Pre-Season Friendlies

[alexscottislegend 2,325]

39 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

Home ones, I agree but I've had some cracking trips following Rangers for friendlies (Hillsborough, Highbury, Goodison, Craven Cottage and Pride Park all immediately spring to mind). 

 

Only £15 for a Union Berlin ticket, so not expensive. 

Have a good trip and don't go upsetting DB and Idrisi!

[Uilleam 5,940]

1 hour ago, Gonzo79 said:

Pride Park

Dressed 'appropriately' were we?

[der Berliner 3,744]

26 minutes ago, alexscottislegend said:

I hate people who say "Ah-yax". I know the Dutch do but if local pronunciation is the key, why don't they also say "Par-ee San German"? Or Bayern Munchen?

No real reason to hate someone, as the name comes from ...

 

Ajax (/ˈeɪdʒæks/) or Aias (/ˈaɪ.əs/; Ancient Greek: Αἴας, romanized: Aíās [aí̯.aːs], gen. Αἴαντος Aíantos; archaic ΑΣϜΑϺ [aí̯.waːs])^[a] is a Greek mythological hero, the son of King Telamon and Periboea,^[1] and the half-brother of Teucer.^[2] He plays an important role in the Trojan War, and is portrayed as a towering figure and a warrior of great courage in Homer's Iliad and in the Epic Cycle, a series of epic poems about the Trojan War, being second only to Achilles among Greek heroes of the war.^[3] 

 

... and despite the initial pronunciations say so, there was no Germanic vowel shift in Greek like it happened with the English language. A small fact often forgotten and rather annoying if English-speaking historians (who should know) go about spreading English versions of ancient places and people. That said, more often than not, you do get a mangled pronunciation e.g. for Paris St. Germain over here too, where Paris is in the normal German way, while the latter two words are spoken like they do it in French. Yet, "PSG" is used only in its French pronunciation.

 

And to round it all off, while these days German media people bend backwards to make all Ukrainian names sound Ukrainian and use Ukrainian pronunciation, Lviv (instead of Lvov), they don't like to twist their tongues all too often and just call it Lemberg like "in the days of old".  Always raises a little chuckle this side of the screen.

Speaking about Ukraine (yeah, I'll stop right after this), the Ukrainians "de-colonialized" a few places previously not Ukrainian like Charkiv or Siverskyi Donets (Ukrainian: Сіверський Донець) with the "i". Which at times even doesn't make sense. Sample here: Siverskyi Donets ... refers to the northern branch of the river Donets who goes over into the more famous Don. It is called Се́верский Доне́ц in Russian, meaning Northern Donets. There is no word in Ukrainian like Сівер for north, e.g. the Northern Thames would be called Північна Темза. But let's bend etymology plus reason and give it a nicer, Ukrainian sound instead. Next!

 

 

[Gonzo79 15,294]

49 minutes ago, Uilleam said:

Dressed 'appropriately' were we?

Genuinely can't remember what I was wearing, as I was steaming.  😀

[Uilleam 5,940]

1 hour ago, Gonzo79 said:

Genuinely can't remember what I was wearing, as I was steaming.  😀

Probably just as well...

 

[Gonzo79 15,294]

On 01/07/2024 at 16:44, alexscottislegend said:

Have a good trip and don't go upsetting DB and Idrisi!

I have just found out there's a hostel that has a Hasselhoff museum, so (match excepted) I'll be too busy there to bother anyone.  

[Devil's advocaat 1,541]

Been to Berlin a few times, and agree, East is far more interesting. First time I went was a drinking weekend, stayed in a hostel boat on the Spree, which was superb. There was a chuck wagon close by that did excellent curry wurst, which I saw in the best street food in Germany guide in Observer food monthly a while later as best currywurst in Germany!.

 

Went back a couple of times with the wife, tbh it's wasted as a drinking destination (as most places are) and I enjoyed it far more seeing the many, many interesting places.

 

Enjoy Gonzo.

[yuddie 1,693]

On 29/06/2024 at 00:28, Gonzo79 said:

May be a bit off topic but I'm keen to see stuff off the usual tourist routes when I'm in Berlin, particularly in the former Eastern part of the city - any recommendations welcome (bear in mind, I'll have my 13 year old son with me).  I am a fan of brutalist architecture.  

Shame mate, this friendly v Blues has come 30 years too late - you'd have loved Brum in the 90's!

[yuddie 1,693]

There's probably a joke about Rangers playing brutalist football in there somewhere...

[Rousseau 10,634]

* Yesterday (6 July) .