Das Spiel ist aus (the game is over). Dave and I took a break yesterday evening for the Weltmeisterschaft halbfinale (the World Cup semifinal). If you take the fast train, it's only 25 minutes to Koln from the Bonn Hauptbahnhof. We arrived about 6:30. Amazingly, the train station in Koln is less than 100 yards away from their huge cathedral, so you literally walk out of the train and your entire horizon is blocked by an enormous Gothic building. This is the same cathedral that the Pope visited last year.
On the other side of the cathedral (Dom) is a small platz where there was a stage and big screen TV set up. First we walked through the city to get a Doner Kebab (a kind of Turkish food made of folded bread, Kebab meat, vegetables, and sauce) and some Kolsch, the local beer. We ate the food quickly before entering the platz and standing among about 1,000 Germans (and a few italians) to watch the game. During the wait a terrible band from Manchester came out and played songs in English which the crowd basically ignored, although there were a few songs they sang aloud. Dave and I had never heard these songs, leading us to coin a new adjective - "Hasselhof." We're going to use it to describe things from English or American influence that are popular in Germany that Americans have never heard of. Finally the guy left the stage and the crown started singing Fussball songs.
When the game started the crowd was going crazy, jumping around, waving flags, and reacting audibly to every little bit of the game. The italian players were always taking dives with the smallest contact, and so they were booed almost every time they touched the ball. The crowd was tightly packed but very orderly - people even picked up their plastic beer glasses and returned them to the beer stands.
The game was 0-0 through regulation time, and with about 1:30 left in the overtime - just minutes away from a shootout - the Italians scored. After standing in place for nearly 5 hours, it was impossible to believe that it was going to end with a Germany loss. Everyone went silent except for a handful of Italy fans in front of us. The crowd made a meager effort to cheer for a goal in the final minute but the Italians scored again. Dave and I rode a packed train home to Bonn, and everyone was tired and sad.
Tonight...France and Portugal.
On the other side of the cathedral (Dom) is a small platz where there was a stage and big screen TV set up. First we walked through the city to get a Doner Kebab (a kind of Turkish food made of folded bread, Kebab meat, vegetables, and sauce) and some Kolsch, the local beer. We ate the food quickly before entering the platz and standing among about 1,000 Germans (and a few italians) to watch the game. During the wait a terrible band from Manchester came out and played songs in English which the crowd basically ignored, although there were a few songs they sang aloud. Dave and I had never heard these songs, leading us to coin a new adjective - "Hasselhof." We're going to use it to describe things from English or American influence that are popular in Germany that Americans have never heard of. Finally the guy left the stage and the crown started singing Fussball songs.
When the game started the crowd was going crazy, jumping around, waving flags, and reacting audibly to every little bit of the game. The italian players were always taking dives with the smallest contact, and so they were booed almost every time they touched the ball. The crowd was tightly packed but very orderly - people even picked up their plastic beer glasses and returned them to the beer stands.
The game was 0-0 through regulation time, and with about 1:30 left in the overtime - just minutes away from a shootout - the Italians scored. After standing in place for nearly 5 hours, it was impossible to believe that it was going to end with a Germany loss. Everyone went silent except for a handful of Italy fans in front of us. The crowd made a meager effort to cheer for a goal in the final minute but the Italians scored again. Dave and I rode a packed train home to Bonn, and everyone was tired and sad.
Tonight...France and Portugal.
posted by Erin at 11:17 AM
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