A great night watching the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final

OK. This is local-color post – thank goodness for spell-check, because I have had too many beers (I know, not politically correct). Tonight was the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final at Olympiastadion in Berlin. This is a big deal – Europe basically puts everything on hold during this game and I'm guessing crime drops to zip. 

Right after I got back from Guatemala, my son Brigham explained that since I was going to be spending the next two years in Albania, I needed to be up-to-speed on soccer. So we pulled up every FIFA World Cup Soccer that was available and he explained the finer points of the game. I really got to appreciate the expertise and like it more than American football. (It was a great father-son experience.) My host family and I spent a few evenings watching games and despite my broken Albanian, I just about have the rules down. Rezarta’s team is Barcelona, and Sali’s is Juventus, an Italian team. As would have it, Barcelona played Juventus in the finals.

Just outside my apartment is a kafe where I usually have my morning coffee. Bledi and Tani are like family now, taking care of my every need and introducing me to the locals. My second week here I went into the kafe looking for a big bottle of water. Bledi (we had not met yet) had none in stock but walked me next door to the local storefront to get a better deal! Amazing! Bledi is always asking me when I am going to have a beer instead of cappuccino; I laugh and tell him I don’t drink during the week and I keep putting him off. Well, tonight the game – and though there are more up-scale place to watch the game, I would not miss spending the time with my new friends and making good on my promise to have a drink.

Not a great pic, but you get the idea.

There were probably about eighty of us sitting in the open air; I must have had five or six beers tonight – way, way, way, beyond what I would normally do. Nobody is paying for anything, and I finally gathered that the whole evening was on the honor system! Honor is a big deal in this country – you don’t screw around with it. 

During the game every time I came to the end of my drink, another one would be placed in front of me ("I swear Mom; it's not my fault!"). Well, tomorrow’s Sunday, so I thought what the hell. It was a great game – Barcelona 3, Juventus 1. What a great time. After the game I went into the bar to pay up. Bledi and Tani were behind the counter cleaning up a bit. I told them I wasn’t sure but I thought what I was paying what would cover the upper possibilites. Bledi says, “No, no, no; you pay for one.” WTF! He tells me that all my other beers have been paid for by guys sitting near and far! There had not been a lot of talking – we were all watching the game, though we had slapped hands after Barcelona scored and moaned when Juventus got their goal.

With Vullnet after the game

Basically, that’s it. I tried to leave a tip but they evidently liked the fact that I had joined them for the night! Again, amazing. What a country! Only a couple of pics – I was having too much fun for any more. An ibuprofen and I'm hitting the sack. Later. XOXO