(Jared and some friends go to watch the football…or, what the Circus staff do in their spare time…Who’s Who from left to right: Andrew, Toga, Josefine, Sean, Bernie, Konny, Jared and Cami )
This past Sunday I woke up with the traditional feeling that it was Saturday night the day before. I woke up to my handy going off with a text: “Football today meet at Pankow S-bahn at 13:30”. So I nursed my small hangover and jumped on the tram to be taken way out of my hood. (I am known for never leaving Berlin Mitte). I arrived in Pankow and could only think: Dorothy, we are not in Kansas no more.
I arrived in Pankow to see a girl beating up her boy friend. Not something you see very often…but as Jim and little Jo Jo arrived with Andy and little Bernie I told them the story and it seemed to be some what of a regular occurrence in this part of the world. Sean rolled in and then Toga on his bike and to top it off, Konny and Cami in a car.
We caught the bus to the stadium, where I discovered we were to watch Konny’s old team Einheit Pankow, who were playing against BFC Preußen. Arriving at the out door pitch Konny shook hands with the guy selling tickets and organized us a deal at the door. Making our way to the beer Konny seemed to know everybody there. I knew Konny could play football (since I am the official circus physio) but I didn’t know about his good old days as a famous player for Pankow. He had to hang up his boots since he got married and the team demands 3 days of training and one game day.
We hit the fan curve. It was just us all speaking English and about 50 other people drinking crates of beer and smoking butts.. The away teams fans must have got lost since they had about 5 of them there.
The game kicked off and we watched and yelled what ever and when even Konny told us too. We got a couple rounds of beer in before half time, and at half time it was time to wash a few sausages down with a few more beers. The second half was supposed to be more exciting than the first half, but the final result was 0-0 and there were few chances for Pankow to score.
The game ended and it was time to retire to the club house. Konny gave me tour of the club house where the players were enjoying asparagus and potatoes. They all looked at me like I was in the wrong place but Konny had my back and showed photos of his famous father on the pitch , in the period when he was a leading light in the over 50s team. Now he is playing for the over 60s!
Paul, Katrin and little Lotte showed up about a half hour after the game – we are still trying to figure out why there were so late – to drink a few beers (not Lotte). The sun came out later in the day and the kids were having a great time.
It was a great day to hang out with people since most have kids these days and they got no time for beer drinking. The weather held out for us, the beer was plentiful and well priced, and the football was as exciting as it gets. Actually I was more fascinated by the planes passing by about to land at Tegal.
Thanks for everyone that made or Sunday trip so much fun and I am sure when there is another game and a trip to the forgotten corners of the Berlin football world, Konny will let you all know.
Another week, another batch of fun stuff as recommended by Admiral Andrew, head of the Circus Fleet of Fun, who has put together his regular round-up of things going on at the Circus as well as around town. With Live Music, football on the big screen, plus the legendary Carnival of Cultures which is coming to Berlin this weekend, there should be something that you will find amusing…check it out:
A nice picture, and a nice story. Manfred Beier was a teacher and a photographer, who took tens of thousands of photographs during his life of both the two Germanys that emerged following the second world war. When he died in 2002 he left his collection of over 60,000 negatives and slides to his family, who worked with the National Archives in Germany to make this wonderful record of everyday life in the two Germanys available to the general public.
And here he is…unlike his big sister, Thomas James was impatient to join the world, and did so on the 10th April. Mama Willemien is a little bit tired, 
Jim is our man for the more weird and wonderful corners of Berlin, but he also knows how to do Berlin on the cheap. With that in mind he has created a bus tour for those who do not want to pay the money to the commercial tour operators, and would rather hop on and off a genuine Berlin city bus, rubbing shoulders with the type of characters who you only seem to find on big city public tranportation.
Before we start the week, we would like to wish everyone a very happy Easter and we hope that you are all enjoying the long weekend. As always, Andrew has prepared his very special “start the week” guide to what is going on at The Circus and elsewhere in Berlin, and with the re-opening of the Hostel the programme is packed. As part of the opening celebrations, and as an apology for the fact that the facade of the building is not finished, we have lots of special treats for the hostel guests, which along with the details of the regular programme events, is all here:
(above: Scott and Leslie develop their skills under the watchful eye of Declan)
(above: Declan shows us how it’s done…)
(above: Andrew shows us his skillz…he is available for weddings, children’s parties and company functions at a very reasonable price.)![[04]-ROOM-CMYK-web300dpi](http://www.circus-berlin.de/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/04-ROOM-CMYK-web300dpi-1024x682.jpg "[04]-ROOM-CMYK-web300dpi")
(above: Who is that good-looking boy wandering through the dorm rooms?)![[03]-APARTMENT-CMYK-web-300dpi](http://www.circus-berlin.de/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/03-APARTMENT-CMYK-web-300dpi-1024x682.jpg "[03]-APARTMENT-CMYK-web-300dpi")
(above: When you come to Berlin, the first person to spot the TV Tower wins the prize)![[14]-GOLDMANS-CMYK-web-300dpi](http://www.circus-berlin.de/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/14-GOLDMANS-CMYK-web-300dpi-1024x682.jpg "[14]-GOLDMANS-CMYK-web-300dpi")
(above: Beware of what dwells in the basement…)![[22]-GOLDMANS-CMYK-web-300dpi](http://www.circus-berlin.de/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/22-GOLDMANS-CMYK-web-300dpi-1024x682.jpg "[22]-GOLDMANS-CMYK-web-300dpi")
(above: …why, it’s Mr Goldman and that good-looking boy again!)