The World Cup journey begins

---

After finishing up at the Heineken Factory yesterday we caught the tram to the city centre, had lunch at Maccas (don't worry I had a salad this time not another burger!) and did some souvenir shopping. We then caught the bus back to the hotel to collect our luggage and took a transfer to the airport.

Checked in and ready to go, we watched the Holland vs Serbia & Mont game at the sportsbar in the airport. One big orange family!

Seated on the small KLM plane we were surrounded by soccer fans! The plane ride took about an hour from Amsterdam to Frankfurt.

Arriving in Frankfurt, we took a taxi to the hotel (about 20 mins away). Frankfurt is clean and very modern. It's not what we were expecting at all!

Arriving at the hotel (NH Frankfurt City), a "World Cup Greeter" greeted us on the footpath. He gave us a World Cup guide! We liked Germany already! Next the porter grabs our suitcases and wheels them into the hotel. We haven't seen a proper porter since Singapore! Check-in is a breeze and we're escorted up to our room. Our room is like mansion! Well compared to what we've had in the past few weeks! Todd sits on the bed and grabs the remote as usual.

Once settled in our room, we took the train back to the airport to pick up our World Cup tickets from FFA. Based at the Sheraton Hotel at the airport, we unfortunately couldn't pick up Nat & Adam's tickets as we needed their passports! Too bad...we could have sold them for up to 500 Euros each! 😊

Back to the hotel, we dropped off our tickets, then walked to the Frankfurt Fanfest at the river (5-10 mins away). Lots of people were out and about! Most people were well behaved though there were a few people being thrown out for causing trouble. There were heaps of police guarding as well as ambulances standing-by! Todd and I bought dinner (Bratwurst and Rissole-like thing on buns + beer + coke) then sat in the grandstand and watched the night's game. The atmosphere was amazing! People were stomping their feet, clapping their hands, and screaming for their team. Every second person had a beer in their hand and Bratwurst in the other. Welcome to Germany! Welcome to the World Cup!

---