Tuesday, June 13, 2006

We are in Deutchland!

We are here. My blogspot is in German. But I think I still remember what tab is what. :) The keyboard is different here, too. The Z and Y are exchanged so pardon any typos.
Our flight wasn't too bad from SFO to London and then London to Düsseldorf. I had never been on a 9-hour flight before. I did OK--I was surprised. The worst part was that my butt was numb after some time. We were fed, had movies to watch and free booze!
Once we got to Düsseldorf we had to take 2 trains to get to our hotel in Essen. Curt did a great job of navigating our train rides. Once checked in we had dinner. Our first German meal was at an Italian restaurant. It was good. And whatever that wine was I had was delicious. (Our menu was in Italian and German. But I had my Rick Steves' phrase book to help me out.)
We went to bed about 10:30 and were wide awake at about 2 a.m. Eventually we fell back asleep until 1 p.m. when the hotel called wanting to clean our room. We got ready and headed to Gelsenkirchen where the World Cup game was. We arrived in the city to parties and craziness. We found a restaurant and sat with a couple of other Americans. I had took honkin' beers and some pizza. An older German woman started chatting with us. And she knew everyone around there.
We headed to the tram station--which would take us to the stadium. The first 5 passed us fullz loaded. The 6th train stopped for us. We aren't sure why. But we crammed in there--literally. It was hot, sweaty, smelly and disgusting. At one point the tram stopped for 10 minutes and didn't open the doors. And we needed fresh air. Curt and I got out at the next stopped and walked the last mile to the stadium. It was much cooler and it just didn't seem safe having that many people packed in there--we were stuck like herring, one Czech said. And he was right, we were crammed in there like sardines.
We got to the game pretty much drenched. (I started to wonder why I took a shower that day.) And the jerseys we were wearing are made out of polyester. Bleh!
The game was fun, even tho. I was hot and exhausted. We sat with a bunch of other Americans. At the game they played "I Will Survive." If that doesn't say America, I don't know what does. It was a sad day. U.S. 0 Czech Republic 3.
After the game back to the hotel for a shower, food and sleep. We slept a little better last night--until 5 a.m. and then on and off from 7 to 9 a.m.
Today we took a train from Essen to Stuttgart where our friends Martin and Simone and Stefan and Sandra live. Stefan and Sandra picked us up from the train station and we headed to a bar with an amazing view for drinks and to meet Martin. Afterward to Martin and Simone's for barbecue. Germans love to barbecue, too. We met Lea, Martin and Simone's 9-month-old. See two posts below for a pic. She is a little sweetheart. It didn't take long for her to warm up to us.
We are back at Stefan and Sandra's. Curt is already snoozing. Hopefullz tonight we will get better sleep.
Martin and Stefan have lots of fun stuff planned for us this week.
Oh, and the best part is there are no open container laws here! Woo-hoo!
Update to come soon.

3 Comments:

Blogger Erica Kern O'Neill said...

I'm so glad you found time to blog. And a computer to blog on. Safe travels and have a wonderful time. I can't wait to see your pics!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006 9:58:00 AM  
Blogger kate said...

hey i responded to your comment on my blog but i will here too. we watched the game and looked for you but telemundo doesn't pan the crowd very much. i'm keeping my fingers crossed for italy!!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006 6:07:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Awesome. I love the computer keys. Have fun at the game Saturday!

Thursday, June 15, 2006 9:56:00 AM  

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