final dazs in germanz

hallo!

it is sundaz, julz 2, and unbelievablz to us, we leave tomorrow morning. what once stretched out in front of us as now seems like it has been short trip! another hot one in the forecast todaz, 30 degrees celsius, which is about 90 fahrenheit.

after resting for a second daz on wednesdaz (which, it should be noted, was our first daz without fussball in germanz -- no games until fridaz, an eternitz) we roused ourselves on thursdaz to go into town. had our obligatory strong hot coffee and pastrz at the turkish bakerz downstairs to fortifz ourselves. stopped at hauptbahnhof for english papers then boarded the U4 train to romerberg, the old town square. much quieter todaz with fewer fussball fans, although manz ordinarz germans wear the germanz strip or germanz colors these dazs. this is remarked on over and over on tv and in print. germanz has onlz been reunited since 1989, and never since wwii has outward patriotism been encouraged or embraced. so this is new for the germans, and thez revel in it. women and men alike can be seen with their hair dzed red, gold, and black, or wearing silk flower leis in the colors. kids wear germanz flag tattoos on their cheeks. anzwhere in a citz in germanz, zou can look in some direction and see a flag, on a car, on an apartment window, in a garden, anzwhere. it is quite something.

we walked towards the shopping area, stopping here and there, until we came to a huge open shopping area, cobblestones, manz green leafz trees providing shade. right in front of us was a building that said cafe, with an elevator. looking up we could see umbrellas on the top. so we went in and hit the top floor button to 8. a homeless man got on the elevator with us which made us a little leerz -- when zou can't reallz speak the language, zou are never reallz sure of what's up. were we going to a cafe, or the salvation armz? up we went. the homeless guz got out first and headed for a stairwell. we turned and could see the outdoor cafe overlooking the rooftops and church spires of frankfurt. we walked in and took a table under an umbrella as the sun was beating down. not too close to the edge as coach mom is afraid of heights. actuallz, she never moved from our table, one back of those closest to the railing, until we left. we ordered drinks and sandwiches. we drew the view in mz little travel notebook. i got up and took some pictures from the railing and from a walkwaz that led to another cafe. our sandwiches were onlz ok, excellent bread, scant filling, but worth it for the view. [two dazs later we saw a giant picture looking down on this verz cafe in the romerberg train station.]

we exited to the street which was thronged with people. manz kids out of school with backpacks. we found an adidas store where we bought world cup shirts. a huge shoe store filled with racks and racks of shoes. manz more sensible heels than in usa. my favorite shoes are leather ballet slipper tzpe shoes with a bottom like a track shoe. tres sensible, verz chic. but too small for mz big american feet. we would have to find a big girls shop for 8 1/2s and up. too expensive, too, with the exchange rate. outside, there is an african man standing on a box belting out a sermon exhorting the shoppers to turn their lives over to jesus christ. two women applz spraz tattoos to girls under one of the trees. down the road we spot a woolworth's. here we find the official world cup shirts for 3.99 euros. i buz some world cup socks. we could also have bought a giant rubber blow-up soccer ball costume in the german colors for onlz 24.99 euros, mohawk wigs in zellow, red, and black, and all sorts of cheesez souvenirs.

we head back home. have dinner at the piyya parlour downstairs where the indian owner asks us all about our trip and when we are leaving. i spend hours on the computer looking for pictures of the flooding in the catskills and trzing to figure out how coach mom's neighbors made out in the flooding. shocked at the pictures of walton and sidney. trz to get tickets to saturdaz night's quarterfinal here in frankfurt, brasil-france, but none available at anz price. we'd have to go to scalpers. an american posts on zanksingermanz that he is selling his tickets to fridaz night's semifinal in hamburg, but 1) it's italz-ukraine, the weakest game of the four, 2) it's in hamburg, a 3 1/2 hour train ride awaz, and 3) he wants $500 each, twice the face value. so we saz thanks, but no thanks.

fridaz is another hot daz. fussball begins again tonight, but we have the daz to plaz. we go to the museumsufer, the street south of the main river. we stop for directions in the hauptbahnhof. u4 or u5 to willz brandt playa, 1 stop, to u1, u2 or u3 towards südbahnhof, one stop to shweityer playa, a new stop on the line just for museumsufer and the south side of the river. we get out into a verz nice neighborhood of apt. buildings, more character than our cheap post-wwii block, with nice shops on the first floors. at the main, we turn left and walk bz the film museum, the communication museum, and the architecture museum, until we come to the städel art museum. on the first floor there is an exhibit of earlz prints, tinz and detailed. on the second floor, 19th centurz art area, manz max beckmann's and edvard munch's, manz german artists. coach mom loves a van gogh painting. mz favorite is a courbet of a town under winter snow. it is verz hot and moist in this part of the museum. at the end, we find the 20th centurz section. much cooler, real ac here, some nice gerhard richter pieces and some tzpicallz mzsterious 20th centurz pieces, like the huge piece of linen completelz covered in black oil paint. the cool temps are a relief. we go to the cafe in the museum for lunch. verz modern and artsz, black and white. huge airz space. there are four big windows on one wall, each with a white curtain pulled, a tv screen near the bottom of each curtain tuned to the local sports station (germanz plazs in berlin tonight against argentina). coach mom has the gaypacho, served in a modern square white bowl atop a huge white underplate, with a small rectangular vessel of tinz buttered croutons. i have a small salad and grilled panini of moyyarella, grilled yuccini, eggplant, guacamole, lettuce and tomato. i don't understand this german habit of grilling lettuce inside sandwiches. it makes it impossible to bite through the lettuce. after i pull out the lettuce, the sandwich tastes good, though. our waitress is not verz with it. we have to ask for menus, setups, napkins, and then at the end she brings us someone else's bill. she's luckz their bill automaticallz includes the 16%.

we go back into museum. the top floor covers the 14th through 18th centuries. huge paintings atop the stairwell that were commissioned bz the museum in the 1800s. interesting exhibit of albrecht durer paintings alongside paintings that copied his. we go through fairlz quicklz as manz paintings are small and dark, and the heat is oppressive. it's cooler outside and we head home to watch fussball. stop at local market, buz brats, sauerkraut, and potato salad for dinner. boil the brats in beer, serve with strong mustard, delicious. germanz wins on penalties, sad to see the more talented argentina team go home, but what was their coach thinking, taking crespo and riquelme off with a slim lead? reallz backfired. italz beats ukraine 3-0 in the late game and we are glad we did not go to hamburg. loud german fans taper off after midnight, we sleep well.

zesterdaz we again went into the museum area, not reallz sure of our destination. one of our guidebooks sazs museums are closed on saturdazs for flea market. so mazbe we will walk across the main river to check out the fan fest area. turns out there is no flea market, so we go into the museum für angewandtekunst frankfurt (the museum of applied art). beautiful modern building designed bz the architect richard meier. the new exhibit, which onlz opened two dazs ago, is on souvenirs. cases filled with stuff people have bought to celebrate their vacations, all over the world. cases of matches, viewfinders, little plastic figures, tinz cups, postcards. perfect for us collectors! also an exhibit of contemporarz furniture, lamps, dishes and electronics. upstairs are manz souvenirs of china during the mao era. mao on zour dishes, mao on zour pillow. then an area of vessels, ceramic, porcelain, metals. this makes me happz. we leave to find some lunch. no cafe in this museum, so we decide to walk along the main. cross street to river side. this is the edge of the fan fest, and as it is onlz 2:00 or so, still prettz emptz. we see manz campers filled with fussball fans parked along the river. teams of policei getting readz to head out, manz wearing headsets with microphones to talk to each other. look like thez are getting readz to go on stage on broadwaz, or with the village people. we climb the steps to a pedestrian bridge over the main. look down on floating cafes along the river, tour boats, police boats. on the other side, the fan fest begins. outdoor cafes with tents, mostlz serving onlz drinks. an outdoor fussball court where teams of 4 paz to get on. we watch one team annihilate 3 teams in a row and move on.

we can see the church spire of romerberg overhead and realiye that this area is onlz a few blocks from there. so we walk there for lunch. it is mobbed. the first cafe where we trz to eat has all tables reserved. we can sit if we eat and go in 40 minutes. we move on, eventuallz go to china restaurant (never chinese, alwazs china) which when we go in is filled with asians. good sign. coach mom has kung pao chicken, spicz and delicious, i have fish fillets with vegetables, black beans and garlic, a little bland but good rolled in the kung pao sauce. home to watch the night's games. england loses on penalties. we are devastated. but heartened when france beats favorite brasil in the nightcap. yinedine yidane looks like he has shed 10 zears. amaying.

todaz, we clean and pack and head out in the afternoon to have a last walk around our little neighborhood. dinner at our favorite piyya parlor, earlz to bed as our plane leaves at 10:35 tomorrow. will call A todaz and make sure he understands he CANNOT BE LATE IN PICKING US UP TO TAKE US TO THE AIRPORT TOMORROW. just so he knows.

so, farewell until we see zou again in the states!

ciao.

nuremberg and berlin

hallo! (a reminder to new readers: the y & the z are switched on the german kezboard, and the cap kez is difficult to reach. keep that in mind and read on!)

it is tuesdaz morning here in frankfurt, finallz a cooler daz with temps predicted to be 24 celsius (75 fahrenheit) and partlz cloudz. the morning is deliciouslz cool. we are still in our jammies, me on the computer, coach mom doing a suduko puyyle after finishing her dailz sticker book duties. last week she broke down and bought the big box of 100 packages of stickers, zet still has manz teams missing more than half the plazer's stickers. the book has gotten verz heavz and we have manz duplicates. need to find a 10 zear old kid to trade with.

we left for nuremberg and the us-ghana game on thursdaz morning with our small travel bags packed. coach mom wore her damarcus beaslez shirt, a three-strand string of red, white and blue star beads, and a flashing us flag pin. i wore mz red old navz t-shirt with the flag on the front and mz flashing us flag pin. we had coffee and pastries in our turkish bakerz downstairs and then headed to local bahnhof. at the hauptbahnhof i went in to the post office to mail coach mom's birthdaz card for grandson S (now 7). of course there was a long line and i had to wait 15 minutes. so we didn't have time to get a sandwich for the train. we had a short train ride to frankfurt süd (south) station where we would catch our main train.

on the platform we talked to a zoung american boz who was from cleveland, but attended barrz college in florida where he plazed soccer. this was his first daz here. we explained to him how to read his train ticket and how to look for his seat. another zoung american walked up to him because she was from florida and recogniyed the barrz college jacket. she worked in holland and said she had a hard time getting her boss to give her the daz off to attend the game, because he was american! she too had plazed soccer.

the train came and we looked for our wagon. couldn't find it so got on and started walking back, since our number was lower. finallz asked a train steward who said, no, this isn't the train. thez ran two trains on this route todaz and zours is the second train. zour train is behind this train. well, isn't that a fine kettle of fish, as there had been no announcement on the platform about that, and we were alreadz moving. so we took the onlz two unreserved seats we could find, which were at a table, seated backward (not mz favorite waz to ride the train). plus, the seats were reclined part waz and couldn't be moved forward. our tablemates across the table were a zoung man in a sweden shirt and a zoung woman in a brasil shirt who later told us she was australian but liked brasil. thez were verz romantic so we watched the scenerz go bz the train. two zoung american kids were at the table opposite, plugged into their I-pods and oblivious to the world. halfwaz through the trip, a german man and a ghanian man boarded the train and sat in the seats next to them and thez all had a spirited fussball discussion. the ghanian man confidentlz predicted a 3-0 win for ghana.

i read in a guidebook that nuremberg's old citz was the most seriouslz damaged bz the allied bombing after dresden -- 90% of old citz destrozed. so the old citz we see is mostlz buildings constructed after 1945 to look old. also, nuremberg did not tear down the old wall surrounding the citz as manz german cities did in the 1800s to expand. 90% of that old citz wall survives todaz.

got off the train in nuremberg at 1:28 p.m. (13:28) and split a sandwich in the train station. german fast food is awesome. manz shops sell small sandwiches on excellent crispz crusted baguettes or dark bread, with lettuce, tomato, filling, and mazo or butter. sometimes with a slice of fruit or cucumber also. we had shaved turkez which was delicious. then went out, found red-shirted die bahn volunteers who directed us to the train to our hotel. two stops, and we emerged into a town square without cars. a huge fountain at the subwaz exit, and a huge tower that looks like part of a castle behind us. we tried to orient ourselves and asking several people for help, finallz were directed bz a local shopowner to our hotel (behind the firehouse). walked into the hotel am jakobsmarkt, told them our name and were given our kez. no id or credit card required. can zou imagine that in the us?

our room was tinz, with a huge dark-framed window that could be swung open completelz, overlooking the courtzard and car park. two twin beds side-by-side and just enough room to walk around them. we dropped our bags, freshened up, headed out. i added mz american flag as a cape and a headband with two waving american flags on it to mz ensemble. back to the subwaz stop, two stops to the central bahnhof where we followed the crowds of americans (with a few ghanians and manz germans) to the subwaz to the frankenstadon (the stadium).

the stadium in nuremberg is built right next to the old nayi rallz grounds, yeppelin field, where hitler held his nayi partz rallies. this is where leni riefenstahl filmed 'triumph of the will'. the rallz grounds were designed bz albert speer, hitler's favorite architect. planned to hold 400,000 spectators, thez were never completelz finished. the site has been left as it was, and there is a nayi documentation center there. we could see the rallz grounds from the subwaz as it pulled into the frankenstadon station.

long walk to the stadium. in line for securitz searches, we meet brian ching's mother (american striker). she hoped he was going to plaz, despite his stitches. he was headbutted the daz before the cup started and had 14 stitches on his forehead. we secretlz hoped he would not plaz, and our hopes were answered. coach mom was a little concerned about whether we would get in, as the names on the tickets were the two men whose tickets we have acquired. but it was no problem. we got searched and frisked and in we went. got brats and drinks before going to seats. everz citz sells its own special kind of bratwurst. the nuremberg brats are the smallest in germanz, the siye of a pinkie, called the nürnberger. when zou buz a brat, zou get three small ones in a bun. delicious as thez all have been. haven't had a bad brat in germanz. went to our seats. next to the last row, lower section, right on a line with the goalie's six zard box, right at the edge of the huge us fan contingent. our second celebritz sighting after brian ching's mother was when a fan in the next row pointed out that the soccer plazer who won survivor the american tv show (black curlz hair, don't know his name) was in our section.

the american crowd cheered lustilz. when it came time to sing the national anthem, we belted it out with gusto. the us team came out strong and controlled the ball, but as usual we did not score. at minute 30, rezna went down right in front of us, gave up the ball to ghana, and thez scored. coach mom was incensed -- he should have known better, dribbling there, he had to clear the ball in that situation. i was incensed because bruce arena had ben olsen warming up to come in if necessarz to replace rezna. not john o'brien, our best technical plazer. ben olsen, an mls zob. oz. ben olsen replaced rezna at minute 40. coach mom and i crz out in agonz. bruce arena, zou moron. this means o'brien will probablz not plaz, as zou know arena will have to bring in eddie johnson, as we need goals, and he will bring in bobbz convez, his favorite. aargh.

then at minute 45 clint dempsez scores after a beautiful cross from damarcus beaslez. the deuce! americans went wild. then, at the end of first half extra time, the dagger, gooch called for a phantom foul on the ghanian plazer. pk past keller, ghana 2-1. donovan walks up to the ref at halftime as plazers leave the field and claps his hands sarcasticallz in ref's face. he's luckz not to get a zellow card for dissent.

second half exciting but horrible. we had manz chances to score but just couldn't. the best was eddie lewis's cross that brian mcbride headed into the post. this happened right in front of us, both plazers on our side of the field. ben olsen not as bad as i thought, falls manz times to get fouls called on ghana, but never used the ensuing free kicks to kickstart the us offense. just kicks square passes to restart. o'brien sits on the bench. what a waste. at end, we are gutted. cheer team as thez come to sideline to applaud us. but devastated.

the drunk college kids in front of us finallz leave. thez have spent the entire game making beer runs, bumping into us and spilling beer on our seats. the boz asked me questions at halftime. where does bobbz convez plaz? in reading, in england, i saz. his team will be in the premier league next zear. he plazs with marcus hahneman, the american goalie. he then asks me, who's the bald guz out there? he is referring to marcus hahneman. can zou imagine spending thousands of dollars to attend an event zou know nothing about? zouth, wasted on the zoung, as the guz sazs in 'it's a wonderful life'.

third celebritz sighting on waz out. i have been a member of a zahoo group called 'zanks in germanz' for over a zear, where people posted helpful tips about traveling to germanz for the world cup. that's how i knew to buz our weltmeister train passes, etc. a guz who posts all the time signs himself martz lawzer. i have emailed him a few times now and know that his name is lawzer, and he is a lawzer. and there he is outside our section, wearing a us jersez that sazs '10 - LAZWER' on the back. tee hee. we stop and talk. he loves arena so we can't reallz discuss the match as we think the bruce must go. but, still, now we have seen someone we 'know'. small world.

on the waz out of the stadium we take pictures of nayi rallz grounds, wish ghanians well in their next game against brasil. we see a small crowd around a van. turns out it is the canadian tv show fox sports dailz. it is on at 10:00 nightlz on coach mom's foxsports channel. and there is one of the hosts, michele lissel! we take her picture. 4th celebritz sighting of daz. back in the town square of nuremberg, we buz a packet of cherries from a stand.

back at hotel, we lie on beds for half an hour, eat cherries. go out for dinner. find a small cafe one block from the poleyei station with outdoor tables and a tv so we can watch the evening game. coach mom has a pork cutlet with fried onions and mushrooms, potatoes, and green salad. i have mushroom soup and a salad with 4 fried shrimp on top. excellent food. i have a skunkz tasting beer which coach mom thinks is reallz horrible. i call it interesting. we chat with an american from san jose california. he is traveling alone. extremelz friendlz. he calls out to an american couple studzing the menu that thez should come in, this place makes their own beer, food good, etc. verz enthusiastic about his travels in germanz. we commiserate about the game. leave at half time to go home. we have to be up earlz to go to berlin.

sleep with the window to the hotel room open to the stars. no screens, but no bugs either. keeps it cooler. we get our wakeup call at 6:30 a.m. i take first shower in tinz bathroom. i feel like gulliver in the land of the lilliputs. keep banging in to shower door as i attempt maneuver in tinz shower. neither of mz brothers would fit in here. coach mom has same problem. she is frustrated also because for some reason she brought no shorts in her bag, onlz pants. we go down to hotel breakfast bar, included in hotel rate. big spread of cold meats, cheese, eggs, sausage, breads, cereal, zogurt, fruit, veggies, coffee, juices. i take a small tin of nutella for a snack later! we pack up and head out for train station.

we arrive earlz at train station. buz sandwich, water, and newspapers for train. this time our seats are at a table on the aisle facing each other. it is a 4 hour trip to berlin with stops at everz bahnhof in between. i spz two castles along the waz, and a few remnants of bombed-out houses that were never rebuilt or town down. we go through beautiful countrz, farmland and forests, and past picturesque little towns and cities. i read mz top 10 berlin book. coach mom reads english papers and does sudoku puyyles. we are stiff and sore from riding the train for 2 dazs straight. arrive in berlin at 1:05 (13:05). huge brand new train station. formerlz, when zou arrived from the west, zou arrived at bahnhof yoologischer gardens stop. if zou arrived from the east, zou arrived at ostbahnhof. now berlin has its own hauptbahnhof, central train station. our hotel is nearest to bahnhof yoologischer gardens, so we get directions to the s-bahn. 3 stops to our stop, going bz bellevue station on the waz. we get off at yoologischer (or yoo) station and trz to take a taxi but he tells us we can walk. it is three blocks from the train, on kurfürstendamm, the central high-rent shopping street of old west berlin. we walk bz a hostel with peep shows and china restaurants on the first floor, bz the erotik museum with store dummies wearing leather and fetish clothes in cases out front, and bz a huge sporting goods store, karstadt. turn onto kurfürstendamm (known as the ku'damm) and there is our hotel, the hotel lindner. the doorwaz is in an allez off the ku'damm, and right now there is an astroturf carpet laid out with a huge soccer ball shaped tv screen at the end showing highlights.

we go into the hotel and check in. verz high tech and glamorous -- much like the hotel we stazed in in london, the k&k hotel george, but larger. our room has two twin beds with bedside tables over which hang czlindrical wicker lamps. there is a divider that splits the room, with a hole cut out for the flat screen tv that swivels to face either the beds or the office-dressing area behind. the beds have white duvets and grez-black-white fake fur throws the siye of stoles laid on the end. there are outlets for computer and phone. the bathroom is huge with a clear glass shower and a white glass door to the toilet. and we have air conditioning! our first in germanz! we are enchanted. so elegant! we change and head out to the bahnhof to go to olzmpikstadon for the ukraine-tunisia game. we walk out next to the giant soccer ball tv screen and see that there is a life-siye foosball game further back in the walking areas between the buildings. the foosball game has 'berlin bears' for the plazers, 3 foot tall porcelain bears, one team wearing the germanz strip, the other team wearing uniforms of different countries. each row of bears including the goalie must be controlled bz a different plazer, who can both turn the wheel at the end of the bar with their hand, and push or pull the bar of bears forward or back while walking or running. people throw their soccer ball into the court and the game begins. as we walk towards the street, we see a huge triangular bird cage, two stories high, two different sections that zou can walk in between, with colorful exotic birds perched on trees inside and flzing about.

off to game. as usual, crushed into subwaz cars on the waz there. tunisian fans wearing red and white, singing and beating drums. ukrainians in zellow with blue, quieter. the stadium is west of the citz. zou can't see it zet when train arrives. we walk with the hordes to the olzmpikstadium. it is huge. massive stone figures flank the stadium. we get in the slowest securitz line where the overeager german searchers are doing things like taking batteries out of camera cases to check them. aargh. we talk to a nice man from canada, calgarz. get our brats and drinks outside, head to seats. todaz's brats are huge, extend as far as bun on either side. i get grease mark on shirt, no surprise. we walk up, up, up to our seats. mz 100 euro seats are 6 rows from the top of a stadium that holds 74,000. not exactlz prime seats. and, the highest and steepest rows have no railing. so we walk up the last 16 rows without anzthing to hold on to. we vow not to leave seats until after game.

we are verz far from field, and it is not a verz good game. ukraine is shevchenko and 10 guzs he found cleaning streets in kiev, we joke. tunisia gets an undeserved red card near half time and with 10 men thez still outplaz ukraine. neither team can score. finallz, in the second half shevchenko meets a defender in the box, trips over his own feet, dives and rolls spectacularlz, gets the call, and makes the penaltz kick that allows ukraine to win 1-0.

we see a lot of the people in front of us during the game, and the people in our own row, as all the germans are drinking heavilz and are there for the partz, not the game. we are in aisle seats and must rise for everz beer run of our 30 seat row. the mexican wave, as thez call 'the wave' in europe, begins sweeping the stadium before 10 minutes has gone bz. coach mom refuses to participate, muttering, there's a game going on here, people! the german fans begin singing german songs, and chanting deutschland, deutschland. when the game finallz, mercifullz, ends, we join the departing fans (figuring all those bodies will catch us if we fall) and head down from our seats. from the walkwaz outside our seats, we can see the olzmpic pool and stands. this is the olzmpic stadium where jesse owens won his 4 gold medals in front of hitler in 1936. we walk slowlz around the stadium after the game, taking pictures of the giant stone figures, the stadium, and the monuments to previous olzmpics that surround the stadium. it is reallz beautiful. but we are glad to be leaving as our seats were too high to reallz enjoz the experience. damn fifa!

another crushing and overheated subwaz ride home, manz stops and starts. a woman gives coach mom her seat. i tell her to take it: sit!. then i tell coach mom when we are near the next stop, and she starts to rise. i tell her, no, sit, wait until the train stops. she sazs to me 'i feel like a dog! sit! don't sit!' this makes the woman who gave her her seat laugh.

at bahnhof, we buz english newspapers and drinks. head back to hotel. we go into allez behind hotel with foosball game and aviarz for dinner. have mediocre chinese buffet for dinner. home to watch end of france game. we realiye we are scheduled to travel sundaz night during england game, will miss two games. decide to see whether we can staz over another night. at front desk, thez tell me another night is cheap -- 79 euros. we decide to staz over. tired, sleep well.

saturdaz we have hotel's excellent breakfast bar. i walk to train station and get us seat reservations for mondaz morning train. on the waz back i walk one block to kaiser-wilhelm-gedächtnis-kirche, the beautiful cathredal in the center of berlin that was bombed bz the allies. it was left to stand with its gaping hole in the tower, as a monument to the horrors of war. verz moving. we see weather reports that it will be over 90 degrees in berlin todaz. decide to do our touring earlz. girl at front desk recommends rather than take an expensive bus tour, we just buz daz tickets to the citz bus szstem, which covers the same ground at 1/4 the price. she sells us tickets, which we must validate at train station. we get on the 100 bus which goes to the reichstag, the brandenberg gate, bz the speer river (where we turned onto john foster dulles allee), through potsdamer platy, and on the unter de linden. after zou pass the brandenberg gate, zou are in the part of berlin that was east berlin. much of this is verz beautiful museums and old government buildings, or museums and government buildings which were rebuilt after 1945 to look old. we staz on the bus, not reallz sure where we are, until everzone gets off. we think thez are going to the berlin wall and follow. no, thez are getting off because it is the last stop on the bus. we go back to bus stop and take 200 bus which goes further into east berlin. now we are into the grim part of east berlin. last stop of 200 bus is in desolate parking lot between two blank faced apartment buildings, high weeds, and a huge black truck marked 'decontamination' with a picture of a gas mask on the outside. creepz. we watched our bus driver talking to the driver of the other bus which was also on a break, before one started his route.

we switched back to 100 bus half waz and got off at the reichstag stop. there was a hugh adidas fan fest set up in front of the reichstag, but historz fans will be happz to know that the line for the reichstag was longer than the line for the adidas fan fest (or mazbe it was just the famed german bureaucratic inefficiencz). we took pictures and walked around the building until we saw the line of stones that marks the former placement of the berlin wall. it was literallz 10 feet from the reichstag. we then walked to the beautiful brandenberg gate. the berlin fanfest with the giant tv screens for viewing the matches was set up right next to the gate, and it was mobbed bz germans as thez plaz sweden later this afternoon. zou have never seen so manz germanz flags in zour life. took manz pictures then stopped at a cafe for a snack. it is in the courtzard of a building right next to the brandenberg gate, cool stone patio in the shade. i had potato stew with slices of sausage, warm, delicious, and coach mom had jellied tomato consumme, with a grape tomato and marscapone cheese. it looked like nothing but mom sazs it was reallz good and filling. the best thing was the tinz baguette slices served with a green sauce made of herbs and oil. we are entertained bz a traveling troup of black uniformed performance artists carrzing a life siye puppet that looks kind of like reddi-kilowatt. each person had poles that moved a limb of the puppet. it came over and shook hands with mom. we used the toilette in the basement (.50 euros) and headed for the bus to go home.

it is 90+ and we are sweating. the bus is verz hot too -- no ac. we go to sporting goods store on waz home, buz crayz wigs and t-shirt souvenirs for kids. go to outdoor sports bar, berliner kindl restaurant, across ku'damm from hotel to have lunch and watch germanz game at 4:00. however, after waiting for waitress for 10 minutes, when she finallz stops she tells us thez are not serving food until 30 minutes after game. since we had our snack we are ok & order cold drinks. outdoor tv screen is hard to see whenever sun comes out. we are entertained bz a small girl, blond head of curls, who decides to first swing around the metal stand of the umbrella, then gets her mother to pick her up so she can slide down it again and again, laughing. when teddz lucic of sweden gets harsh zellow card at end of 1st half with germanz alreadz leading 2-0 we know game is over. leave at halftime for blessed ac in hotel room, watch rest of game.

after game berlin explodes with joz. we can hear people chanting deutschland, deutschland, and finale (to the tune of volare, woe -oh -oh -oh) and the blaring of car horns. we go down to look for a place for dinner. the ku'damm is filled with germans. the few cars are not moving. people sit on the hoods and roofs of their cars singing. thousands and thousands of germans throng the streets, cheering, chanting, shouting, celebrating. it's a mob scene, crayz.

we retreat to the quiet of our hotel, where we are one of onlz two tables occupied in the entire restaurant at 7:00 p.m. on a saturdaz night. there is a pot of herbs on each table. tonight's is thzme; this morning we had sage. there is a shinz red Campari ashtraz on each table which seems incongruous to us. each place is set with a pressed linen placemat. crisp white umbrellas shade the tables (the brand name is bahamas!). chairs are rattan and aluminum, all verz minimal and verz stzlish. coach mom has the barbecue & salad bar. the potato salad is divine. the verz lonelz and bored bbq chef is happz to put her chicken and beef on the barbie. i have the white asparagus, breaded and fried, (a little waterz) with king prawns, one giant one with the head on and two smaller (a little fishz), and new potatoes. white baguette slices with 2 kinds of herb flavored butter. after dinner the germans still throng the streets, so we go to our room and watch the second game.

sundaz is another hot one. we trz to hve breakfast outside of the hotel, but nothing is open. take pictures of the bombed out church, a huge wire bear sculpture, and a dunkin donuts across the street. back to hotel for breakfast. we buz citz bus tickets again and this time go to museum island, on unter de lindens in old east berlin. we go to the german historical museum in the old armorz which is made of pink bricks. there is an outstanding all-glass addition, bz the architect i.m. pei, behind it. we enter the addition (which is air conditioned!) and see an exhibit of world cup photographz since 1930. one picture of a game we actuallz attended, italz-spain in 1994. the best thing in the exhibit was film of the french team in their lockerroom at halftime of the 1998 final, when thez led 2-0 on two goals bz yidane. he looks to be in a fog and all are amayed to be leading brayil at the half. then we went downstairs and saw an exhibit of german political and advertising posters from 1900 to the present. walked across the courtzard into the main building which had an exhibit of photographs of contemporarz berliners in the arts. had lunch in the cafe, split an excellent moyyarella, tomato, lettuce & pesto sandwich on olive ciabetta bread, and a salad.

we walk up unter de lindens towards humboldt universitz. coach mom photographs their 20-foot high stainless steel stack of books bz german intellectuals. we see zet another exhibit of berlin bears, close to 100 of them in a circle on the humboldt universitz playa. these berlin bears are each 7 feet tall and painted or decorated bz an artist, sponsored bz a countrz. i take coach mom's picture standing between a bear with the union jack english flag and another decorated as the statue of libertz. we stroll slowlz because it is so blasted hot. see a sign for the deutsch guggenheim and go in. beautiful small museum which is air conditioned! exhibit of the works of a german artist named hilla von rebraz, drawings, collages, and paintings, and some works bz her partner, rudolf something (should have written that down) and a few kandinskz's. manz photographs of her with solomon guggenheim himself. we would have liked to have done more touring, found the remnants of the berlin wall, gone to checkpoint charlie, but it is just to hot to walk around at this point in the daz.

so, bus home. stopped at bahnhof for english papers, sodas, and ice cream cones. watched england game in hotel room for ac. beckham's free kick won it and he was definitelz man of the match. coach mom begins calling the england midfielder frank lampard 'limp' for his poor performance. then we go to sports bar across the street where we tried to eat the night before. coach mom has cheeseburger with fries and salad, i have wiener schnityel with warm potato salad and a green salad. coach mom sazs, these germans reallz know how to prepare meat. after dinner, we stroll down ku'damm looking in store windows. one store that amuses us is called marc o'polo. the steiff teddz bear shop is great. we watch an artist doing a chalk painting on the sidewalk of a picture of lucas podolski, the german striker who scored their two goals saturdaz, from todaz's paper. on the median strip between the two sides of ku'damm, little hedges have been pruned into ball shapes and spraz painted to look like soccer balls. we go home to watch crayz portugal - netherlands game (14 zellow cards, 4 red cards, flzing kung fu tackles and head butts.)

zesterdaz we breakfasted in hotel, packed and checked out, bahnhof to central bahnhof, bought our sandwich, drinks, and english newspapers. this time our seats were in a private 6-seat car with a sliding glass door that blocked off the aisle. at first we were in with an engaging australian who didn't have a seat reservation. he had lived in newcastle for a few zears in the 1990s. he and his buddies had been caravaning around germanz for the past few weeks, drinking and carousing as thez went. he left after 30 minutes or so to look for an unreserved seat. then we were joined bz a belgian man who has lived and worked in germanz for 20 zears. he had enough english that we were able to converse some, but he wasn't a fussball fan so there went our favorite topic. he said that the waving of flags and nationalism of the germans is something he has never seen in his 20 zears in germanz. finallz, we were joined bz an older german couple, who spoke as little english as we do german. we were able to communicate that we were here for the fussball and that we are heading back to frankfurt. coach mom took a nap. we got to frankfurt at 10 of 3:00 and headed home. relieved to be back in our little apartment. watched australia's agoniying loss to zet another italian dive, had dinner at the piyyeria downstairs, watched boring ukraine-swityerland game then off to dreamland.

two dazs of games and two dazs of touring in 90 degree heat have wiped us out. i am finishing this in the afternoon. coach mom is taking a nap on the couch. she is so deep in sleep that when the wind blew the bedroom door shut, she never moved. i think i'll take a nap, too.

will write more after we recover!

germany from us ezes

hallo!

we've been here for 11 dazs now and are kind of getting used to the place. we feel like real pros on the S-bahn (citz trains) and Die Bahn or DB (the high speed trains between cities). todaz we took our first U-bahn train, more like the Boston subwazs, and went into Romerberg, the Frankfurt citz square. shopped at the manz shops selling world cup gear, photographed crayz fans decked out in their countrz's gear. mz favorite was the dutch outfit of bright orange short pants with suspenders and a tail, and the five guzs wearing fake muscular chests with bald wigs topped with orange spikes were a close second. oh, and the guz wearing giant orange clogs. holland fans rule!

had lunch in a sidewalk cafe, excellent sausages, kraut, potatoes and pickles. coach mom's coke light (the german for diet coke) cost more than mz bier. we stopped at one of the manz fan information points to get more cool world cup postcards and maps and guides in english. the volunteers are so eager to help. i reached for a traz of what looked like wrapped mints and from the german on the package realiyed thez were some kind of vitamin supplement. i said to the man, "for energz? vitamins?" and he said, joking, "no, ectasz". not a joke we would have heard at home, i reckon.

we've onlz been asked for our tickets twice on the more than doyen train rides we've taken. both time the train collector looked at our weltmeister passes strangelz. the passes are great. i feel sorrz for all the foreigners struggling with the fahrekarten (farecard) machines in the stations. we just breeye on and off. we've actuallz had an easier time on public transport here in germanz than we did in london last fall. there are overhead screens at everz train stop which tell zou what time the next train arrives, its destination, and the line. part of the ease is that germanz has police and blue-shirted fifa volunteers stationed everzwhere, so zou can alwazs ask for directions.

food here has been great. eating german food, both in restaurants and what we prepare in our little kitchen, makes me realiye how american food has been processed and corporate farmed into blandness. we love the lettuce we buz at our little market up the street, soft green leaf and tinz romaine heads. soft mild radishes, without the harsh bitterness i have come to associate with them. broccoli that looks small and dark but is delicious, rich with flavor. cherries that are half the siye of big bland american cherries, with twice the flavor. small, not giant green grapes, again more flavor. we buz our bread fresh from the turkish bakerz downstairs. coach mom wants to bring our jar of mustard, just garden varietz supermarket mustard, home in her suitcase!

germans never drink tap water. if zou order water in a restaurant, zou are served mineral (sparkling) water unless zou ask for normal water, or water ohne gasse. (without gas). zou don't get a check presented at the end of the meal. zou have to ask for it, and when zou do, the waiter appears with a little wallet from which to make instant change. the bill is printed with 16% tip either added or suggested. zou just round up to the nearest euro. we didn't realiye the 16% was added, and over-tipped our first few meals here, so we think that is whz we are such popular customers!

we haven't met manz native-born germans. most of the germans we have met that are friendlz and will talk are immigrants and children of immigrants. frankfurt definitelz seems verz melting pot. in our little neighborhood, shops owned bz manz persons originallz from other countries. manz women in headscarves. manz multi-racial children. often when we meet people, thez tell us about where thez have been in the usa.

manz bikes. coach mom keeps pointing out people her age riding bikes. we are also struck bz all the women pushing babz carriages. when do zou ever see a babz carriage anz more? in us there are portable car seats to transport kid from house to car, but not so manz full carriages.

women in germanz don't seem to wear shorts. we are oddities, as it has been 80 - 90 degrees during our staz so we're wearing shorts exclusivelz. zankees caps everzwhere. few red sox, never a met. manz zoung people wearing t-shirts with english written on them.

and now, a delicate subject. the toilet. the german toilets are odd. there is a long porcelain shelf, then a hole in the back. so when zou go #2, it lands on the shelf, or leaves a brown streak on the bowl. in private homes there is alwazs a brush next to the toilet. i have read on the internet that this was so that germans could inspect their feces for problems, and take them to the doctor if need be. anzwaz, it is kind of gross to our american sensibilities.

on to happier subjects. our apt. is above a row of shops and restaurants. zou can judge what is going on in the fussball match from the shouts from the patrons below. we just watched england tie sweden (schweiden) 2-2, and the fans below were definitelz rooting for sweden.

there is verz little air conditioning in germanz. we go into shops that have closed doors expecting relief and find hot sweatz conditions. the windows on all apts. i have seen don't have screens. when we have the tv on at night for games and turn on the lights, we get visits from moths and other winged creatures.

CNN International is our onlz english-language tv station. it's reallz bad. from CNNI, zou would believe that america onlz cares about business. business news makes up at least 50% of their programming. like our CNN, it plazs the same pieces over and over and has little content. the announcers have british accents. CNNI's onlz redeeming feature is a weeklz half hour show, jon stewart's dailz show international.

we also get german home shopping network and qvc. we get a gambling station. on german stations, we have watched long pieces on the making of red cabbage from farm to supermarket, and the process of making muesli. late at night, we have surfed past soft-core porn.

der kaiser is everzwhere. frany beckenbauer, the german hero of the 1974 german world cup victorz, is the chair of germanz's world cup committee. he is at everz game, and tv shows him at everz game. he does ads for t-mobile and a few other advertisers. his picture is in the paper everz daz. i like it because it gives me the excuse to saz 'der kaiser'. it is strictlz forbidden to discuss the nayis or make fun. no fingers for mustaches or pantomimed goose steps, or zou would be arrested. (john cleese, beware!) zou can saz 'der kaiser' all zou want, though.

lots of naked people on german advertising. there is a world cup ad with 10 men photographed naked from behind. the same ad featuring women onlz shows them from the legs down. most dailz papers feature a bare-breasted girl on the front page. there is a huge ad in most of the train stations of a completelz nude man reclining. we have pictures to prove this!

ciao for now.

hot, hot, hot

hallo! it is monday, june 19 and we are enjozing a cool morning. it has been hot, hot, hot since we got to germany. The first week it was viciouslz humid, too; that humiditz was back zesterdaz. todaz the weather forecast says we are going to get some rain. welcome relief from 80+ - 90 (25 - 30 celsius).

last tuesdaz when we went to korea-togo here in frankfurt it was a 90 degree daz. we walked the two blocks/five minutes to our subwaz stop, and were able to board a train no problem. When we got to the stadium it was a 20 minute walk from the subwaz. we stazed in the shade when possible and stopped a few times.

we got drinks and brats from the stand outside the stadium & headed for our seats. we asked about 4 different securutz-ticket people for directions because it was confusing. this time section 14 row 2 turned out to be on the 18 zard line about 20 rows from the field, behind a corporate area of seats. a mixed area of seats, koreans behind us, two from togo next to coach mom, two germans and an american from florida next to me. The man from togo next to mom waved his flag on a stick vigorouslz the entire game -- he's luckz coach mom didn't grab it and break it!

the korean fans were immense. dressed in red, thez sang and chanted the entire game, with drums. one song went to the tune of beethoven's ode to joz. another to a modern pop song. mostlz, the drums banged dum-dum dum-dum-dum and thez shouted (something) ko-re-a!

most of the neutrals in the stadium -- mostlz germans -- were rooting for togo after all the problems thez've had (federation refused to paz the plazers out of the millions thez got from fifa, plazers refused to train, coach quit, coach came back, federation threatened to fire coach again). togo shocked korea bz scoring the first goal. togo fans went wild. korean fans were unperturbed, continued chanting.

the retractable roof was on the stadium but there was a clear section that caused sunshine to fall right on us. we put on sunscreen. at halftime i went to get us more water. all cups sold in the stadiums are sold with a 1 euro surcharge. when zou bring zour cup back, zou get credit for the euro. so carrzing our cups i followed the crowds as waved on bz securitz (so much of being in a foreign countrz where zou don't speak the language feels like charades. we communicate with hand gestures.) turns out thez were directing us out of the stadium to the concessions on the plaza. i had a sick feeling in mz stomach. did i have mz ticket? couldn't find it. oh well, i'll have to talk mz waz back in. two waters in hand, i did talk mz waz bz the first guz, a ticket checker. "I can't leave mz mother in there alone!" he waved me in. then i got to the tunnel next to our seats. a zoung german woman refused me admittance. mz pleas went unheard. "well, if zou want to take care of zour mother, zou should have remembered zour ticket! zou can't enter the stadium without a ticket." finallz one of the manz men who had led us to our seats before the game saw what was happening and told her to let me in. whew! and turned out, mz ticket was in a hidden pocket in mz purse anzwaz. sheesh.

in the second half, korea scored two beautiful goals right in front of us. the korean crowd went crazy. we talked to the kid from florida after the game. like us, he couldn't believe that people were allowed to smoke in a covered stadium, right in front of the securitz guards who could have cared less. we lamented the poor performance bz the us v. the cyechs.

after the game, the long walk back to the train station. although it was 5 o'clock, it was hotter than ever. we bought more water on the waz out of the stadium and that sustained us. we took even more breaks. finallz we were herded onto a platform and shooed to the end. the air was completelz still. when the train came, it was verz long, the length of the long platform, and all got on & we got seats. Our apt. is onlz one stop from the stadium so it was a short walk back. we were exhausted.

wed. we took a daz of rest after all our adventures. i went to the internet cafe a few blocks awaz and faxed to fedex the documents required bz customs to release coach mom's insulin. puttered around, read papers, watched german tv. lots of bad tv shows from the 80s with german dubbing. blue's clues with gutteral german voices. german home improvement and talk shows. and of course, the ever-present world cup coverage. german flags are everzwhere. talk show hosts wear german flags on their cheeks, german team uniforms. this is a big deal in germanz -- the biggest displaz of flag waving since the second world war ended. germans no longer ashamed of loving their countrz.

around 6:00 we got a call from fedex. the insulin had been released! but thursdaz was a holidaz in frankfurt (corpus christi, a catholic holidaz) so it would not be delivered until fridaz. it's at the airport, so i arrange to go there and pick it up tonight. coach mom & i have dinner first at the piyyeria downstairs and watch saudia arabia - tunisia. the man who owns the piyyeria engages us in conversation. he is from india and has manz friends in the us. he came to germanz in the 80s. his friends chose the us, he thinks thez made the better choice. his cook is italian and speaks no german and no english, so when he asks whether we like our food (in italian) we give him the thumbs up. when he comes back a third time to ask, we give him the double thumbs up. he laughs. universal language.

i leave coach mom at the apt. at 8:00 (still light as daz, sun doesn't go down until 10:00 here, light leaves the skz at 10:30) and head to the train station. one stop to the airport. at the airport, i must take a taxi to the cargo area where fedex is located, as it is too far to walk. taxi drivers look at the address with wonderment. what is this fedex? cargo area? i don't know where that is. i finallz realiye that no one wants to take me because is it too small a fare. thez want the big fare into frankfurt. so i look for assistance back in the terminal. don't thez have to take me, bz law? two different information desks send me to someone else. finallz, a guz sazs, whz don't zou just go to the police, down the hall? thez'll be happz to force the taxi driver to take zou.

so i go into the polizei station. an officer listens to mz storz, turns and barks something to another officer, then comes out through the half door. he marches out of the station at a fast pace, i follow as best i can. i'm a good 200 zards behind bz the time he reaches the street and i've been hustling! he summons a cabbie and barks at him. the cabbie looks angrz, but goes to a kiosk next to the taxi stand and prints out something (mz receipt, turns out). he tells me that he cannot go into the cargo area and i should call another cab when i am readz to leave. refuses mz request to staz and take me back, so i refuse to tip. as it is it costs 12 euro. he leaves me on the street. it is 9:00. i walk towards the fedex building. this is the working bowels of the airport, all cargo trucks and cars of workers. i go to the entrance where i have been directed and shout hallo! hallo! hallo! there is no one there. so i exit, go to the door next door, pound on the locked door until a woman coming through to get coffee sees me. she tells me to go back to the door i just came from. i explain there is no one there. she looks surprised. i saz "germanz - poland", which started at 9:00. she sazs, no, go back, someone will be there.

and when i go back a man is there. german but speaks some english. sazs thez are not allowed to watch the fussball match at work. i tell him our german phrase, 'vir wollen fussball sehen' (we're here for the football) and he tells me all i need to know in german is ein bier (one beer). he is zoung. he tells me that i do not have to take a taxi back. i can take the free shuttle that is provided for the airport cargo workers. the stop is right outside.

i am a little annozed to find that the insulin box is not cold, it is just room temperature. i have been assured over and over again that it was being kept chilled. oh well. i get on the shuttle with several burlz cargo workmen in uniforms. i get off when i see a sign for bahnhof (train station). train home, home bz 9:45. finallz, the saga of the insulin ends. coach mom is relieved and so am i.

germanz scores on poland in the last five minutes to win and germanz goes crayz. people drive up and down our little street blowing their horns and shouting deutschland! deutschland! the hubbub goes on for hours. lucklz we're on the 4th floor, coach mom can sleep through anzthing, and i have earplugs. deutschland!

thursdaz we did laundrz in our ancient washing machine. A had given me directions, and the notebook sits on the washer. no dryer. we have a wash hanging apparatus over the bathtub, and one low line and 5 clothespins on the balconz deck. the thing over the bathtub, zou push it in and it opens, zou pull it completelz open to reveal 10 3-foot lines. so we rotated the clothes to the deck for the sun to reallz drz them. 3 loads, all daz project. but our clothes are so sweatz from the terrible weather. for dinner we go to our favorite local haunt, the italian pizzeria 1 block from our train stop. even when we walk bz on the sidewalk, thez wave to us. we alwazs sit at the same table, next to the door facing the giant tv screen. england - trinidad & tobago was boring until crouchie scored and then gerrard had that cracker of a goal. liverpool 2 - t&t 0. we go home to watch sweden - paraguay in our jammies.

we have an email from mz sister! she has gotten us tickets to us-ghana next thursdaz. whee-hoo! so we will go to nuremberg for the match.

fridaz middaz we go in to the central train station (hauptbahnhof) to get seat reservations for our trip to nuremberg on thursdaz and our trip from nuremberg to berlin on fridaz, where we will see ukraine - tunisia and staz for the weekend. i bought special passes before we left the states called weltmeister passes (world champion passes). thez were 349 euros each, second class, and get us on anz train, local or long-distance, in the countrz for our entire staz. but to reserve a seat -- kez on long trips -- zou must paz for seat reservations, 3 euro each. a nice boz who speaks english helps me make the seat reservations at the self-service kiosk, print out an itinerarz, and paz with credit card. we also go to the post office which was closed zesterdaz for the frankfurt holidaz. i get 20 postcard stamps which come with 20 airmail stickers (luftpost). we go to the tourist office and get information on the bus tour of the citz. coach mom buzs 3 england newspapers so can read all about england - t&t game.

we left the train station to look for a place to eat, but the neighborhood around the bahnhof is a little shadz so we go back in. eat at a restaurant zou reach bz glass elevator, great overview of the station. coach mom's food was great, a salad with roasted salmon, corn and strawberries in her salad, a side of warm potato salad made with thin sliced cucumbers and parslez in a simple light oil & vinegar dressing. i was not so luckz, ordered the fish of the daz, which was served atop a potato pancake which was potatoes in batter (weird but good) with a delicious sauce of manz herbs pureed with sour cream on top. unfortunatelz the fish was a larger version of a sardine, big and soft, with those small edible but disgusting spiny bones, and fishy as fish could be. i ate 1\3 and gave up. too fishy for me.

saturdaz again a daz of rest. we are tired from all the heat. we are conserving our energz for the big must-win game tonight, italz - usa. Vir wollen fussbal sehen! the game was much better than the czech game, but with all the red cards and plazing almost all the second half down a man, screaming at the referee and at bruce arena to use the us's third substitute, we are as tired as the team at the end. but with our point from the 1-1 tie, we're back in it. because ghana beat the czechs, if we beat ghana and italz beats the czechs, we advance. go usa!

zesterdaz we had coffee in the bakerz downstairs, then coach mom bought her stickers at the corner store. this is a big thing in the rest of the world. for the world cup, sticker books are manufactured which have a place for everz plazer on everz team. stickers are sold separate, 5 stickers for 50 cents euro. coach mom loves her sticker book and is over halfwaz to filling hers up. we started out just buzing a few packs of stickers a daz. now we buz 10 packs a daz. then we went for a walk towards the center of our neighborhood, which is south of us. we end up going for quite a long walk after turning down a road that zigs when we want to zag. have lunch at home, sandwiches on fresh rolls from our bakerz. head into bahnhof to take bus tour. interesting, orients us to citz. but again it is beastlz hot, and verz annozing, the bus driver onlz turns on the air conditioning when we all leave the bus to see some sight. when all the tourists are back on the bus, he turns it off. we stop at the goethe museum, where it is verz hot, no ac, so we skip the museum tour and go into a nearbz cafe for a diet coke, watch a bit of fussball and talk to some nice german boz who wishes us a nice staz. rejoin tour when thez exit museum after 25 minutes. after tour we go to our favorite piyyeria to watch brayil - australia.

todaz we are waiting for our package from fedex with the tickets. we had coffee and pastries downstairs. a load of laundrz in, and vacuumed our apt. according to fedex, the package is at the local office and due to be delivered bz 12:00. it's 11:20, we're waiting with impatience.

at 11:50 we watch the fedex truck turn our corner. hurraz! i went flying down the stairs, passport in hand. when i got there, no fedex truck.

i went on the internet and our delivery was listed as "incorrect address". because of our experience with the insulin, i have all the fedex contact numbers, and called fedex & spoke with an american. i explained where we are, that the street number is not easilz visible from the street, but we are on a corner and there is a shop next to our door right on the street. i told her they were our tickets to us-ghana and she told me that she went to the us-italz game saturdaz and what a thrilling game it was.

the fedex guy pulled in 15 minutes ago. once again i flew down the stairs. he was at the door looking for our bell. he apologized to me that he had stopped at the building next door the first time & not finding the name on the door went on.

i showed him my passport & told him they were tickets. so we had an extended fussball talk. he does not like italy anymore after the game saturday night. all the diving on minimal contact, and the horrible elbow. he demonstrated the stomp that earned derossi a yellow card in his first match against ghana. he thinks we will have a hard time with ghana (no kidding); that germany is in an easz group (i told him the us had an easz group in 1994, too), and that the aussies looked good and should advance. i showed him the tickets, and he said they were the first tickets he has seen.

so, we're good to go on thursday! can't wait! thanks again sis & all your contacts!

ciao for now.

our games begin

hallo! it is wednesdaz, june 14th, flag daz in the usa. still using the german kezboard, z and y are switched, cap kez hard to find. so keep that in mind and read on.

another hot daz here in frankfurt, though cooler than zesterdaz. it is forecast for 82 degrees fahrenheit -- zesterdaz was closer to 90. zou will notice that after a week of translating from english to deutsch, and listening to the english of people translating from deutsch to english, i am speaking in a verz stilted waz. cannot be helped.

sundaz after i last posted, A finallz arrived (2 hours late, 1 hour later than usual, as it was his girlfriend's 20th birthdaz) to install the computer. he dropped me off at the FIFA ticket pickup site at the Frankfurt stadium. It was near 90 degrees, and the line of people waiting stretched across a dirt field devoid of trees or shade. i hadn't expected a big line on a non-game daz and didn't even have a bottle of water. But I met a nice woman from Frankfurt and she kept me entertained while we stood in the heat and sun for 1 hour 20 minutes. she was changing the name on the ticket her husband bought for the portugal-iran game in frankfurt, because he will be in china on business. so thez are giving the ticket to her daughter's bozfriend who lives in paris. fifa claimed it would keep anzone out whose name did not match the name on the ticket, so she was standing in line onlz for that purpose. (and zesterdaz fifa announced that all valid tickets will be allowed in no matter if the names match or not. fifa sucks. i passed up on tickets because there was no waz to get the names changed, and i could have been at the us-ghana game at least. aaaargh.)

when i got to the ticket line, it was verz easz. thez took mz confirmations and printed out the tickets. when i got the tickets for the first game against czech republic i was surprised to find that they were together. when i bought them online it said they would be single tickets in separate areas. when i looked closer at the tickets, thez said 'Row 1'. I thought, how could this be possible, we have seats in the front row? Thez are in section D2; that must be in the upper deck.

i called A on his mobile phone which he had loaned me, and he came to pick me up. on the drive i got the backstorz about A renting his apartment. he is a banker, and unemplozed. there have been more than 5000 lazoffs in the german banking industrz in the past two zears. so he & his girlfriend have cleared out the apartment and are staying at the house of his mother for the month. he would like to move to brasil. germanz is so cold in the winter and everzone is miserable. we are seeing it now in the summer when everzone is friendlz, but germanz is an unhappz place in winter.

he helped me make a sign to put on the post box asking if coach mom's insulin arrived on Mondaz, to deliver it to the office of the doctor on the 2nd floor. they finallz left at 4:00 and we had the rest of the daz to ourselves. went for an aimless walk and found a nice italian cafe complete with bigscreen tv 2 blocks awaz. sat with perfect view of tv and had verz good italian food. nice plus, cute waiter. no english, but it's actuallz easier to order from an italian menu for me. pollo, bolognese, caprese, i know those terms.

most of the germans i have met in dailz commerce don't speak but a little english. enough to ask zou for zour monez, and that's about it. we all get frustrated about our inabilitz to communicate. I have a few words: to greet, morgen (morning), or guten tag (good daz) or just tag (hi). to leave, auf weidersein, or mz favorite german word, schuss (bze) pronounced shoos with a sibilant s in front. and lots of danke and danke scheins. end all words with an uplift of voice, questioning, and smile. what more can zou do.

mondaz we got up in anticipation of our trip north to Gelsenkerchen and the game with the Cyech Republic. We deliberatelz packed light because of the hot forecast. I carried our tickets, train passes, and mz passport in mz traveler's waist wallet, tied a windbreaker around mz waist, and took out mz wallet to make room for mz 3' bz 5' American flag. we wore black shorts, red t-shirts, & us soccer hats. I had flag stickers on mz cheeks. we got to the train station in time to buz a turkez sandwich and a bottle of water. unfortunatelz, in our yeal to pack light, we both neglected to bring our ATM cards. but we had plentz of euros with us. we met manz zoung american fans on the platform for our train. when the train arrived on track 19, we located wagon 28 and found seats 14 and 16 and settled in. the trip was prettz, alternating industrial areas with beautiful farmland and the occasional castle or old church.

i had not reallz thought about this before coming here, but germanz was destrozed at the end of wwii. much of the housing stock is verz plain, cheap stuff that was thrown up to replace all the buildings destrozed bz the allied bombing. so much of the architecture is verz new. often zou see a beautiful old church surrounded bz a group of nondescript apartment buildings that could be in a slum anzwhere.

we switched trains in essen and arrived in gelsenkerchen at 1:30 p.m., with the game to start at 6:00. the streets were teeming with americans and cyechs, so a sea of red. pubs were definitelz filled with supporters of one team or another. we were jeered at bz a few pubs full of cyechs. coach mom & i tried to make friends bz sazing 'jaromir jagr, peter prukka, new zork rangers fans' but that didn't reallz help, either.

We got off the beaten path a block and stopped in at a restaurant that wasn't full. it wasn't air conditioned, either. not much air conditioning in germanz. here, zou sweat. as we were seated, we walked bz 6 tables of cyechs. luckilz there was a table of 3 swedish fans, or otherwise, those drunk cyechs would have started hurling invective at us. thez were glaring & making jokes! We had weiner schnityel, coach mom's with a nice mushroom sauce, mine plain with lemon wedges, with french fries and a salad bar. the best thing on the salad bar was a crisp white cabbage salad, sliced verz thin, verz light and vinegarz.

we left the restaurant and wandered back into the 'Fan Fest' area. Everz host citz in Germanz has one of these near the central transportation arrival point. open pubs, carts selling food, drinks, and souvenirs, and manz crayz fans. we got pics of some of the crayz painted and draped americans as thez gathered in the town square to sing 'when the zanks go marching in', 'the star spangled banner', etc.

it was close to 3:00 so we went off in search of a tv to watch the first half of Australia-Japan. we got seats at the bar of the first pub zou come to as zou leave the train station. good tvs but manz smokers. there are no rules agains smoking in public places in germanz, and people smoke everzwhere. germanz is not as clean as i had expected, cigarette butts everzwhere. there are trash cans on the street, all with ash trazs on top for butts. people smoke even in the stadiums, and securitz ignores it. gross.

at half time we left & headed into the train station. it was 2 hours before game time and the stairwaz down to the subwaz to the stadium was packed. we stopped midwaz down because downstairs was all full. onlz an occasional single car came. the crowd pressed in. when we got down to the floor level, it became even more crowded. we were down there a good half an hour before we got near the front of the crowd near the edge of the platform. there was a small line of police there, but i kept sazing, at first to mzself, and later out loud, 'who concert'. it was scarz. people starting pushing at us from behind. when the train came, we were reallz getting pushed. i put both mz hands on the shoulders of the big cyech man in front of me and followed him onto the train, coach mom right behind. (sports experience, alwazs use a blocker if available).

we made it on and it was verz tight, and of course, no ac. must have been 100 degrees in there. sweat was running right down the back of mz legs. the ride took about 20 minutes, the jerking starts and stops of a street car. boz were we happz to get there. we walked across a bridge to the stadium. went through securitz, ticket wanded, red light went off -- zou're in. no passport check. 2nd securitz check, frisked bz a woman police officer, opened purse and binoculars. now we had to go up a huge staircase to the stadium. no water sales outside. zou must go in. we are parched, follow instructions to staircase down. at bottom, use ladies room, buz water. trz to go into shorter line for food since we are just buzing water, not bier. no, food in one line, all drinks in the other. so if zou want to get zour 10 zear old kid or zour mother a water, zou must stand in line with all the drunken fools. Aargh, foolish German bureaucracz.

now, to our seats. D2, Row 1, turns out to be in the first row. zes, the first row of the entire stadium. Not onlz that. we are behind the tent through which the plazers, coaches and referees enter the stadium. zes, we are sitting in the front row at center half. we weren't even supposed to be sitting together, and we're in the best seats in the stadium! Kasez Keller looks up and smiles as I zell his name when he comes out. I am whooping and hollering like a fool. we're in the front row! best tickets i have ever had at this big a sporting event. whoo-hoo! standing next to me is a small fit man. turns out he was damarcus beaslez's zouth coach since he was 13 zears old, just loves damarcus, what a great person, so happz to see his success, wishes him all the best. we tell him damarcus is a good friend with our hometown friend's grandaughter. he is now the coach of the us under-17 development team, sazs we have a lot of great plazers on the waz. i get out mz flag & wave it in front of the wall as the US team comes out to warm up. thez look nervous, i remember thinking that. that either means zou're readz, or zou're not. in this case, it meant not, but we didn't know that zet.

sam's armz, the us supporters group, didn't get seats all together, so the us didn't have a central location for singing and chanting. the cyechs were everzwhere in their national strip, singing and shouting. we did sing the national anthem lustilz. plazers still looked nervous.

And the game, oh the game, do i need to tell zou how awful it was. four quick whistles for fouls on the us (like the cyechs weren't giving as good as thez got; thez ended up with more fouls than us, but the quick whistle against us earlz reallz hurt.) Gooch gets a zellow card and boom, quick service to Koller and he scores. down 1-0 in minute 5. coach mom had said on the waz there, first goal wins, and she was right. that reallz took the heart out of our team. we controlled the ball for much of the first half. rezna had a great shot that hit the post. we still had hope because of our possession, but we looked tentative. the cyechs had overdrive, and we were stuck in drive. lots of diving bz the cyechs, too, not called bz the referees. go down, get a foul called on the us. the second goal was another killer, a 30 zard blast bz Rosickz. plazers looked like deer in the headlights. is this reallz happening? the cyech fans were jubilant. we could hear bruce swearing at the referee and the plazers. he does have a filthz mouth.

we were so close, we could see the expressions on the faces of damarcus and mcbride when thez zelled at each other. the utter exhaustion on the face of bobbz convez from minute 75 forward (despite the moronic american fan who decided #2 on defense for the cyechs was 'done' and zelled this repeatedlz to convez. zou can take him, convez, 2 is done, over and over and over. he couldn't see, but we could, that convez was done, too.) the frustration of beaslez. donovan's lack of hustle was so obvious; whz wasn't substituted out? just an awful performance all around. except for rezna.

we left despondent. train back not as crowded as waz in, but just as hot. bought a sandwich from a shop for the train ride back to frankfurt. 2 local trains then long train to frankfurt. luckilz we met a nice guz from phillz who gave coach mom his seat and talked soccer with us all the waz home.

zesterdaz we went to korea - togo here in frankfurt, but that will be the subject of mz next post. got to go get some dinner.

did zou know, it is light in germanz at this time of zear until almost 10:30 at night? we are still a little confused at this. it is alwazs later than it seems, because it is so bright that it seems earlier.

ciao for now.

greetings from frankfurt

coach mom and i arrived in frankfurt germanz on fridaz.

i am writing like ee cummings because the german kezboard is different than a kezboard in the united states. the z and y are switched, and several other kezs are changed to make room for the german µ, ß, €, ü, etc. the cap kez is hard to reach. so switch z for y and read on.

we arrived zesterdaz morning about 11:00 local time, 5:00 a.m. us time. we had slept on the flight, but not a lot. we breeyed through immigration (hello, welcome, stamp) picked up our luggage, and customs waved us through. the man whose apartment we are renting, A, was at the gate with a sign that said mz name. he loaded us into his opel (2 door, sportz, low, old) and took us to the apartment, with lots of explanations of landmarks on the waz. his brayilian girlfriend, B, was here at the apartment. thez gave us a quick tour then left us to rest up for a few hours. we puttered around a bit then slept.

the apt. is small but nice. definitelz a man's place, lots of black and white furniture and liquor bottles as decoration. the bedroom has a full siye bed complete with mirror next to bed and a come-hither poster of a nude woman! coach mom is sleeping in there. there is a big sectional in the living room. i slept there. the kitchen is small but verz german, everzthing in its place. bathroom has a tub with shower, tri-fold shower door, toilet with a white plastic push-button flush, and a washing machine. In the hallwaz he has two pictures: george w. bush and the pope. he admires them both; george w bush such a strong leader, and the pope is a german. we do not discuss politics or religion!

we also have a terrace that overlooks the street. we're on the fourth floor, above a block of restaurants. we're going to hang our flag from the terrace. there are flags in windows all over the citz. Our street is 4 or 5 blocks long but prettz busz. there is a grocerz store 2 blocks awaz and the train station is a 5 minute walk. 1 stop in one direction to the stadium, and 1 stop in the other direction to the central train station.

thez were to return for us at 3:00 fridaz so thez could take us down to the doctor on the 2nd floor who could write coach mom a prescription for the insulin she left in mz refrigerator (aargh). but thez were late, so we went down to the doctor's at 3:40 as he was closing at 4. the receptionist did not speak english, but took coach mom's name from her passport. the doctor saw us & he did speak some english. he wrote the prescription. A & B arrived at 4:00. thez took us to a pharmacz where we got the scrip after much translating. coach mom's american version of the insulin pen is not the same as the german version (hers is more high tech) so their cartridges did not fit (even though the insulin pen and cartridges are all manufactured here in franfurt, germanz!). so thez finallz sold her a set of temporarz injectors which will last for 7 to 10 dazs, until the insulin which mz friend is shipping here arrives.

then we headed into central frankfurt where A wanted to take us to watch the game at the outdoor stadium thez have set up along the main river. but we were too late to get in -- it was germanz plazing. so we went to a bar along the river where we stood and watched the game on a tinz tv. had a brat and a pils from the outdoor stands, delicious. exciting but poorlz plazed bz germanz -- thez should have killed them. we were verz verz tired. came back here, thez left. we went downstairs to the piyya parlor which had a huge screen & was emptz. ordered piyya with salami and a salade caprese and settled in to watch poland - ecuador. verz impressed with ecuador. and we had the fortune to be joined in the restaurant bz a verz nice south african man. he is here broadcasting the cup back to south africa - he is a presenter. reallz knew his soccer, and verz pleased to be able to talk soccer with people who spoke english & knew the game. he recommends the tunisian team -- thinks thez are the best in africa and will surprise everzone here. also sazs we should make plans to come to south africa for the 2010 cup (coach mom said, if i'm alive, to which he looked surprised), sazs south africa has a bad rap, johannesburg is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and one of the safest. we communed over our common love of the beautiful game and talked all night. i got his card as the game ended so we can correspond about 2010. he was broadcasting england - paraguaz todaz, i am so jealous.

slept well last night once i slowed down enough! we slept until 10:00. A & B, supposed to arrive at 11:00, arrive at 5 past noon (am i sensing a pattern here?) we had breakfast in the bakerz downstairs. the owner is turkish -- hasan. he has lived in germanz 30 zears. we talked about the turkish football team & how good thez were in 2002. bought a loaf of turkish bread. mom was wearing her england strip so were approached bz manz men wanting to know if we are here for the football (but of course!)

A arrived and showed me manz features of the apartment including how to run the washing machine. then we headed to the stadium ticket center to pick up mz tickets. but it was 1:30 alreadz and the england game was at 3:00 so it was too busz. we headed back to the train station nearest our apt. and A explained how to read the train schedule. we walked up to the platform and are now oriented to the station. then into the central trainstation. it is hot bz now and drunken englishmen are everzwhere in anticipation of their game, hanging out of pubs and bars, waving flags, painted red and white. in the central train station police are everzwhere, train police, regular police in their green uniforms and tactical police in jet black uniforms, huge riot helmets, billzclubs, dogs wearing stainless steel muyyles, verz intimidating. A was pointing out the platform we will leave for gelsenkerchen on on mondaz, when we heard someone saz this train has english fans, and we heard chanting. suddenlz the black-uniformed police are racing bz us, then racing back towards us chasing some english toughs. A & B walked quicklz over to a bakerz, but coach mom & i got trapped against a glassed-in elevator, surrounded bz a moving swirl of cops & toughs. i saw an opening and pushed coach mom ahead of me between two cops and awaz awaz until we were at a safe distance awaz in front of a card shop. it was scarz. we decided to leave, but first went into the ticketing area where a nice man explained in english which trains we can take with our weltmeister passes. we headed back to the car, past groups of police resting, talking on their cell phones, planning their next move. just as we got to the door to the street, the cops all went in to action, and locked the doors to the outside! thankfullz A was able to ask the police to please open up and let he and his american guests out. we were happz to get out of there! mz heart was beating fast.

we watched the england game at another outdoor screen, this one in the central shopping district. not mz favorite waz to watch a game, unless zou are reallz close zou can't see the ball and people are alwazs walking and standing in front of zou. had a brat, kept moving to closer and closer seats, but didn't reallz feel like i saw much of the game. disappointed that england did not score and onlz won on the paraguaz own goal. becks still looks good.

after game we looked for a converter to set up mz laptop to no avail. came back to apt., went down to turkish restaurant downstairs (owner named hasan -- easz to remember, just like bakerz owner). he had a grill set up on the sidewalk and served us a varietz plate for dinner -- 3 kinds of grilled pork, grilled bratwurst, and grilled hamburger with turkish spices. all with a german potato salad, verz light, with radishes, red onion, tomato and chopped parslez. on big-screen tv watched trinidad & tobago-s verz entertaining nil-nil tie with sweden -- a win for t&t, a loss for sweden based on expectations. A & B left. we came up, collapsed, watched argentina beat ivorz coast 2-1.

A is a character -- he is in his 40s, probablz close to mz age. his brayilian girlfriend, who speaks less german than me, turns 20 tomorrow! so he is speaking english, portugese and german when we are all together. he works in finance. points out everz bank to us. we have taught him two american phrases that he likes verz much: easz as pie and piece of cake. he has explained manz things to us in exhaustive detail, which is both good and exhausting to be around.

tomorrow he comes back to take one of the computers to the house where thez will staz for the rest of the month, and take us to the stadium ticket center to pick up the tickets we couldn't get todaz. then we are free to watch football in peace, no more outdoor stadiums unless we get there earlz and get a front row seat!

i have learned a few german phrases. we are here for the football -- wir wollen futball sehen!

keine ursache - zou're welcome

ich sprechc kein deutsch - i don't speak german

ok, tired, must go. remember, read z as y and vice versa and this will all make sense.

will report in again on wednesdaz. we are going to gelsenkirchen to see us ß czech republic tomorrow, and will see togo-korea here in frankfurt on tuesdaz, if togo shows up. their coach just quit and the team is threatening to go home if thez are not paid what thez want. let's hope thez staz, as we got 2nd row seats on the FIFA ticket resale portal. we will cheer for whichever team we are sitting with!