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Published: June 28th 2006
Cologne
On a recommendation of a friend that lived in Germany (thanks Baker), we decided to stay in Cologne between games. As soon as you walk out of the Hauptbahnhof, or main train station, you run smack into the magnificent Dom, the oldest Gothic cathedral in Germany. Just walking around the Altstadt, or old town, which is filled with restaurants, bars and beer halls, confirmed that Cologne was the right choice.
In general, I have to say the Germany has been a great host for the World Cup. One of the things that they have done extremely well is to create FanFests, or large public viewing areas, in each of the cities that hosted Cup matches. This set up is great for fans who were not able to get tickets but want to watch with a big group of like supporters. From what I heard from many Germans, unless you had a friend who worked for one of the sponsors, it was nearly impossible to get tickets to the games. The size of the FanFests would vary from city to city, ranging from 5,000-10,000 in Cologne to 1 million in Berlin. In Cologne there were actually two distinct areas
separated by a five minute walk. What didn't make sense to me was that the one area, which was dramatically located at the base of the Dom, was only showing certain games.
As expected, the Germany vs. Poland match was one of those games. If you did not get there at least an hour early, you could not get in because the place was at capacity. As I looked around, I saw a sea of black, yellow and orange--flags, face paint and jerseys. The game was tied 0-0 until almost the end, when Germany scored, and the place went crazy.
Another reason that Germany was a great host was that they were extremely tolerant of the partying and celebrations that typically went on day and night. In particular, the rules (or lack of) around drinking are much more lenient than in the US. The scene I witnessed on the way the FanFest for the Germany vs. Poland game strongly illustrates this point. There were a group of teenagers, probably about 15 or 16, sitting on the steps of the Dom and drinking beers out a carton of one liter sized beer bottles. How many reasons can you count
why that would not happen at a World Cup in the US?
In Munich, when the Brazilians and Australians converged for a Sunday matchup, there was so much partying in the streets, it had a marti gras like atmosphere. I was shocked at how tolerant the police were. One police car slowly drove through a group of Brazilians who were partying in the street, and the Brazilians were holding their flag out over the windshield of the police car like in a bull fight. The officers just smiled and continued slowly driving through the crowd. When the police decided that it was time to break up the party (I assume because it was very loud at it was past midnight), a group surrounded the officer who had blown her whistle and began dancing in a circle around her before finally disbanding. I could only imagine the same scene unfolding in the US but perhaps with less restraint on behalf of the officers.
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After only a few days in Germany, I began to notice the common use of the word "so", primarily to launch into additional speech. Or in a restaurant, a server might bring out your food, set it down in front of you, and then say, "so," with nothing more to discuss. Jer and I were sightseeing and looking for the Chocolate Museum, when we came across a police officer and asked her for directions. She immediately launched into German, and we didn't understand a thing. We told her that we didn't speak German, and since she didn't speak English, she made the directions extremely simple. She pointed straight ahead, and said "so." Pointed her arm bent at the elbow left, followed by another "so." And finally she indicated a right turn, punctuated by a final "So." So..."So. So. So." were our directions, and it couldn't have been clearer...or more amusing.
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ernie
non-member comment
so?
so... you're not going to pay?