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All in Koln
The city was invaded by British and Swedes and we were there to witness it. Police had to wear riot gear to prepare. Germany: The World Cup (June 12-27)
Munich/ Nuremberg/ Frankfurt/ Kaiserslautern/ Koln and more
7 matches, 8 cities, 14 days, a few 30 + year old men and an RV. What a great time! I had hoped the title of this blog would be ‘USA stuns the world in football’ but our hopes were crushed a few days ago in Nuremberg when the Black Stars of Ghana sent our boys packing. Even though I was thoroughly worn out, hoarse in the voice, catching a fever and lived out of the RV for the last few days, it was fantastic.
I started the journey to Germany from Ljubljana, Slovenia for a few days to prepare for the debauchery of the World Cup. Ljubljana is a small, quaint city located in the mountains just south of Austria with a castle standing tall above the city. World Cup fever was already in motion as I went to an Irish pub at night which had an outdoor garden area with a big screen TV which allowed you to order from the Mexican place across the street- it was perfect… except for the first US match against the Czechs.
The real journey started on
Chris and I at Brz/ Aus game
The Brazil Australia game was filled with fans from both sides and sold out in Munich. June 13th as I met my co-pilot from Pittsburgh, Chris, in Munich to pick up the RV. A lot of the trip was focused on viewing football matches at various venues, typically some type of pub, but Germany had also set up these great viewing areas called ‘Fan Fests’. These were giant viewing screens in marquee parts of town for all the fans to watch, drink German beer and eat brats.. or, in our case, several doners (Turkish sandwiches- meat with salad in a gyro- excellent!). In Munich, the fan fest was at Olympiaberg, where the old Olympic stadium grounds are located. It was exciting on our first night to watch Brazil on the big screen there with their colorful fans (OK I think they have a lot of ‘new fans’ because they are so good). For Munich, the venue held 30,000 people- I thought a lot at the time but few compared to the Brits that invaded later.
On the 15th we picked up 2 more RV passengers from SF, Scott and Joe (and later JP in Frankfurt), to watch England vs. Trinidad Tobago in Nuremberg. Thank God England won; I think their fans might have killed someone
Germany celebrates
I was on Leopoldstrasse after the Germans beat Sweden in the round of 16 playoff and it was crazy. had they lost. I have never seen so many shirtless overweight men hugging and berating anyone who dares get in their way.. but that is English football. Our journey of Germany then went like this:
16th: Frankfurt to watch the games from the best fan fest we were able to catch, a massive screen in the middle of the river in the heart of the city
17th: Kaiserslautern for US/ Italy. Was that a terrible call on the second goal called off? We all thought so.
18th: Back to Munich for Brazil/ Australia. It was awesome to see the socceroos out in force against the favorite for the world cup.
19th: long trip to Koln. RV life is getting old. But Köln was going mad as the Brits and Swedes invaded and took to the streets. Police were somewhat prepared in riot gear as the English fans snarled at their opponents and continued to sing ‘God Save the Queen’.
20th: Köln for England/ Sweden. I don’t think anyone expected to see this many people. I’d estimate north of 500,000 people. They had over 5 main ‘fan fests’ and still had to close them off. The city was seriously overrun
US takes on Ghana
Our fans mixed it up before the game.. everyone got along well especially during this pre-game jam. and mad; the match was great, the night long and loud.
21st: Frankfurt for Argentina/ Netherlands. Another great fan fest, another fun night out in Sachenhaus.
22nd: Nuremberg for US/ Ghana. Our hearts broken but I was happy for Ghana, an inspiration for the continent of Africa.. but they then had to play Brazil.
23rd: Munich for travel. Everyone heads in different directions and I park the RV to live out of it in Schwabing off Leopoldstrasse.
The real highlight though was the fever of the world cup and the fans. I was amazed to see the Europeans completely invade cities.. the Brits in Nuremberg, Swedes in Köln, Dutch in Frankfurt. While we didn’t get to do much sightseeing, we were able to flavor a number of different German cities by seeing their main plazas and viewing areas along with their restaurants and bars; we also encountered fans from numerous countries and shared the passion for football with them. It was awesome to be in the cities when big matches happened, as I was in Munich on Leopoldstrasse when Germany won their ‘round of 16’ match vs. Sweden. The competition of soccer brings out the pride of everyone for
Life in the RV
A bit cramped but it did the job. I was glad to have a bed after this. their country- a clear passion that burns in many of us. I am excited to watch the conclusion of the cup and still have my hopes on Argentina and Germany!
RV life was interesting, funny, tough at times but something I will look back on with good memories. It was a bit cramped with 4 or 5 of us but it did have a refrigerator to keep beer cool. None of us had experience with an RV so we were always figuring things out like where to park, how to take care of the water, etc. Sometimes we parked in campgrounds, which were a mixed bag. Other times we just parked in the middle of the city, which actually worked pretty well. I found that if you have a place with a decent bathroom/ café around (aka Starbucks) it was OK to sit in the city and much easier to stumble home. And having friends with hotels in which to clean up was like having an oasis in the dessert. But the RV did give us the flexibility to go where and when we wanted and to have a mobile sleeping space.
Germany ran the world cup with
US versus Ghana
Photo of side kick. the efficiency with which they are known and seemed very tolerant and hospitable to the scores of fans. I wish we had more time to enjoy the cities themselves and to hang out but such is life. I now head east to Prague and look forward to a regular bed and shower larger than my kitchen sink.
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Sarah aka Nanna
non-member comment
I'm miserable!
Hey Rick!! Good to see you are still on the road and having a blast!! I have just got back to Sydney after 3 months in Africa and I am miserable.............................wish I was back in the mokoro answering your 100 Q's!!!!Looking forward to catching up with you when you make it to Oz!!! take care.....................