Germany Trip
Mark Jones
begins tomorrow and yes I will be there ... but will miss the opening
ceremony as I will hopefully be sounders (asleep) on my British Airways
flight to Zurich, Switzerland. Just to go on record, here are my
predictions:
This will be the World Cup when Europe re-asserts its dominance of the
round-ball game - big performances will come from England, Holland,
France, Italy, Portugal, Spain; except Germany who may not even make
the round of 16; interestingly, Brazil has never won on the European
continent, but with Ronaldinho steering I think they will win easy ...
World Cup winner - Brazil, in a canter
Golden Boot winner - Ruud Van Nistelrooy
Surprise Performer - Switzerland
Underdog - Australia!
One to watch if he gets fit - Lionel Messi, Argentina (if he is not
awesome this World Cup - due to injury; he will be next time around as
he is only 18 years old, and was recruited to Barcelona at 13 years of
old!).
Mark Jones
Went out on Thursday night (last night in Melbourne) for a quiet dinner
with a few friends; aim to be home before 9pm to finish off last minute
packing. Arrived at Hairy Canary at 5pm, left Gin Palace around 1-2am
(all a little fuzzy). Woke up around 9am - shiiiit! So 3 hours to clean
the house, do some last minute organising, and pack - with the worse
hangover I have had in the last 2 years (comparable to Adam's PhD
night).
Result, packing was a schemozzle, ended up being 25kg over the weight
limit, had no time for a shower, and only had eaten a bit of dry toast
by the time I hopped on the plane at 3.30pm.Ended up sitting next to a
gorgeous blond who I don't believe appreciated being next to an
unshowered, wearing the clothes of the previous night, smelly, grumpy
me.
Showered in Singapore, felt 150% better. Received the benefits of
partying the night before by falling into coma for the next 10 hours of
flight prior to arriving in London.
Now in Swizterland ... it is v.quiet ... and on my way to my Aunt's
place before going to Frankfurt tomorrow to start the World Cup
odyssey.
PS: can't believe Germany won its first game so convincingly.
Mark Jones
train in Swizterland sits at the train station for 45 seconds, or so;
therefore the window of opportunity to catch a train is v.small. So I
am now in Frankfurt airport having caught 5 / 6 trains today, but
missed the last one to now have a 1.5 hour wait before the next one!
Argh, this on top of Simon; my mate who I am catching up with having a
bomb scare on his train from Paris, and now we are meeting up in
Saarbrucken at 9pm tonight! schemozzle.
And on a side note, my German ancestry (e.g. my prominent jaw line,
blue eyes, etc.) is doing me no favours; I have had numerous locals
come up and ask me! for directions, or just start talking German to me!
sheesh, v.embarassing. I just smile and say ya, ya ;)
Next report from the game; go AUS!
soha...@gmail.com
3 hours to clean the house is a bit light on ;)
Mark Jones
Mark Jones
v.well in the ´biggest gainer´ competition, I have consumed already
soooooo many sausages and beer it is not funny! Apart from that, World
Cup atmosphere is amazing. Kaiserlautern was unglaublich (unbelieveable
in German)! Sang every known-Australian song (e.g. Down Under, Treaty,
Great Southern Land, Friday on my Mind, etc.) with about 2000 other
Australians in main square prior to match. Then went on to game where
tension was almost unbearable for 90% of the game, 3 goals in the last
10 minutes - surreal. I have never other hugged another man (e.g. my
mate Simon) so much in my life.
Life has settled into a pattern of 30 degree days (there has now been 4
in a row), wandering the streets of German towns (currently in Leipzig)
and watching soccer and speaking to locals / people from other
countries (highlight so far, playing fusball with Spaniards in the
Leipzig bahnhoff!).
So much to say ... and now on to Leipzig ...
Mark Jones
amazing! Just like Melbourne it is full of little alleys, and on-street
cafes / pubs everywhere! Quite impressed and have enjoyed watching ESP
4 - UKR 0 today; indeed I have changed my tip for the World Cup
champion and am now firmly behind Spain.
Weather is almost too hot, and tonight Simon and I are going to
Augustus platz to watch the Germans play before hopping on a train for
Berlin tomorrow.
Mark Jones
Leipzig. Leipzig was famous for its university which founded many
scholars in the late 19th century amd its role as the birthplace of the
German language. I revelled with the local Germans until the early
hours in the morning at the Nightcafe (boy were those Germans happy
they won their second game!). It was amazing there must have been
50000+ people in the main Leipzig square.This was a great ending to
Leipzig which so far is one of the best cities I have ever been to (and
it has trams).
Simon and I have made our way to Berlin. Today I rode around the town
v.hot work as five days in, I have just experienced my fifith 30+
degree day - I thought northern Europe was supposed to be cold! Anyway
suitably impressed with Berlin so far, and it is massive. Going to go
on a walking tour tomorrow + pub tour for 13 hours so will have more to
say then, before the big train ride to Munchen and Australia´s date
with Brazil.
Mark Jones
good as Leipzig, but have been blown away. Started the walking tour at
10.30am far from the hostel despite the walking tour then returning to
hostel (thanks to the hostel operator). Once having found done the
loop, Simon and I went with 10, or so other Australians, Americans -
the cost 12 Euro (i.e. $15 AUS dollars) for 8 hours of walking from
11am-7pm! Good to speak the local 'Aussie' language with a few my
kindred after battling through Germany with my pigeon-Swiss German.
Found out that Berlin has a rich history which is reinforced by its
buildings, monuments, museums, etc.. With around 3.5 million people, it
should have a big city feel, but didn't, maybe due to no building being
over 6 levels tall - classic! Walking tour caught all the sights and it
was enjoyable to have a 'non-soccer' day and revel in a city's culture.
Went out with Simon and a girl from the walking tour for a meal and a
few beers and was almost completely waylaid by Simon's navigation of
Berlin's street, luckily one of us can read a map ;)
Lastly, was completely blown away, by the fact that due to the exodus
of people from Berlin in the last 16 years, supply > demand for housing
and to rent a 1 beddy flat is only 400 euro a month (around 600 AUS
dollars). If only I could live here.
Mark Jones
which is next to Wolfrauthausen and about 30km outside Munchen! Good to
return to Munich after having been here 8 years ago with ... a Contiki
tour (argh I know, the shame of it! - but quite fun nonetheless).
Anyway, I digress, Munich again bathed in sunlight and I have wandered
the streets, finally ending up at the infamous beer hall Hofbrau Haus
(where else would any respectable Australian go before a soccer game)
for a stein or two.
Well, having consumed a stein or three in a hour, Simon and I headed
off to the match - stadium was awesome and the match ... AUS v BRA - we
wuz robbed! Nah, not really, but in a game where Australia had a
significant number of chances / half-chances it was somewhat painful to
go down 2-0 after Brazil only had a couple of shots on goal!
V.encouraging for the final 'more important' game and expectations are
still high for qualification.
Mark Jones
the 'biggest gainer' competition ;)
Last day in Munich; been v.comfortable and cruisy to stay with Evelyn
(Simon's friend) and her family which includes two v.cute children (8
yr old Lily, and 10 yr old Valentin) who I have tried to learn some
German off! V.generous of Evelyn to play chaffeur and by 10am yesterday
she had taken us to a beer hall in the Bayern region - 'Anders' the
world seemed to come into perspective when I wiled away the morning in
30+ (yes the weather here is amazingly consistent) tasting different
local beers. Due to the early morning beer buzz, agreed to major hike
and walked through a forrest neared Illidorf for the remainder of the
early afternoon. Followed by more beers in a little touristic town of
'Bad Stoltz' (bad means bath in German!).
Went on another walking tour today - except this time - Munich, which
was overpriced and nowhere near as interesting as Berlin. Nonetheless,
enjoyed wandering through the streets of Munich aimlessly. Then went
and saw Germany win again??!! All Germans going off, and I have never
seen so many people get excited (people flying flags out of cars,
beeping constantly, hugging, etc.).
Looking forward to embarking on Australia's own path to glory in the
next 2 days ...
Mark Jones
old friend Susanne (yummy granny). Slight stuff up at the meeting point
and Simon and I decided to wil away the afternoon having a few coffees.
In doing this met a v.interesting Greco-German who knew more about
Australian soccer than we did. He promptly shouted us a coffee, but
considering that the first coffee was tar-like, this `gift` was not
truly appreciated.
Fortunately we were able to catch up with Susanne in the afternoon, and
consequently stayed in her swish Esslington apartment for dinner. It
was then that we realised that Simon and I would be sharing a
queen-size bed - classic. Top-to-tail strategies were discussed, but
not implemented and both of us were sounders v.quickly (except for ther
fact that I am sure I felt some `spooning` action later on in the
night). Good sleep was had nonetheless and this led to the big day ...
Mark Jones
idylled into Stuttgart around mid-morning to be greeted by the sight of
hundreds of Croats (singing) and Australians (drinking beer) - carnival
like atmosphere and it was amazing to see Stuttgart so full of people.
After some consternation, we decided to head to a beer garden around
lunch time. Here we bumped into the `official` tour from which we
bought the tickets. Found out that the tour had been a schemozzle and
that a lot of people were unimpressed given the amount that they had
paid (A-class tour was $9K). Nonehteless, enjoyed chatting with a few
Aussies and was able to listen to Frank Farina, Alex Tobin, and Robbie
Slater give a pissweak pre-match review. Again had quite a number of
beers, and after 6 or so hours of drinking headed to the game.
Wow! what an experience. Completely tense throughout after Australia
conceded a goal in the first 2 minutes. Singing and chanting was
continuous, and I have never felt more emotionally involved in a
spectacle of sport. First goal scored by Australia was delirium and I
was confident that Australia could go through. Second goal Croatia
scored (via Kalac stuff-up) was heart-wrenching; objectively thought
Australia was out of the World Cup as mistakes such as that are
typically costly. Unbelieveable that Harry Kewell then scores to bring
us equal again. The final 10 minutes were spent fixated to the game
where any kick from defence was cheered and a few expletives were sent
the way of the umpire. At last, the whistle and Australia through!!!!
Lots of jumping, hugging, and cheering ;)
Sat in the ground for the next 1 hour or so soaking up the atmosphere
and singing AC/DC amongst other songs to the Socceroos as they came out
to the ground for the encore. Finally were ushered from the ground by
officials and were caught on the stairs leading out of the stadium
where the thousands of Australian fans were singing. Unbelieveable
moment, as we sang with a thousand or so other Australians for another
hour:-
`La la la la la la, Aus-tra-lia, la la la la la, Aus-tra-lia`
`Ole, ole, ole, ole, Aussies, Aussies, ole, ole, ole, ole, Aussies,
Aussies
`Stand up we`re the Socceroos, stand up we`re the Socceroos`
`Your red, your white, your going home tonight`
`We`re going, we`re going, we`re going to Kaiserslautern`
`Ronaldinho, Ronaldinho, who the f*** is Ronaldinho`
`Lets go f***ing mental, lets go f***ing mental`
and of course perennial favourites of `Advance Australia Fair` and
`Waltzing Matilda`.
Finally caught the tram home, where more singing ensued. Made it home
early in the morning with no voice left.
Mark Jones
up on some sleep that I missed over the last 2 weeks. An unbelieveable
trip which really made me appreciate Germany and its unique culture,
cities, and reborn patriotism. Highlights were definately Leipzig and
Berlin early in the trip and definately will revisit these again. Also
must say that travelling with Simon was v.enjoyable and no dramas at
all ensued - just a lot of laughs and innappropriateness (aka trying to
talk to a few locals and realising that they were 14 year old church
singers - hilarious).
Lastly trip was supplemented by awesome sms`s that were sent by
everyone and I can`t wait to catch up with all in the near future!
PS: spelling errors may occurred in posts due to `comish` German
keyboards! ;)