Off to Gelsenkirchen
Today is the big day. We'll be heading into Gelsenkirchen soon to go see the first USA game of the Cup, against the Czech Republic. I'm nervous and excited. I barely slept at all last night in anticipation. Of the three teams in the group, I think the Czechs will be the toughest.
Speaking of last night, we had a great time in Cologne yesterday. We took the train into town from our apartment. It's about 8 or 9 stops in the "S Bahn" to the Cathedral (Dom) station. It's so incredible and awe-inspiring to ride up the escalator and see the most perfect gothic cathedral in the entire world.
We were looking for a place to grab a bite to eat and ran into Ted, Dana and Rob. They were going to go to the Ludwig Museum of modern art, but we talked them out of it to hang out with us instead. We're cool like that. :)
We spent most of the morning just walking around the city, absorbing the atmosphere. This place is just full of the World Cup buzz. Fans from all over the world are wearing their team's uniforms, hats, scarves, etc. and all of them singing, banging on drums, and making a lot of noise. The big game yesterday was Angola against their previous colonizers, Portugal.
We went down to the river and had a few beers at a Gasthaus there, and saw the Portuguese and Angolan fans partying with each other. That was very cool.
After that we walked back toward the Cathedral again to find a place to watch the games and found Paeffgen, which is where the big party of US fans was supposed to take place. Only we discovered that there were two Paeffgens, and the one we were looking for was about a 20 minute walk away.
We eventually ended that day at the other Paeffgen, which we soon dubbed "Big Paeffgen," and the one in the Altstadt became "Little Paeffgen." I think Rob came up with that.
The party was a blast. There must have been at least 80 US fans gathered there by the time we closed the place. The waiter, named Dietmar, was very cool, and ended up teasing me most of the evening. I was about the only American fan there who spoke German, so I became the target of most of his jokes. As we were leaving, he gave me his business card. Very cool guy.
Jan and I took a taxi back to the apartment, and I tossed and turned all night in anticipation of the game.
Speaking of last night, we had a great time in Cologne yesterday. We took the train into town from our apartment. It's about 8 or 9 stops in the "S Bahn" to the Cathedral (Dom) station. It's so incredible and awe-inspiring to ride up the escalator and see the most perfect gothic cathedral in the entire world.
We were looking for a place to grab a bite to eat and ran into Ted, Dana and Rob. They were going to go to the Ludwig Museum of modern art, but we talked them out of it to hang out with us instead. We're cool like that. :)
We spent most of the morning just walking around the city, absorbing the atmosphere. This place is just full of the World Cup buzz. Fans from all over the world are wearing their team's uniforms, hats, scarves, etc. and all of them singing, banging on drums, and making a lot of noise. The big game yesterday was Angola against their previous colonizers, Portugal.
We went down to the river and had a few beers at a Gasthaus there, and saw the Portuguese and Angolan fans partying with each other. That was very cool.
After that we walked back toward the Cathedral again to find a place to watch the games and found Paeffgen, which is where the big party of US fans was supposed to take place. Only we discovered that there were two Paeffgens, and the one we were looking for was about a 20 minute walk away.
We eventually ended that day at the other Paeffgen, which we soon dubbed "Big Paeffgen," and the one in the Altstadt became "Little Paeffgen." I think Rob came up with that.
The party was a blast. There must have been at least 80 US fans gathered there by the time we closed the place. The waiter, named Dietmar, was very cool, and ended up teasing me most of the evening. I was about the only American fan there who spoke German, so I became the target of most of his jokes. As we were leaving, he gave me his business card. Very cool guy.
Jan and I took a taxi back to the apartment, and I tossed and turned all night in anticipation of the game.
posted by MIke Lastort @ 8:15 AM
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