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Published: December 15th 2008
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Jez and I were both shocked at our own incompetence of not realising the Euro 08 football championship would be on while we were in Switzerland. We deliberated and finally made the decision to head back to Bern for the day to check out the atmosphere for the Italy v Holland match. We would have loved to have gone to the actual match but found out scalpers were selling tickets for 800 Euros and above!
On the train from Lauterbrunnen there were a few supporters on board from each side. But nothing had prepared us for when we hopped off the train and were swarmed by a sea of orange. There were Dutch supporters everywhere. We found out that the Dutch team were playing all three of their pool matches in Bern so their supporters had taken over the city. For instance the 100 fountains in Bern had all been dyed orange. The atmosphere was brilliant, people were all over singing, dancing, chanting, drinking and having a great time. Before the tournament had started Jez and I had decided we wanted to support the Dutch so we headed to a department store and kitted ourselves in orange. We were good
to go. Next we needed some beers, we found a supermarket and got some killer deals. With a 4 pack we got a free cooler bag and with an 8 pack we got a free football. So we were decked in orange and had our supplies. We headed to a park and had some food while watching a group of scary looking Italians kicking a ball around. Think they were mafia. I'm pretty sure we hid our orange tops around them.
After a good few many brews we headed towards one of the huge fanzone areas which were kitted out with massive TV screens. We were told we couldn't take our alcohol in so decided to wait by the entrance and drink a few of our cans. This is when supporters from both sides started yarning to us and giving us free beers that they couldn't take in. We ended up with a huge stash of beers, scarves, headbands, cooler bags and drunken high fives. We decided to go stash our treasures in a bush somewhere so we could get into the fanzone. Once we'd done so, we returned to find the fanzone had been shut as it was
full. We walked to another. It was shut too. We started to panic. We really wanted to get in. What on earth could we do?
After a bit of scouting we found an area where we could see part of the screen. It wasn't cutting the mustard so we hatched a plan of how we could get in. I would hold the wire mesh fence for Jez while he climbed it, he would then jump onto a tent roof and finally hold the fence for me. The first part went smoothly, but when Jez was over and on the tent roof he got a few jeers from Italian fans so wimped out and leapt down into the fanzone area, leaving me stuck. I wanted to rip his head off. After five minutes of watching half a screen I decided to make a solo attempt. I asked a few of the guys standing near me to hold the fence. One finally agreed. I made it onto the fence and got a few jeers. The guy holding the fence panicked and let go. This meant that I face planted off the top of the fence into the top of the tent.
Hundreds of Italians found this hilarious, I didn't care though I was over. I jumped down off the tent and gave Jez a verbal barrage. I think he bought me a beer as his punishment. Soon after security was everywhere so I'd made my move at the right time.
Soon we were celebrating with the thousands of Dutch fans as they scored. It was fantastic. The volume increased when they scored a second, third and then the final whistle. So a resounding 3-0 win to our newly adopted country. Queue massive celebrations and parties all over Bern. I remember we found some drumsticks and were smashing them on a random guys drum and talking to all sorts of people. I think by the end of the night we had been announced the new kings of Holland.
After a feed of sausages and two kebabs each we grabbed our stash out of the bushes and pondered our next move. We had missed the last train back to Lauterbrunnen hours ago, but could get the last train to Interlaken which was about half the way. We decided this was the best option. We made sure we stayed awake so we
could get off. Others were not so clever. The train staff were yelling loudly and even had to slap a few passengers to wake them up. Was pretty funny to watch. Jez had entertained the idea of walking back to Lauterbrunnen, I think he must have been pretty drunk, because it would have taken us about 2 days, plus we had no idea of the direction and it was the middle of the night. It was pretty much the worst idea ever. Thankfully we found a taxi, we were saved. We paid up front which I think was a bad idea, normally when you are on the meter they go as slow as possible to get a big fare. But seeing as he had the cash already he drove like an absolute maniac. Our cabin was freezing when we got back so it was a cold night. The following day we realised we had a heater.
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