Day 1: Settling in
Berlin, Germany: Hello, Dear Readers and
Welcome to Berlin! We have arrived in Berlin, settled-in to our hotel, spent
the evening at the track and had dinner with our usual gang in Berlin.
Our flight from Portland to Frankfurt was uneventful and we arrived in
Frankfurt in time to switch planes and have an espresso. A one hour flight
brought us to Berlin where we took a taxi to our hotel. The room wasn't yet
ready (it was barely noon here), so we went for a quick pizza next door - we
were starving - and returned to the
Grand Hyatt to claim our room.
Perfect Pizza Margherita in Berlin
Hotel "art work": I call this "Giant Wooden Bagel"
They wanted to put us in this room...
But we convinced them this one would be better
Next we took a taxi over to the hospitality center to pick
up our credentials and event tickets... except this time, we did not receive
separate tickets for each day, but an all-inclusive ticket. Don't lose it -
at about $1400 EACH, the ticket seats you every day of the competition.
After spending about fifteen minutes in the subway station trying to
figure-out how to buy the correct ticket to the stadium, we discovered our
entrance ticket included unlimited rides on the Berlin subway during the
competition... and... by the way... free beer from the VIP lounge.
Sweet.
Berlin Olympic Stadium - home of the 1934 Olympics
Our first view of the stadium
Fabulous view from our ROW 10 seats
This is real grass. It only looks this perfect because this
field is used primarily as a soccer stadium
Every competition has a mascot
Another view from our seats
Panorama of Olympic Stadium
As it was the first day of competition, there is not a lot
to write about. Only two finals tonight - women's 10,000m (no American's in
the top three and it was a very good race) and American Christian Cantwell
took the gold in the Men's Shot Put.
After the competition, we realized we had been awake for about two days, had
only shared that little pizza, were overly tired and that we were starving.
We went to dinner at a very nice outdoor cafe near the hotel with a group of
fellow track fans. Wiener schnitzels all 'round! My, it was just lovely. We
had such a good time too.
Weiner schnitzel (breaded veal cutlet in the Viennese style)
Spatzle (handmade noodles) with mushrooms & cheese
Until my next update (which hopefully will come after a good
ten hours sleep), I remain, your Berlin correspondent.