I was absolutely exhausted from the busy Karneval/travel weekend. My body was in dire need of rest, but there was no rest for the weary. About a month before, Sebastian, Park, and I had purchased tickets to a soccer game. But this wasn't just any soccer game; it was a Champions League match, the most elite soccer competition on the planet. Tuesday evening, after getting out of class, the three of us began our journey to watch the Tottenham Hotspurs take on Borussia Dortmund at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany. Tickets and train passes packed, we started our journey with a train to Cologne, but our next connection was twelve minutes late. This should not have been an issue, but we had one more connection, and now we were due to miss it by three minutes. I was sweating from nervousness, but had to remind myself to calm down and trust God to let it all work out. When Park and Sebastian asked me if we would make it, I assured them the next train would be late as well, and shortly after we arrived at the transfer station. There, on one of the travel boards, were the words, "Funf Minuten Spat," or "five minutes late". We were ecstatic, dancing around the platform chanting "Funf minuten Spat, Funf minuten spat!" I think we drew a few looks from the others on the platform...
An hour later we arrived in Dortmund, stepping off the trolley from the Dortmund central station to view the Signal Iduna Park for the first time - and it was glorious. I was living a literal dream come true; I was in Dortmund, at the largest soccer stadium in Germany, about to see two of the European giants of soccer play out a Champions League Match.
After a little confusion finding the correct entrance, we made our way into the stadium and found our shockingly good seats. As the fans cheered, sang, and chanted, we joined in for the pre-game festivities by enjoying beer and wurst. It was not long until one of my favorite parts: the player walkout. As the players enter the field, the iconic Champions League song is played, and it this moment, when I heard those angelic voices singing, I felt tears in my eyes. Literal tears of joy streamed down my face, and I just had to breathe and enjoy this moment.
Immediately after, the game began, and we enjoyed the next ninety minutes of the best soccer I ever watched in my life. While Sebastian and I were rooting for Dortmund, Park was cheering for the Hotspurs, who scored in the second half to win the game. Despite the disappointing result, we loved the game and cheered every minute of it.
Once the game ended, we stayed, savoring the atmosphere and moment, not wanting to leave. Eventually, we slowly made our way out and trekked back to the city center. Since we had a few hours to kill before our train back, we found a bar to pass the time in. Then, back at the central station, we grabbed dinner at a KFC and began our two and a half hour train journey back to Bonn. Fortunately, we were able to sleep on the train (we left Dortmund at 2 AM, and would not get back to Bonn until after 4 AM). After arriving, we went straight to school and fell asleep in the basement until classes started the next day. Although exhausted, I was ecstatic to have experienced this bucket list item and will always remember that day as one of my favorite in Europe.
The rest of the week passed fairly quickly. I felt under the weather (probably from exhaustion), but classes went well, and I completed the last of my spring break planning.
