World Cup Update

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We are in southwest Germany visiting our niece Megan who is stationed in the army at Ramstead Army Base. We are enjoying the chance to visit with her since we haven't seen in in a year. She has wireless in her apartment - horray!! So we can do a travel update. We last talked to you from Prague. Since then we have seen much better weather - warm and sunny days. Because we are pretty far north it stays late past 10 PM in the evening so lots of time to do things. After leaving Prague we drove across Germany to Cologne and Essen.

Cologne - Beautiful city which I fell in love with immediately. Had some difficulty finding our camp ground due to a road blocked for construction, but well worth it once found. The campground was right on the banks of the Rhine River about 7 km. south of Cologne. Great bike path all the way into the city which we took. Viewed some of the historic sites and got information on world cup transportation. Would have liked to spend another day in Cologne to see the city in more detail and take a river cruise on the Rhine, but decided we needed to get closer to Gelsenkirchen in preparation for our World Cup match. Our tickets included free public transportion on the day of the match, but only within a defined area around the stadium. So after one day in Cologne we repacked the RV and moved north to Werden, a suburb of Essen.

After much trouble and advice from a young man in the city park who could speak some English we found a campground. Small, quiet and on the banks of the Ruhr River. Great bicycle path along the river. Spent 2 days there biking along the river and wandering around this small town. Took a short cruise on the Ruhr including going through a set of locks which was very interesting. Lots of people on bicycles on the trails, most of them tourists, most our age or older and most German. The people are very active here regardless of age. Great to see people of all ages out and about. Spargel (white asparagus) is in season and I was able to fix some on our little stove for dinner one night. Wonderful.

We plan to write a baloney cookbook when we get home. Here is recipe #2.
Take a 4" square of baloney about 1/2- 3/4" thick and fry it. Fry an egg until yolk is almost completely set. Place fried egg on top of fried baloney. Recommended side dishes are parslied fried potatoes and saurkraut. Wash down with as many beers as you can afford. Very filling. Good to eat early in the day.

We spent a good portion of Friday planning our trip to the World Cup game, making the trip and seeing the game. Took 3 train transfers to get there, but we made it. We allowed plenty of time so even with a few missteps we made it to the Schalke Stadium in Gelsenkirchen by 3 PM. The game wasn't until 9 PM. Many, many Poles there in full party regalia since their team was playing Ecquador which had a much smaller, but equally vocal contingent. Poland's colors are red and white so there was a sea of red and white clothes, scarves, funny hats, painted faces, and dyed hair. I think the Corn Husker fans in Nebraska are all Polish since they are as innovative and crazy with their red and white regalia as the Poles are. Much to look at throughout the afternoon. The stadium is not in the center of town, but somewhat removed with large parks around it. Our plan was to have a relaxing meal in a local pub before going to the game, but the only eating establishments near the stadium were a McDonald's and a Burger King. The McDonald's was winning out at least 20 to 1 in business. They opened the stadium at 5PM. We went in around 5:30 in anticipation that they might show the Germany/Costa Rica game from Berlin on the large project screens in the stadium. This is a beautiful stadium by the way. It took us over 30 minutes to get into the stadium, but yes they were showing the Germany game so we got to see it before our game started.

The stadium was full - 52,000 people. Poland had full support providing probably about 75% of all the attendees. About 10% were from Ecquador with the remaining mix, mostly German. We were rooting for Ecquador who did win. Had a great time. We were by the railing on the upper deck and I was entrusted by a young gentleman to help attach his Poland banner and to be sure no one let it fall. This was a serious responsibility. If the cheers of the crowd would have been the deciding factor, Poland would have won, but Ecquador did play a better game and were extremely happy since this is only the 3rd time they have been in World Cup.

Getting home was another experience. When 52,000 people all leave at the same time with the majority of them taking public transportation it is hectic. The Germans did a great job of having additional trains and buses available, but it still took about 1 1/2 hours to get to the main train station as opposed to 20 minutes going out. Then took our 3 trains home arriving back at our ittle campground at 2:30 AM. Was a long, but fun filled day.

Tomorrow we head south to Paris. Plan to spend 4-5 days there and then move on to the Normandie coast and down to Mont St. Michel. Hopefully, we will be able to send another message from somewhere in France. Bon Appetit and Adieu.

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Comments

[Don C.]

World Cup
Always enjoyed my Germany visits.