How to get around

The easiest way to get around in Berlin is using public transportation. A network of trains, underground, trams and buses goes to nearly every part of the city and can be used with one ticket. These tickets can be bought at automatic machines in nearly every station that give instructions in several languages.

To get to O2 World, you should get out at the Warschauer Strasse station, which is served by suburban trains, the underground line U1, or tram lines M10 and M13. The Nike International Junior Tournament can be reached by tram lines M5, M6, M8 and M10 or the suburban train. The station to get out is called Landsberger Allee.

You’d better buy a ticket because checks are very frequent and ticket inspectors don’t really look like you may imagine; be prepared to see a two-meter tall punk coming at you to check your ticket. The good thing, though, is that public transport works 24 hours on weekends.

Get additional info in English at the official website of BVG.

Click for an excellent program for your mobile phone if you use public transportation: Metro.

Where to eat

Berlin is known as an Imbiss City: Snacks are available everywhere and all day at proper prices, and portions are generally basketball-compatible. You can get a Döner Kebab or a Currywurst (Hello, Marcus Slaughter!) at nearly every street corner and you should definitely taste one of these Berlin specialties. Generally, Konopke Imbiss at the Eberswalder Strasse underground station is known citywide for its Currywurst, and if you want to get a tasty Kebab, just head over to the Kottbusser Tor station in the heart of the Turkish areas of Berlin. If you are an amateur in French fries, I can suggest Beckers Fritten in Oranienburger Strasse, which has the biggest choice of extravagant sauces served with homemade fries.

Besides these different snacks, you can also get serious food in Berlin; and what goes for snacks is also true of the restaurants: high quality at proper  prices with good-sized portions. Around O2 World Arena are a lot of small restaurants in the Kreuzberg and Frierichshain areas. Cafe Vianova on Revaler Strasse, just a quick walk from the arena, offers a nice choice of Italian food. The Sunday morning brunch is particularly appreciated by the people from the neighborhood.

Another nice eatery is the Restaurant Rote Harfe at Heinrichplatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg. If you are more into Asian food, we have never been disappointed at Ho Vang between Alexanderplatz and Hackesche-Höfe in the Rosa-Luxemburg Strasse. In the same area, you can find the best burritos in town at Dolores California Gourmet Burritos: The portions are huge and even Big Sofo should not get out of this being still hungry.

If you are staying in the western part of Berlin and you like pizza, just head to 12 Apostel at the Savignyplatz train station. Next to the restaurant, you will also find a tiny souvenir shop where you can buy the famous George W. Bush (among others) Jumping Jack figures.

You can get additional info in this excellent English-language Berlin City guide.

Where to drink and party

Drinking in Berlin is probably as important as snacking. You can get a multitude of various beer brands at nearly every kiosk and walking the streets with your half-liter beer bottle it is absolutely tolerated. The train and underground stations around the O2 World are heavily frequented by partying people at night; as the arena is located between two nightlife districts, you will never be thirsty when coming or leaving the arena.

However, if you’d like to do some bar-hopping in the O2 area, just head to Simon-Dach-Strasse on the Friedrichshain side or to Schlesische and Wiener Strasse in the Kreuzberg area. Here you can find a multitude of bars to get a few drinks and meet some interesting people. During the day, a whole range of beach clubs is located between Warschauer Strasse and Ostbahnhof.

The club scene of Berlin is known worldwide, and those of any musical taste can find a place to have fun 24/7. If you like techno music, Berlin is the place to be, as people from all around the globe come to the German capital to enjoy the best techno clubs; we can suggest Watergate or Maria only a few meters away from the O2 World.

If you’re more into alternative music, Lido may be the place for you; for  reggae fans, YAAM is the right address. Additionally, the YAAM Beach Club also features one of the best basketball playgrounds in the city where you always find enough people for some nice pickup games.

Get additional info on where to drink and party in English at Unlike.

Shopping

Besides the huge shopping galleries like Alexa or department stores like Galeria Kaufhof at Alexanderplatz, there are several smaller shops that we can recommend. Overkill specializes in exclusive sneakers and trendy streetwear, while Depot2 has one of the best choices in local brand Irie Daily. In the Mitte area, you find all the flagship stores of the big sports brands like Adidas, Puma, Converse, and our friends from K1X. Just head to the Hackesche Höfe train station and walk around the area to find what you need.

The Berlin feeling

To get into the right feeling for Berlin, we suggest checking out the following videos by musical artists from Berlin to get the vibe of the city. BallinEurope will be present from Thursday through Monday, so see you in Berlin!

After meeting Henry Abott from ESPN’s truehoop (Henry, please send me the email for the pick up at USC!), I just ran around the arena, looking for interesting things. I felt like a little kid fulfilling its biggest dream – still, after being to last years NBA finals, the All Star game, the Euroleague final four – this is something special. You can see all the interesting people I met, such as David Beckham, Magic Johnson and many more prior game 3 in the gallery at the bottom.

What about the game?
It started off horrible. Many missed shots. Many turnovers, but in the end a Lakers victory. I won’t go into game details, our friends from the U.S. like here, here or here, do a much better job with that, but I want to talk about the Euros on the Lakers team – since there aren’t any on the Celtics.

Sasha Vujacic was one of the main factors for the Lakers’ win. Coming off the bench, Sasha made 7-10 shots from the field, 3-5 from the three point line and 3-4 free throws.

Let us take a look at Pau Gasol. Looking at his stats and especially the game he looked horrible. Missed dunks, scared to post up and many turnovers. Normally you would not want a guy like him on the floor right? Well Phil Jackson knew and knows better. You do need Pau Gasol in this series. Taking him off the court takes away all of his confidence, even if another guy might have a better game this day. Phil Jackson was sure the Lakers would win this game, so he kept Pau in the game. Good decision – in the end the Lakers won, Pau made some crucial points in the fourth quarter and grabbed some even more important rebounds.

We are at 2-1 Celtics now, but I am pretty sure game four will be even more important for both teams. The Lakers HAVE to even the series, while the Celtics want to go ahead 3-1. I am really glad to be here in L.A. for this game, too.

For now, here is the gallery with pictures from last night. I am off to Beverly Hills, talk to you later.

Thanks to FIBA (yes, you Nic!) and the NBA (Rachel Walsh) I will fly to Los Angeles and watch the Euro-Lakers battling the Boston Celtcs in this year’s NBA Finals.

I just booked my flight (and a hotel) from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on June 10th to watch game three and game four on the 12th. learned a few lessons already, as I was at the NBA Finals last year in Cleveland, and even from the Euroleague Final Four. I will not book a flight that arrives three hours before the game starts: You might not get your bags. Second thing: I booked a room in a hotel RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the Staples Center.

Of course we will try to cover the Euro-Lakers and the NBA Finals 2008 as much as we did the Euroleague Final Four in Madrid this May – from our very own European prospective.

You might think, “What does a European basketball blog do in the US, especially at the NBA finals? Take a look at our BallinEurope Guy - doesn’t he look a little bit like Pau Gasol? We never tried to make him look like that but people told us so. I will try to get a hold of Pau and see what he thinks of our guy.

Another reason: To follow the Euro-Lakers! Starting with Italian superstar Kobe Bryant (please get the joke) to Spanish superstar Pau Gasol to all these other European sharp shooters.

Last but not least – We have to follow the enemy: Big, bad American basketball that is all about show and nothing else! (Once again, I am just kidding – I like entertainment ).

The best thing about this US trip? I get to meet many cool people such as Lang Whitaker from SLAM and Henry Abbott from ESPN. I even planned to visit Henry Abbott at his office in New Jersey later this summer.

10 days to go! Yaaaay!

By the way is anyone else who reads this blog going? I would LOVE to meet up with anyody who reads, likes or hates BallinEurope. Please post a comment if you are!

In the era of Ryanair, eDreams or expedia, it is still very cheap to get around in Europe by plane, but you probably don’t know where to stay, eat, have fun or how to get around in the city.

Our first travel advisory: MADRID

How to get there:
They one and only way to get to Madrid is by plane unless you live in Spain. It is in the heart of Spain and Ryanair flys directly to Madrid Brajas, the main airport. If you check well in advance you still can find great deals on expedia.

side notes: Brajas Airport is probably the WORST airport I have ever been to. My bags got lost, which is pretty normal as everybody told me in Madrid. To get around at T4 is also a big hassle and you really need some time.

How to get around:
The airport is connected to the “metro” station Aeropuerto T4, and it takes about 30 minutes to get into the city. I haven’t used a cab at all since the subway network is very convenient and you will never wait longer than five minutes for a train. The first thing you do after you leave the gate is look for the metro signs buy a pass, get a map of the subway network, and you are good to go. The metro works from 6:00am until 1:30am 365 days a year. Buy a tourist ticket for the time you are here. Tickets are 4 EUR for one day, 7.20 EUR for two, 9.60 EUR for three and 15 EUR for five days.

In case you really need a cab, this is not too expensive either.

side notes: sometimes it takes a long walk to get from one track to the other track within one station and you won’t find escalators everywhere.

Where to stay:
We have been to Madrid twice this Euroleague season and we have chosen the Room Mate hotels both times. First we stayed at the Room Mate “Mario” which was fine and right at the Opera and the Palacio Real. It is a nice area for tourists since all the main attractions are within walking distance and the subway station is right there.

The second time we stayed at the Room Mate “Oscar” which is a brand new hotel at the Plaza Vazquez de Mella in a trendy and hip neighborhood. The price per night was 130 EUR for a deluxe room with free internet and breakfast. As trendy as the shops and restaurants around the hotel is the hotel itself.
The metro station is about 5 minutes walking distance away.

side notes: If you are looking for a open-minded community, Plaza Vazquez de Mella is the place to be – just google it a little bit and you will know what I mean.

Where to eat:
We really tried to find a nice Spanish restaurant but both times we wanted to go they let us know the kitchen was closed or the restaurant was full. Overall, I am not a huge fan of Madrid people since they haven’t been very friendly. A must-order in a tapas bar: patatas ali e oli – I promise you will like it.
Since we can’t tell you where to eat, you probably figured that we can’t tell you where NOT to eat. Do not stop for lunch or dinner anywhere around the Plaza Major . You will be very dissappointed since you will get the typical tourist treatment: bad food and bad serivce. In case you want to go with US-style food, you will find TGI Fridays or the Hard Rock cafe.

Must-see things in Madrid:
If you have a few hours or extra days besides watching the basketball game, you should get out of your hotel and make sure you walk around. Of course you have to see the Palacio Real – make sure you go inside and sign up for a guided tour or you won’t understand half of the amazing things you get to see. I would also recommend to stop at the Plaza Major just to get the feeling of this nice square in the center of Madrid.
Madrid is not a city like Rome, where you see many tourist attractions at every corner but there are still some great things to see. We would recommend to look for one of these Madrid Vision Buses and do both circuits. You will pay 16 Euros for one day and get to see things like the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Plaza de Independeniza, Puerta del Sol and the famous Museo del Prado.
In case it rains, I would advise you to spend your time in that museum; in case of great sunshine, stop at the Parque de Retiro, which is one of the nicest parks within a big city I have ever seen.

This little guide should make it much easier for you to stay in Madrid and get the most of it – besides that, you still have two great basketball teams to see there.

In case you have been to Madrid and want to let us know about your experience, feel free to add your comments. Have a great time in Madrid!