September 21

Day 10: September 21

Sports

Bayern Munich Game- Sports

This morning we woke up at 7:00 and got ready to go to a Bayern Munich soccer game! Logan, Ellie and I were all so excited because we had never seen a professional men's soccer game. Grace and Ella on the other hand didn't like soccer and dreaded the day ahead. We all found the warmest items of clothing we packed and quickly changed. We packed up the rest of our stuff and left at 7:45. We started to head out for the train, which we were going to take to the game, but Logan forgot her ball she wanted signed and we had to wait for her to run back. 

Frankfurt Train Station

On the way to the train station we stopped at a nearby bakery and picked up some delicious German pastries for breakfast. Then we continued the five mile trek to the Frankfurt Train Station. We decided to run the last two miles because we were afraid we were going to miss the start of the game. Once we arrived to the station, we walked to the ticket booth and got our tickets. They were fairly inexpensive compared to the prices back home in the US. Once we got our tickets, we walked to the entrance that our train was soon to arrive at. We sat down on a bench and talked about what we wanted to do if we had extra time before the game. Pretty soon though, our train arrived and we boarded at 8:30. We walked down the broad isles and found our seats which were near the back of the train . We all sat together, thankfully. The train lurched backwards and then slowly started chugging forwards. Finally the train was moving at a fast pace and all we could do was sit back and relax. The train ride took a little longer than expected and as we pulled up to the Munich Passing Train Station at 10:30, we realized it had taken almost two hours.  We grabbed our jackets and bags and clambered towards the door, in order to be the first ones off the train. We headed off to our Air BNB and arrived there at eleven. It was a cute joint off a street with tons of shops and restaurants that I knew Grace would love. We walked in and immediately dispersed to claim our beds. It was a small place, but had lots of cute furnishings and accessories. At 11:45 we started walking to the arena, but then realized we wouldn't make it at that slow of the pace and, all of a sudden, we began to sprint. Well, we didn't keep that pace for very long and we ended up jogging the rest of the way to Allianz Arena.  We could hear the National Anthem playing over the booming speakers of the arena from blocks away and realized that the game was about to start. When we got to the entrance we pulled out our tickets and handed them to the guards at the front. They proceeded to scan us with high-tech security checkers and, thankfully, all of us had remembered to take all extra change and anything metal out of our pockets. As we walked up the ramp leading to the sections our seats were in ,the field came into view and all of us, even Grace and Ella, awed at the size of the field. The arena was filled to the top with die-hard soccer fans. It was breathtaking, as none of us had ever been in such a big stadium. The fans were jumping around, cheering to something in German that we couldn't understand. We were seated in section 102 and our seats were in the second row! The kickoff was just about to start as we all scurried into our row and sat down. The outside of the stadium was extremely interesting as it looked similar to a big balloon. Ellie explained that the outside was inflated and changed colors based on what the home team was wearing.

Allianz Arena

The whistle blew right at 12, signaling the game start! Ella asked me if I knew anything about the team and I laughed at her. Bayern Munich was only one of my favorite teams! They were founded by Franz John and eleven players in 1900. Bayern Munich plays in the Bundesliga, which is the top-tier of the German football league system. They're also the most successful club in German Football League history. They have 26 National Titles and 18 National Cups. They have also won the European Cup three times in a row, as well as a UEFA Super Cup and World Cup. "I have no idea what any of that means but thanks," said Ella.  Logan began screaming as the men passed around the ball, creating a great run for the wide forward. We all stood up and started yelling as loudly as possible as if the players could hear us cheering for them. The guy made a beautiful cross to a player in the center of the field, but the player headed it over the goal! The stadium crowd let out a sigh and everyone sat back down. "That's my favorite player!" I screamed. I absolutely adored Thomas Muller, who is an incredibly talented soccer player. His foot skills are like nothing I've ever seen and his speed is absolutely unbelievable. For the rest of the game the lead went back and forth. It was the eighty-eighth minute and the score was two all. All of the crowd was on their feet as the right back took the ball to the midfield line. He passed it off to the center mid who chipped it, one-touch to the right forward who was making a run down the sideline. He received the through ball with a beautiful one touch, cradling down to the ground with his cleat. The other teams defender ran to cover his run, but he made an amazing cut inside right to the goal! He was dribbling and only had one more defender to beat. The center back dropped to a defensive stance as Bayern Munich's forward rushed at him. The forward pulled a crossover, then performed a double scissor into a quick turn. The defender didn't fall for it though. He was running out of space to get his shot off as he quickly approached the inline. Finally he made one last effort to make a move and faked to the left and pushed the ball wide right. The defender fell for it!The defender went left and as the guy pushed it to the right, he saw his opening and took the shot. His hips shifted towards the far post as he shot the ball with such great power; it could have taken the goalies head off. His shot was similar to a cannon being launched and the whole crowd went quiet for that split second. The ball easily breezed past the goalies gloves and struck the top right corner! Every single member of the crowd jumped onto their feet in astonishment! I looked at Logan and we began screaming as loudly as possible. My throat started burning, but I didn't care! Finally the crowd died down and people began to leave. Logan, however, wanted to get her soccer ball signed by Thomas Muller and, as a result, we waited in line for an hour until 3:30. Finally, we got up and exited the stadium. Ellie turned around to take one last look at it before we left. We all agreed that we were hungry so we set out to look for a place to eat. 

Meal- Culture

We decided on a nearby restaurant, called Klosterhof. It took about thirty minutes to walk there, and once we arrived we were starving. We were seated at a table near the back of the restaurant and quickly ordered our drinks and looked at the menu. The first thing that caught my eye was an item called Kasespatzle. Kasespatzle is a German version of mac-and-cheese. It consists of egg noodles and a large variety of cheeses, including cheddar, parmesan, and provolone. It also has grilled onions on the top, which makes spatzle different from normal pasta dishes back home. We all ordered a bowl of it and quickly received our dishes. I took a bite and a smile fell across my face. The crunch of the onions with the different types of cheeses was absolutely delicious. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it as well. Within five minutes we were all done with our bowl. Quickly, we paid and left.

It was a short walk back to the house, which we were all thankful for as it had been a very long day. We arrived back at the Air BNB at 5, and we decided to stay in for the night. We watched TV and talked until 9:00 P.M., when we all fell into bed, exhausted from the day and excited for tomorrow.