is in town, but they had these waxwork sculptures showing you what it was like back in the day....

Here, the Bakery....

Corridor...

The dentist with his screaming patient (he really was screaming! ;)....

They even had a surgery room...can't say that I fancy having surgery on a boat, but...if you gotta, ya gotta...

View of the city through a window...love this photo...

I wish I were a Boy Scout in London! They let the Scouts come and have a sleepover on the HMS Belfast nowadays!!

The 'store'/BX....

The boys hanging out in their quarters...ugh....no thanks....not the life for me...

This was the ship's 'jail'! 'And the next time I catch you singing the 'Royal Navy' anthem off-key again, I'll keel-haul, ya!'

Interesting sign...just to let you know....that you're under....and if anything should happen....you're under....and there is no hope...cuz you're under.....

The big shells and the system that brings up top...BOO for war! So much wasted....hmm....

I had the strangest thought a while ago. I was like 'how can the world truly support the human population and give them what they need?' I wasn't seeing 'how' and then the thought came 'take away all the money/resources you use for 'defense', military, etc. and we probably could! Hmm....

Another example of the German 'Enigma' machine. And just so we all know - even though Jon Bon Jovi and crew got an Enigma machine in the movies, it was actually the Brits that did it! ;)

This cook was really happy to be at work watching his gallons-sized cookers....

These guys are enjoying crying and peeling onions :)

One of the engines for the ship!

The ship went through a major overhaul in the 1950's, so this isn't how it looked during WWII. I honestly was 'impressed' at how nice the ship was...I pictured it being a lot less hospitable.

The ship even had its own machine shop where they could repair things....

Women, join the war effort! And when the men come home, go back into the kitchen!' UGH! Seems almost 'use-Jesse-Owens-like'....boo!

There are the two 'bridges'....

The bottom bridge is the Admiral's bridge. HMS Belfast was the lead ship in a fleet, and thus had an Admiral aboard as well as a Captain...(how'd you like to be the Cap'n? Admiral there to watch yer every move...no thanks!)

The radio room....

I don't know if this is true, but folklore says that on a Christmas eve an Allied (WWII) ship was sailing along when suddenly off its bow a submarine surfaced partially and then with an apparatus like this one signaled 'Merry Christmas' and then it went back down...in other words 'we didn't sink you! Have fun!' Crazy and creepy at the same time....

View from the top! I don't know if I like the angle of those guns...they are pretty much aimed at St. Paul's! NO, anything but not my St. Paul's! ;)

And the Captain's bridge....

Big guns....

What it looked like if you were sitting in them....

An officer's room....

View from the front...

How beautiful! Did I ever tell you that the British flag has been my favorite flag since I was about 13?....I almost feel like a traitor saying that...but it's true....

'Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the waves!...'

Even the 'regulation' wound up rope....'jolly good!'...

Goodbye HMS Belfast! I wasn't too keen on visiting you (hence you're one of the last things on my 'to do' list), HOWEVER, I was pleasantly surprised and would recommend you to anybody!

Cheers!