Time for highlights from another ultimate tournament. This one is BUM – Berlin Ultimate Mitte, a cool beach tournament which takes place in the heart of Berlin. It’s a neat use of some real estate which was freed up after the fall of the Berlin wall (20 years ago this October). The S-bahn trains run right under the fields and shake the ground a bit, so I’m guessing that the area wasn’t approved for housing…. In the background is Berlin’s “Wahrzeichen” (claim to fame is best translation I can come up with), the famous television tower or Fernsehturm.
It’s so famous they even print discs with it:
A remaining piece of the wall; a constant reminder of Berlin’s history.
The fall of the wall is definitely a defining moment in the minds’ of Germans and it’s one of those things people talk about, as in “what were you doing at the moment you found out the wall fell?”, kind of like the way people talk about JFK’s assassination or the Apollo moon landing.
Another leftover section of the wall in all its ugliness.
A preserved portion of the “death strip” with search lights.
The tournament itself was fun and I played with a plucky pick-up team. We lost all of our games except the last one, which I guess was good to end on a high note!
Here are a bunch of us out on the town, sheltering from a thunderstorm that just broke out. Lots of smiles despite the rain. Our local-Berlin ultimate player and tour guide Nici is in the middle with the “I heart Kreuzberg” shirt, which is a funky area of Berlin.
Hard to believe it, but after the storm the sun came out and made this church glow a beautiful red:
Some people were a little bored and wanted to do posed "model" shots:
Uh, I think you’re missing your mouth Roman…
Not my team, but these guys are crazy wearing toques in the heat!
Thanks to Katja for most of the people pictures!
