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June 21st
I woke up in an apartment I didn’t recognize and it took me a second or two to figure out that I had slept on Kieron's couch and not in a tent! After having some tea Kieron gave me a ride back to the hostel so I could meet up with them and spend the day hanging out with them. Also it was the day that Farron and Nicio were going out to the Greenpoint Stadium to watch Portugal take on North Korea in the group stages of the World Cup. After the two of them came back from breakfast the five of us headed down Long Street, the main drag of Cape Town.
A quick stop at Luke and Hayley’s rental apartment and then we were all in a minivan taxi on our way to the stadium. Farron and Nicio with a new name to the crew, Shane from Canada, all had tickets to the match. Luke and I were going to the stadium to see if we could find some cheap Category 4 South African tickets. The three with tickets were all smiles as they descended on to the stadium, a few quick words with
us and they were in the security queue and on their way to celebrate Portugal to victory.
What happened over the next hour and a half was pretty entertaining. Luke and I weren’t the only people looking for tickets, there must have been the best part of 100 people on the lookout. There weren’t many “touts” or scalpers and it was tough to get tickets. A couple people got in trouble for blatantly selling them; and had their tickets taken away and were given a fine. Luke and I watched while the clocked ticked down and the match started. IT was twenty minutes in to the game and we headed to the pub across the street, but right behind us was a guy I had talked to earlier, (I thought he had been looking for tickets like Luke and I). But no, to our surprise he was selling tickets! And we ended up getting two for 500 rand, or about $60! Excited to get to a match and ran across and into the stadium, through rain puddles and cold winds we got into Greenpoint.
As we entered a goal was scored, if only we had ran faster! So
we missed the first goal but we saw the next SIX! Each half we were able to switch seats to a spot where people didn’t want to sit (in the water) four rows from the field, spitting distance to Cristiano Ronaldo! We had a blast while we watched Portugal make history and North Korea slump to defeat (even though we know they think they won the World Cup four months ago!).
After the match Luke and I met a South African brother and sister and we hung out with them down at the V & A Waterfront. We had a couple beers and talked about the game while getting our faces painted. We had to meet up with the rest of the group so we jumped in a cab to Long Street and walked up to Luke’s apartment. Basically after that we did rendezvous with the rest of the gang and we all went out for one last dinner. A cheap pizza place really hit the spot and I said my misty eyed goodbyes just before Villa scored the goal of his life for Spain. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that moment, saying goodbye to some really great
friends, walking out of the restaurant, hearing the commentator go wild, turning around and smiling back at my travel companions, wondering when I would see them again.
A brief walk later and I met Kieron at the hostel, we ran back to his place so I could get my small three day load of clothes and toiletries in order. I didn’t need all my things for the short three day visit to Pretoria, just my red, white and blue attitude and a couple changes of clothes! Kieron got me to the airport on time and a new trip was just around the corner….
Hope you like the photos!
Pura Vida
-Brendan
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Hossam Hafez
non-member comment
I envy you
i never ever imagine that i talk or meet someone who attended world cup .. really Far from the imagination but i envy you and very happy for you ether