preparation

Dinner for 6 tomorrow. If I start to lay stuff out early, it helps me to think of things I might need to buy before it's too late.

A trip down memory lane tonight. Eisbären Berlin played Nürnberg Ice Tigers in the preliminary round of the German play offs. Because the match came along at short notice Berlin's usual home arena (the O2) wasn't available, and they had to play at their old home - the Sportforum Hohenschönhausen way out in the east of the city.

From a modern 14,000 capacity arena (which they fill) back to the 4,900 capacity Wellblechpalast  (corrugated iron palace).  

So what? Well, the first European ice hockey game I took my son to was there, around 2003. Berlin v Hannover. The non stop noise from the fans was deafening. The cigarette smoke was choking. The game flew by. 

Eisbären goes back to 1954. As Dinamo Berlin it won the GDR championship 15 times (only one other team in the league - very GDR). Just after our visit, the club started an ice hockey dynasty to rival FC Bayern's one in soccer.  

To add to the fun, Nürnberg's assistant coach Rob Wilson spent many years in the UK and we saw him play here for Newcastle several times. He came up in conversation over lunch in London on Wednesday.