Its been a while since Ive updated and so much has happened in the last couple of weeks. I will do my best to capture the sights, sounds and experiences from it all.
I left you just before I was meeting two of my best college friends in Frankfurt to begin a whirlwind World Cup 2006 tour of Germany. Nuremberg for a night, Munich for two, Frankfurt for two, Nuremberg for 1/2 a night then finishing up in Berlin for two nights. We met with no problems even given that the three of us were coming from three different countries, Beck from England, me from Switzerland and Kev from the US of A. They arrived to Frankfurt Friday morning and were scheduled to leave on the following Sunday morning.
Just to give you an immediate sense of the wear and tear of the insane fans, crazy celebrating, endless beer, mountains of sausage and hours of cheering from the week, by the time we got to Berlin on Friday morning, Kev and Beck were dead set on leaving a day early and actually looked, to no avail, for flights leaving on Saturday. It was close to death by pretzel.
Once congregated, we headed via train to Kaiserslautern (K-town) to meet up with a buddy of ours from college that also played at Maryland who now lives there and plays for their team. We managed to make our way to K-town about noon and headed to settle in for the night. We had a lot of time until the 9PM game so we went to his place and caught up for a while before heading to the stadium area a few hours before kickoff.
Every host city has a "Fan Fest" area which is ped-only specifically for the World Cup fans. These fan fests are littered with food and beer stands as far as the eye can see and packed to the brim with fans from all over the world gathering not necessarily to celebrate or cheer on their own teams, but more to celebrate the World Cup and futbol in general. The great thing I have seen throughout the World Cup is the comraderie among futbol fans in general regardless of your team. So many people are together to celebrate and its wonderful to see 100 Dutch fans cheering and yelling while 3 Argentina fans walk through to high fives and hugs. Of course that was before the game and things tend to get a bit more delicate after a tough loss...but lets not talk about that (*see England).
After hanging out in the Fan Fest for a bit we headed up to the game. We had seats literally in the LAST row of the stadium, but it was a smaller venue so our view was not bad at all and the atmosphere was electric. The US played their best game of the tourney and drew with Italy which left the door open for the third game of the qualifying round with Ghana. This was a HUGE result for not only the US, but also for us because we had tickets to the US va Ghana game which would now be crucial for both teams.
After celebrating the US draw with Italy in the Fan Fest and getting some sleep eventually, we headed to Munich to be in town for the Brazil vs Australia game. As we had suspected and quickly confirmed, it didnt really matter if you had tickets to the games, the towns where teams were playing were overrun with craziness from their hometowners.
Munich was an absolute blast. The city has a lot of character in itself, but with the addition of the Brazil and Aussie fans, the atmosphere was great regardless of the result of the match. I think of all the German cities I enjoyed Munich the most based on the entertainment value and the company. We really had a great time meeting and celebrating with all sorts of fans and friends.
From Munich we headed on back to Frankfurt to be around for the Holland Argentina game. We thought the Aussies and Brazlilians represented well but DAMN! The Dutch fans took over Frankfurt. There wasnt a spot in the city where you could look and NOT see someone in bright orange. We saw some crazy costumes and Dutch fans by the thousands. Our accomodations in Frankfurt were great. We rented a guys apt and had a grill, a kitchen, bathroom, everything all to ourselves which was great. Kevin also had some work coleagues that he wanted to meet up with so we ended up having some locals to show us around town. We were to meet up with them around 7PM and were caught wandering around the city center with not much to do and looking to kill some time. If you have looked ahead at the pictures then you already know this, if not, then this is the story of how I got my mullet. Little did I know from all my documenting of the mullet in my previous entries that the mullet is in fact contagious. We had about an hour to kill before meeting Kevs coleagues and the wheels in my head were turning. I threw the offer out to Kev and Beck as I knew they would get quite a bit of enjoyment from it as well. "Fellas, Ill get a mullet if you guys pay for it." I havent seen two guys look for a barber shop faster in my life. We found one but didnt approve of the mullet on the would be barber and continued on. We were walking down the main strip when Beckett spots a glowing yellow sign on the building with a pair of scissors and a comb and we immediately head down the side street to investiage. We were immediately rewarded for out patience as we had apparently stumbled onto the mullet masters. There were about 5 guys outside the barber shop playing soccer, all of which had euro-rrific mullets. We all looked at each other and knew...this was the spot. We walked in and through hand gestures, pointing and attempted verbal communication, were convinced that we were headed in the right direction. 20 minutes or so later I emerged a new member of the Euro fashion community. I spent weeks at arms length hiding from the mullet behind my camera lens and when I least expected it I let me guard down and ended up with one myself.
The interesting thing about the mullet is that it has surpisingly given me some insight into my heritage. Take a minute to think how that at all could be possible.
So from the moment I stepped out of the barber shop, little did I know that I was immediately making myself more approachable in the eyes of the Germans...Polish...Swedish (we'll see in a week) and beyond. So since the haircut, Ive had numerous people come up to me speaking in the native none of which I really understand. I do my best to look like I know what they are saying as long as they are talking, then I simply say, I dont speak (insert native language here). It is priceless to see the half-second of confusion before they realize that I must be American and switch to however much English they know. So how does this show me my heritage? I must have some German and/or Polish in me because I appear as close enough to a native that people mistake me for one even though I may be wearing my "Pat Green - Texas Country" t-shirt.
Another great thing from the mullet is that it also confuses the hell out of other travelers I meet on a day to day basis. Ive had people tell me that when talking to me and before hearing where I was from, they thought I was German or Swedish, but not American...how could you be with THAT?!?! I met a couple of people from Arizona and told them I was from Texas. About 3 hours later they appraoched me and cautiously asked about my hair, "What do you call that style?" I responded..."A mullet." They were immediately relieved that I knew what was going on and then fired off with "We want the truth. Whats the real story behind the hair?"
I must say I have enjoyed it and the scary thing is....Im used to it and actually kinda like it.
From Frankfurt we continued on to Nuremberg to catch the US va Ghana game which turned out to be huge. After all the results came through the US could advance if they beat Ghana and Italy beat Czech. The environment was again breathtaking and patriotic yet the US lost the game on a penalty kick call that in my opinion was bogus and instead of going into halftime tied 1-1 they went in down 2-1.
We had booked a train on to Berlin for 2AM and since the game was over by 7 we had plenty of time to celebrate the US win...since they lost, we had plently of time to watch the Ghanans celebrate. Our 2AM train ended up being almost an hour late so we finally got on the train and "slept" upright until we arrived to Berlin at 7AM. We were so beat that this is where we all contemplated yelling UNCLE and going home. After finding out that Beck and Kev couldnt change their flights, we headed to a park, any park with grass, so we could lay down and get some sleep. We ended up finding a great spot and getting some much needed sleep. The only thing wrong with parks in Germany is the lack of modestly among the select few that decide to sunbathe nude. Of course it consists of only older German men who lay and sprawl about as if they were in the comfort of their own homes. Even I dont lay clothed around my house the way these guys sprawl in public. A mental image I will forever try to erase from my brain.
We spent our two days in Berlin soaking in as much of the rich history, crazy fans and soccer games as we could until they had to leave early Sunday morning. One thing that I appreciate more than anything is the friendship I have with a few people in my life. Everyone has those few people that you can not see or even talk to for weeks/months/years and regardless of the time gap, you can get together and not skip a beat. I had an absolulte blast with Kev and Beck but more importantly I know that I have friends that would always be there for me come hell or high water.
Berlin has such a story to tell from its past the I couldnt possible leave without taking in a bit more of the history it has to show. Its amazing to still see bulletholes from WWII in buildings all over the city. 90% of the city was bombed throughout the war and it is still very evident of the Nazi occupation in old East Berlin. Berlin has so much rich history and so much to see there is no way you could cover it all in two days.
My trip has consisted of mostly solo travel with intermitent "deadlines" of when I have to meet certain people in certain cities. Not a bad problem to have and it keeps me honest and on the move. First it was meeting Scott in Florence, then meeting Beck and Kev in Frankfurt. The next deadline is meeting Eric in Amsterdam on July 7th. With Kev and Beck gone then the question becomes what does one do with 12 days to kill between Berlin and Amsterdam? At this point I was worn out from the week with the fellas in the midst of the World Cup turmoil and close to death if I were to eat another sausage or drink another beer. I decided to risk my health and stay in Berlin for another two days due to the amazing history and all there was to see. I initally was going to return later in my trip to soak it up when the World Cup was over so I could see the city in its true form, however, I wasnt sure if I would actually make it back and would have been disappointed had I not seen the things I wanted to. So the next two days were taken care of...from there, 10 days...what to do.
POLAND!!! I went on my way to spend a day and a half in Warsaw on my way to Krakow to stay for a week. Poland is cheap so that would be a great place to chill, recharge the batteries, not carry my bag around, not book trains and hostels and most importantly not feel like I have to do something touristy with every minute of my time because I would be there for a lenghty amount of time. It turns out that Krakow for a week is EXACTLY what I needed. I have been here for almost 5 days and I have another 2 and almost dont want to leave. Krakow is a great small city with a lot of character and I have met many people that came here planning to stay for a few days and have ended up staying a few weeks/months/years. I personally love the city for the feel, character and the people (*see beautiful Polish women) but I honestly think the biggest reason I am enjoying it so much is that I know I am here for a week and I dont have to worry about packing my things and moving along. That has allowed me to truly relax and hang out, which I havent really done since I started traveling almost 7 weeks ago.
Like I said I will be here for another couple of days and plan to visit Auschwitz tomorrow which I expect to be very moving. After I leave Krakow, I am going through Berlin on my way to Amsterdam to meet my next "deadline" Ill be in Amsterdam for day or two before heading to the south of Sweden for the Swedish Open tennis tournament. Watch the TV coverage, you never know, you might see us. From Sweden we will most likely head to Prague for a few days before Eric leaves and I am on my own again to determine whats next...with no deadlines to meet. Thats the great thing about traveling by yourself with no real set itenerary. I have met several people that Ive told them or have had them told me "I'll see you in (insert European city)" So for now, take care and have a wonderful Independence Day. I will have to find some Americans to have a beer with to celebrate our independence while in Poland. Everyone have an ICE COLD Coors Light for me and HAPPY 4th of JULY TO ALL!!!
P.S. As usual, I have posted quite a few pics as well so please check them out for an even better idea of the last few weeks.
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