Day 14: Stuttgart
It's 200 kms from Buchanau to Munich, and a further 200km to Stuttgart, so the voice and I set out for the journey together. I now know how to make sure she only speaks English. Interesting how quickly you adjust to driving at higher speeds, and we do 150kph most of the way, and it only takes a little over 3 hours.
In Stuttgart, I am staying with a young family, he a native of Stuttgart and she a buxom Argentinean. It's the only way to describe her, I'm afraid, as it's a bit like catching a ferry at Circular Quay and not seeing the bridge. I concentrate hard on what she is saying, how important it is for the Argentinean people that they do well in the WC. The economy is so bad, she tells me, that her uncle was a professor and they closed his university and now he sells sausages on the streets.
The family is hosting people for the WC, and they have a noticeboard signed by Mexicans, Swiss, Dutch and a few Aussies, as well as Germans. They are so keen to please, they give me a beer and then drive me into the centre of Stuttgart to show me around. It is a spectacular city, built at the bottom of a giant bowl, and in the centre, a massive Fan Fest, far larger than the ones I visited in Kaiserslautern and Munich.
I have a frustrating session in an internet cafe - the connections in the last few days have been crap. They can only handle text rather than photos. Place is packed with Aussies emailing home.
In the evening, I sit with a couple of knowledgeable Aussies in the Stuttgart Fan Fest area. They seem to know all about European football, as we watch the Argies play Holland. I've heard a few stories now that scalpers are not getting great prices for tickets, selling as low as E50. Apparently, a lot are on the market from Third World football nations (their names are printed on the tickets, but nobody checks at the entrance) who sell them for personal or fund-raising purposes.
Lots of Croatians in town ready for tomorrow's big game, none of them less than six feet tall.
I run into Chris Sozou again. He is on an organised tour, but has given up attending most of the trips. He says there are too many people, and much waiting around, and then the trip is barely worth it. He attended an open training session for the Australian team at their base in Oehringen, and 5,000 people turned up. They let the locals in first and the Australian fans could not get near to the team. Still, I plan to check out the town in the next couple of days.
In Stuttgart, I am staying with a young family, he a native of Stuttgart and she a buxom Argentinean. It's the only way to describe her, I'm afraid, as it's a bit like catching a ferry at Circular Quay and not seeing the bridge. I concentrate hard on what she is saying, how important it is for the Argentinean people that they do well in the WC. The economy is so bad, she tells me, that her uncle was a professor and they closed his university and now he sells sausages on the streets.
The family is hosting people for the WC, and they have a noticeboard signed by Mexicans, Swiss, Dutch and a few Aussies, as well as Germans. They are so keen to please, they give me a beer and then drive me into the centre of Stuttgart to show me around. It is a spectacular city, built at the bottom of a giant bowl, and in the centre, a massive Fan Fest, far larger than the ones I visited in Kaiserslautern and Munich.
I have a frustrating session in an internet cafe - the connections in the last few days have been crap. They can only handle text rather than photos. Place is packed with Aussies emailing home.
In the evening, I sit with a couple of knowledgeable Aussies in the Stuttgart Fan Fest area. They seem to know all about European football, as we watch the Argies play Holland. I've heard a few stories now that scalpers are not getting great prices for tickets, selling as low as E50. Apparently, a lot are on the market from Third World football nations (their names are printed on the tickets, but nobody checks at the entrance) who sell them for personal or fund-raising purposes.
Lots of Croatians in town ready for tomorrow's big game, none of them less than six feet tall.
I run into Chris Sozou again. He is on an organised tour, but has given up attending most of the trips. He says there are too many people, and much waiting around, and then the trip is barely worth it. He attended an open training session for the Australian team at their base in Oehringen, and 5,000 people turned up. They let the locals in first and the Australian fans could not get near to the team. Still, I plan to check out the town in the next couple of days.
posted by Graham Hand | 2:32 PM
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