Pressing, pushing, the nicest tram ride of my life
Normally I don´t like to take the tram. Pressing, pushing, grumpy faces, sometimes a too loud, bothering chatter at cell phones and one is witness to things, people would never talk about in normal conversations. Actually this is my tram Blues.
“Actually” doesn´t exist any longer. The Gay Games VIII Cologne 2010 take place in Cologne! That starts already at the stop. There they are, people of different age, not to be overseen and recognizable through the official IDs of the Gay Games Cologne. Mostly they are in a good mood, talk in different languages to each other. One tries to understand each other, if necessary with the hands, when not knowing the same language and is having fun. And then the bright faces! It is so nice to witness it, maybe even interfere, especially if one is able to translate between the different languages. And then, in the tram there is the “Hello” when other participants are already on board and everybody asks “Where…from?” and “Where…to?” at which sports one took part or if one was just a spectator. Maybe one could just be talking to a gold medalist from I-don´t-know-where.
Today I took the line 1 from the RheinEnergieStadium to the city centre. At the stop, three young people are already waiting and we start a talk. There is the German Gold medalist at table tennis, the Australian 5 k runner who got bronze and from Washington D.C. the US boy who won the Gold medal in Triathlon last Sunday. They are not only more than happy about their sporty performance but start to talk about how awesome it is to be here and all what they have experienced meanwhile here in Cologne. That was an awesome opening ceremony on Saturday! Isn´t it great that everything is so close? And anyway, it´s wonderful that one can meet people from so many different countries, one wouldn´t have met normally. And anyway, the Gay Games VIII Cologne 2010 should last at least 4 weeks! The Gay Games Cologne take place and we are part of it! That´s what I call international understanding! After 30 min I get off at the Neumarkt and regret that we didn´t travel till the last stop in Bensberg…
…that was the nicest tram ride of my life, and actually, I like to take the tram. This is my tram Swing at the moment!
More photos can be found at http://www.qubesport.net/photos
