At last we have arrived in Tunisia....

This will be a short blog entry as I am struggling to type anything on this crazy Arabic Keyboard, all the letters and symbols are in the wrong place...?? It has taken me 5 minutes to locate and use the '@' symbol which is quite fundamental for email... Also, the 'W' is transposed with the 'Z' which makes typing in web addresses a challenge, the number keys are all shifted and the following keys are in a different place: q, a, m. I was wondering why there was not a queue for the only internet terminal in this resort...??? [This paragraph has taken 20 mins to write...!!]

Anyway, the 30-hour journey from San Francisco to Tunisia, via Frankfurt was the longest and most tiring day of my life.... There was a catalogue of frustrations that extended day that included getting very little sleep on the flights, trouble finding anywhere to sit during our 12 hours trapped in Frankfurt airport, delayed flight into Tunisia, (not arriving until 1:00am), a 3 hour wait while Fiona had her visa processed, an unforgettable 4am taxi ride with 2 crazy Arabs, (that included a stop to change cars, a stop for coffee, and more stops for direction that I could count), and finally getting to our hotel at 5:15am

Fortunately, the hotel and weather have made up for all the hassles of the trip, and the bonus of unlimited quantities of booze, (and food btw), have meant that we are both having a great time and are either totally relaxed or half pissed...!! We have already been on a trip to the local Medina, (Arabic market) where Fiona haggled very successfully for some nice jewellery, and tomorrow we are off on a boat trip along the coast.

With this awful keyboard, I doubt I will be ever able to type properly again, so you might not hear from me again until we hit Germany next weekend...

By the way....

I have changed the 'comments' settings to allow anyone to post their comments to the blog without having to sign up or register to the Blogger service. So knock yourselves out and leave us a post or two for us to pick up when we get to Tunisia... Later

Californian high life

The last couple of days have been awesome here in California. The Baseball on Monday night was a real experience, but I never want to eat another salted peanut again in my life, (they don't mix with beer too well either...)

On Tuesday we dropped Yates off at the Airport and said goodbye until Frankfurt in a couple of weeks time, and headed into San Francisco for a day out. We parked up in the Marina district and took a long leisurely walk along the bay towards the Golden Gate Bridge, and then headed off around the point to the Cliff House for some lunch, (always recommended....). After a drive around the Golden Gate Park and a pitstop in downtown, I dropped Fiona off at her FCBD dance class and had 3 hours of my own to kill.

Firstly I drove up to Coit Tower and parked up and spent an hour or so just chilling out at one of the best vantage points in SF. This was one of my favourite places when I first came out to California 15 years ago, and in the magnificent early evening sunshine, the magic of the place still lingers on. I then headed down to the Aqua Park area where you can walk out on a long breakwater out into the bay, with great views of Alcatraz in one direction and the SF skyline in the other. As a place to watch the sun slowly sink behind the hills it takes a lot of beating. By the time I picked Fiona up from the dance studio in a well dodgy part of town, it was after dark and we made our way back down the bay back to where we are staying in Los Gatos.

Wednesday was a special day for me as I got the chance to go and see my Son, Cameron, who lives here in California with his Mother. This was the first time I had seen him in almost 5 years so I was a little apprehensive, but it went off very well and I managed to get a ton of photos and some video. I'll go into a bit more detail about this day another time.

On Thursday I had arranged to meet an old workmate, Pete, for breakfast at the Cisco building at 8:30am. Fiona and I jumped in the truck, (Yates very kindly lent me his urban assault vehicle), and proceeded to do battle with the rush hour traffic of Silicon Valley... I think I saw more cars in that 1-hour trip than I have seen in a year of driving around Christchurch. Breakfast was great and catching up with Pete was a real treat as I have not seen the old Boyo since I left for New Zealand nearly 5 years ago. He is a tough, gritty Welshman with staying power beyond anything I could muster...., if I had been through everything he has been through since I left, I would have given up long ago. It was greatly satisfying to see him now doing well in one of the Bay Area's top companies and to have gained some stability to his new life in the US. Good on yer Boyo..!!

After Breakfast Fiona and I travelled down to the outlet mall in Gilroy and spent a couple of hours looking at all the bargains to be had. After making an investment in some t-shirts, a hat, shoes and a jacket, we headed off over the hills to Santa Cruz for lunch. We sat out in the hot sunshine at a place called the 'Crows Nest' right by the harbour watching the boats and seals coming and going, and had a very nice lunch. After a little walk around the harbour area, we had a pleasant drive along the Pacific Coast and then up into the Santa Cruz mountains to admire the spectacular views both to the ocean and into Silicon Valley. All-in-all it had been a great 12 hour day out and about.

Right now we are waiting for our shuttle to the airport on the next leg of the journey, firstly to Frankfurt and then on to Tunisia. This is going to be a tough leg of the trip with about 24 hours worth of travelling and a 10 hour time difference to cope with... Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly and safely...., I'm guessing that we will need a week lying by the pool after this part of the journey...

And we are off....

After a couple of years of planning and a whole heap of waiting, the trip is finally underway. Fiona and I headed off to the Christchurch airport for our first flight of the journey up to Auckland, nervous and excited at the same time. Another 2 months and 3 days of travel lay ahead of us and this was just the first step. We arrived in Auckland on time and hung out in the airport for a few hours, stocking up on duty-free booze and hunting down a New Zealand flag to wave at the games.

The 12-hour flight to San Francisco was pretty uneventful and somewhat more uncomfortable than I was expecting, I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised sitting in the middle of a row of 3 seats with only minimal legroom. The woman on the outside of me who must have been in her fifties proceeded to get drunk on the first part of the flight, but at least she slept pretty soundly from then on, which is more than I can say for myself.

We touched down at SFO right on time, and even though I was expecting the usual level of interrogation from Immigration and Customs, they must have been having a 'Be Nice' day, as we sailed through in about 10 minutes. In all my time flying in and out of the US, this was the quickest it has ever taken to get through the airport and with all extra formalities we had heard about because of 9/11, I was expecting a long delay.

We met up with my good buddy Yates in the arrival lounge who had come to pick us up, and we soon heading off down the highway to his place in Los Gatos. After a quick pitstop to change and freshen up we went out for our first meal at a local sports bar, interestingly called the 'Double D's'..! After a huge burger and a couple of beers, the only thing I was fit for was a power nap, all the travel and lack of sleep on the plane was finally catching up with Fiona and me, so we crashed out for a good 3 or 4 hours...

When we resurfaced around 7pm we were off shopping at the local supermarket, only to be followed by another meal, this time at a nice Mexican restaurant. The pork burrito I had was soo good, I just had to eat the whole thing and man was I stuffed... It felt to us that the only thing we had done since we arrive in the US was eating... There goes my waistline...!

On Sunday guess what we did first thing, yup you got it.... we went out for breakfast and the biggest omelette you have ever seen. This time I only ate two-thirds of it and left about half my hash browns. Is it any wonder there is an obesity problem in America with the amount of food they serve, I think I've put on a good few pounds in the short time I have been here.

Believe it or not, but Sunday was a cloudy and rainy day here in California so after breakfast which finished at about midday we decided to go and see 'The Da Vinci Code' at the local cinema. After all the hype and bad press I actually really enjoyed the movie, it held my attention, did not get overly complicated or too detailed, and moved along at a reasonable pace. Maybe not having read the book helped as the flashbacks and explanation of some of the historical stuff worked just fine for me, so overall I would say it was a well put together, entertaining and thought-provoking film. Go see it...

Last night we caught up with my old friend Mark and his English wife Joanne for a BBQ at their place. It was great to catch up with someone I have known now for almost 15 years and have a great deal off fondness for. He and Joanne now have 2 lovely kids and look to be doing really well. We had a great time catching up and remenicing about some of our more drunken past antics, and also talking a little about how we have all changed over the years, and what the future might bring... All in all a good evening.

And to top off the evening, Fiona checked her email when we got back and found that we had been allocated some tickets for another World Cup game in Frankfurt, the high-class soccer duel between Korea and Togo, should be a classic... I shouldn't joke, as any game is gonna be great...

It's around 1:30pm California time right now, all we have done today is lay around the house and get rid of the last of out jetlag. We will be heading into San Francisco a little later for a Major League Baseball game, so that should be an experience for us.... We have managed to avoid any heavy large meals so far today, but I'm guessing that there will be a number of beers and hotdogs with my name on them at the game..., I might need to get some bigger trousers soon...

Last Day at Work...

Finally, the last day at work has arrived and I'm itching to get it over with. I'm guessing I can kill off some time with a few coffee runs, a long lunch and a few more fooseball games, at least until beer'o'clock at 4pm.... I'm not gonna miss this place, I've needed a break for quite some time now, and 63 days of travel, football and the occasional beer is just what I need right now...

So who do I think will win the World Cup...?? Realistically it would be hard not to favour the Germans as there is a long history of the hosting country winning the cup, but somehow I just can't bring myself to believe that Germany will win. Obviously, my heart is telling me that England could go all the way and replicate the achievements of 1966, but I have been through far too many highs and low's with our boys to believe it will actually happen again. God forbid if England get to the final stages of the cup and go to penalties again, I don't think I can take that kind of pressure.

So who else....? Argentina is looking good this year with some bright new talent and a point to prove, so my money is on them making it to the final stages. If I did not consider Brazil as a possible finalist I think I would be deluding myself, especially as they have an easy set of group stage games, so expect to see them do well. It's also about time that Holland came to the party and pulled some good results out of the bag. They have a young and talented team that seems strangely un-fancied but I think they may just pull off a couple of upsets if they can qualify for the later stages.

My 'dark-horse' tip for a rank outsider to do well is Serbia & Montenegro who qualified well, didn't concede a goal, and have a tough gritty team of hardworking players. If they can make it out of the qualifying stages they will be a hard team to break down and a good 50/50 bet in a knockout game.

Every dog has their day.....

Anticipation builds....

With just a week to go before I head off round-the-world there is a ceratin amount of excitement and anticipation building... Balance that with the fact that the hours in the office seem to be dragging even longer than usual, it's all adding up to put me in a strange mood....

Spent some time scanning my usual World Cup pages for the latest information and news, but with every passing hour my work focus slips and I find myself hunting for another fix of World Cup news or travel information. I brought a German phrase book this morning in preparation for the enevitable drunken attempt at speaking with the natives...., or at least helping when trying to bargain my way out of a night in the cells...!

Time just won't go by quick enough....

On a related subject, there is a documentary being made about England fans to show how we behave before, during and after the World Cup to dispell the perception that all England fans are holigans. (Check out: http://www.ivisualise.co.uk/3lions/project.html )

There has been a general shout out to people wantting to be involved in this project and as I think that Myself, Yates & Fiona represent a positive image of people attending the World Cup, I contacted the producer.

Hi Jamie

Myself, Steve, an Englishman, and my American best friend 'Yates', (plus my partner Fiona, a New Zealander), will be travelling to the World Cup in Germany this summer. This will be the 4th tournament that Yates and I have been to together, and no matter what we are doing or where in the world we might be, we always look
forward to our 4 yearly pilgrimage.

I am not exactly sure whether we can be described as ardent football fans, although we are both passionate about our respective teams, or just fans of where football, travel, beer and culture collide. Even though we have been desperately trying to get hold of tickets for as many games as possible this year, we will be equally as happy to find a local German bar with a big screen TV, a good selection of beers and a friendly crowd to call home for a few weeks.

We will be in Frankfurt for the 1st four weeks and then in Berlin for the finals. If you
want to catch up with some real fans of the 'World Cup Experience' then drop me an email...

Regards
SteveG

Here is Jamie's reply: -

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your interest in the documentary. Yes, indeed you guys sound like just the people I am looking for in this film - it is all about the interaction between nations, and I would very much like for you to be involved.

With regard to the film - I am really looking for fans, like yourselves, to show the real side of the story, in terms of interaction with other England fans, and fans from other nations. As you will have seen from the brief information provided the main concept is to eradicate this myth of the England fan as a hooligan, and the interviews I have already filmed with the FA, fan organisations and ex-hooligans seems to show this to be true... but the only way to prove this theory correct is with video evidence of it happening.

So what exactly am I looking for? It would be interesting to get your whole take on the relationship between fans - if there are blossoming friendships or brutal fights that take place, to film them. Furthermore, interviews/footage with other nationality fans, to get their opinions on the England fans and their behaviour. The more identifyable the better - for example in their national team shirt, with face painted or carrying a flag etc. Also any kind of singing or activities, against or together with the English fans are of real interest. The atmosphere in and around the stadiums, or at the big screens in the cities - the whole emotion of the World Cup experience from your own perspective. Also, the perspective of your American friend as an opposing nation, but a friend and the friend from New Zealand as a female football fan - what the attraction is, if her opinions towards the fans and
games is different to your own. And your own personal story is also of interest - the journey to Germany, what you get up to during your stay and travelling back etc.

Technical Details
If you were able to film on MiniDV that would be the best format for me - this is a fairly standard camcorder format nowadays, so hopefully this will be possible. Simply send the tapes to me (at the address below, during or very shortly after the World Cup) - labelled up with your details, and as much information as you can provide about the content of the tape - ie the date and location.

I hope to hear from you soon and look forward to work with you on this project.

If you have any more questions dont hesitate to ask.
All the best,
Jamie McDine

So the Camcorder's been charged up and packed, ready to record some footage of our travels round the world and our World Cup fan experience. You never know, we may even make it into the documentary...

Hello.... & welcome to Spiglord's World Cup Blog

My life is pretty full these days so don't expect too much from me right now, but I will hope to add some snippets from my travels as time goes by...

Don't expect anything too inciteful or profound as that's not really my thing...., but hey you never know...!! So sit back, take a load off and read for the pleasure of doing so.... Enjoy