Week five: foosball!
Trip Start
May 26, 2008
1
7
14
Trip End
Oct 01, 2008
Munich,
Germany
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wednesday was the semifinal game in Euro 2008-- the European soccer championship. The game was between Germany and Turkey. This was sure to be an exciting game in Munich, because there is a very large Turkish population here. Tensions were high, and a lot was at stake for the city..
a bunch of people carrying a giant German flag
. or at least the partying after the game.I went to the same Australian pub that I went to with Sarah that night we stayed out till 5. I went with one of Ryan's friends (now my friend too). His name is Cary, he went to school with us, and he's living and working out here for at least a year. One of his family friends was there too-- she was on vacation. We sat in the tiny pub and watched one of the most exciting soccer games I've ever seen.
Turkey scored first and things were not looking good for Germany at that point. Even I could tell that Turkey had the advantage. But Germany came back and scored to tie it up. It went back and forth the entire time. Both teams were putting it all on the table. The whole pub was pumped up, cheering loudly at every goal... for Germany. There were some groans too, when turkey scored. Also when the cable went out a couple of times. The whole bar freaked out for a few minutes, but we ended up not missing anything.
The game was very exciting. The final score ended up being 3-2. Germany won! Everybody was jumping and cheering and the bar even played We Are the Champions. We celebrated there a little bit longer, then we decided to head over to Leopold St
Fun in the streets 2
. I told you about this once before when I got stuck in a car on the street after a Turkish win. It was even crazier this night.There were thousands of people on the streets, as you can see in the pictures. Everybody was drinking and cheering and just hanging out on the street. There were police there to make sure everything was ok, but as you can see, they were pretty friendly. We hung out there for about an hour, but eventually it just got REALLY crowded. We watched the fireworks behind the arch at the end of the street, which was pretty awesome, then we headed home. It was an awesome experience.
Thursday was another practice day. Again, nothing special. On Friday, I was invited to go to a multicultural festival by the Olympic Stadium. We walked in and saw the giant horns that originated in the alps lined up along a hillside. To the left were the 12 men in liederhosen that we'd hoped would play their instruments soon. We waited around to see them, which was unfortunately not until a half hour later. Some odd percussion band opened for them. It started out with a very loud noise that sounded like a space ship was landing. Then about 6 guys came on stage and played music that could best be described as a great candidate for a Cirque de Soleil soundtrack
Fun in the streets 3
. They might have been better if I hadn't been anticipating the Alpine horns.Finally, the crazy band was done. That's when the fireworks began. These were pretty good too. They were choreographed to music and everything. In between sections of fireworks, the liederhosen men played. It's really amazing what they can do with those giant things. I had seen this type of instrument played before, when I was in Salzburg. That was only one horn though. All 10 or so of them together was amazing. After about a 30 minute show, it ended with a great finale. Unfortunately, the fair was over too. We hadn't even walked around it to see all the different little shops and taste all the amazing food. I was bummed until I found out that the fair will be there for three more weeks. I will definitely return.
Saturday was the day we were supposed to have two big games that would decide if we would end up in 2nd or 3rd place. This is important, because the 3rd place team will most likely play a team from the North that has a very good American pitcher (apparently). The German girls have a lot of trouble with American pitchers because they don't see that level of pitching often enough. BUT, we didn't play. For some reason, they couldn't find umpires for our games. So, hopefully the game will be rescheduled sometime this week
Fun on the streets
. I'm excited to play them.Finally, Sunday. This day had a lot of promise. This was the day of the Euro 2008 final between Germany and Spain. I watched the game with Cary and some people he knew through his parents at a little Turkish cafe in a beautiful old place. I was a little nervous for Germany, because they really had only played one game well. Turns out I was right. Spain had the momentum for what seemed like the entire game. They only scored once, but that was enough. The streets were oddly quiet that night. I decided to save my money and just went home.
That's all I have for this week! Next week I should have a couple of games to share with you. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I can even tell you how my parents' trip to England and Ireland is going. I hope you have a great week!
