Let the Games Begin....

The first day of the tournament is over and all that remains is the hangover.... Boy, did we tie a big one on yesterday....

To see the first game we decided to go down to the Fan Fest site and watch it on the big screen. Suitably dressed in our individual national colours we headed down to the river for our first beer of the day and some good wholesome German sausage and potatoes. With England's first game being played here, Frankfurt has been invaded by 40-50 thousand England fans you could not move without tripping over small groups of happy fans. So far all the England fans we have met, and we have met quite a few, have been in a very good mood, it looks like everyone is here to have a good time and enjoy the atmosphere. We moved along the river stopping at the 'Soccer Pirates' chill-out zone, one of my favourite bars, where we sat out on bamboo deck chairs and enjoyed the hot sunshine and some good music.

We had read that the seating at the outdoor screen would not open until 90 minutes before the match kicked off, but when we crossed the river with still a couple of hours to go, we could see a huge queue and people already flooding into the stands. Trying to sneak around the back of the seating area backfired on us as they were not letting people in from that end, but we did find our way to the East viewing area and bagged a reasonably central spot with a good view of the screen. Here we tied our New Zealand flag to a tree and proceeded to attract an assortment of interesting people with it, including quite a few Germans that had been to NZ and even a couple of Australians too. It is amazing how many people would stop to talk to a bunch of drunken blokes and girl waving a flag, it was such a great buzz.

The viewing area filled right up and by kick-off, it was standing room only. The atmosphere was electric as the game started, the Germans were really up for this opening game, and everyone was cheering, waving a flag or blowing a whistle. I think I spent most of the first half of the game either standing in line for a beer or fighting my way to the bathroom, I missed all the goals and only knew what the score was when I returned to Yates and Fiona. I did manage to see the whole of the second half and cheered along with the thousands of ecstatic German fans at their teams 4-2 victory.

When the game finished we headed across the river in the general direction of Rittegasse Street where in the street celebrations I managed to loose Fiona and Yates....?? Luckily in my drunken state I went in to autopilot mode and somehow managed to find my way to 'Sams Bar', where I caught up with my missing friends, who had bagged a great table with a good view of a large plasma. The intention was to watch the Equador v Poland game, but somehow between talking with a never ending stream of England fans and drinking far too much, (starting with beer, then Vodka, Rum & Coke (yuck..!) and somehow finding our way to Tequilla shots), I seemed to miss most of the action. In fact at this point everything becomes a bit of a blur and I still don't remember getting back to the apartment, luckily Fiona took care of me.

So this morning I am sitting here withe the remains of a hangover, watching the TV for the highlights of yesterdays games. On today's agenda is another trip back to Sams to watch the England games, but I think I will be taking it a bit easier on the beer so that I can actually watch the game...!!