Kick off to Germany

World Cup has Kicked off in Germany (shoes by Hugo Boss)




Dear my friends and readers of our blog,
I enjoy writing my experience in foreign countries and cultures. It has been more than twelve years since I first traveled abroad. So far I have visited eighteen countries in four regions: Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. Now I must accept the fact that I am becoming old and my memory is fading. By this reason, I decided to put my experience in writing to record enjoyable time that I spent with friends and people who I met during trips. This is actually my third edition in this blog and I traveled to Germany and Belgium for the first time.

Prologue:
I remember it was in April: I received an email from Isaac, a friend from Barcelona who I had met in Newcastle. In his message, he said he was going to Germany from the following month. According to his message, he received apprenticeship from a Swiss firm, Roche and he will stay there at least for one year. Before receiving it, I had been thinking of taking another Spanish course somewhere in Spain and had planed to visit him during my stay.
“I should put off Spanish study this time. Maybe, it is a good idea to watch the World Cup with him in Germany! No, it is an excellent idea. ” I said to myself and I imagined Luis Figo* raising the golden trophy at the Berlin stadium.

*The Portuguese legend who received FIFA’s best footballer award in 2001 and he has been my hero for six year.

Day 1
At 5:40, I was ready to leave my apartment. In fifteen minutes, I had to catch a bus to the airport and the nearest bus stop is a few minutes away from my apartment. I still could not turn off the TV. The TV was showing the quarterfinal: Portugal vs. France. Portugal’s hope was diminishing. France was winning in the score of 1-0 with a controversial penalty. In this hour streets were almost dead. Almost of Japanese people returned to their normal life after Japan had lost in the group stage. My next-door neighbors were only ones who suffered from some insomnia by hearing occasional cheers and shouts from the next door.
Portugal got a chance of free kick. The kicker was a Portugal’s new star, Cristiano Ronaldo. He produced a massive drive shoot toward Fabian Baltes and the ball made a sharp drop in front of the French goalkeeper who was astonished and fumbled. Figo dashed toward the ball to strike it with a header. But the ball flew over the bar. I switched off the TV. Slowly I drugged out my luggage and locked the front door.
“Whatever happens, I can see my beloved squad in Germany…” I headed for the airport.

I arrived in Munich at 17:30 in the local time, after spending over twenty hours for transport. According to his last email, Isaac asked his supervisor to give him an early leave to meet me at the airport.
“Hi Yasu, over here!” Isaac waved his hand.
We exchanged hugs. We have not seen for over four years and now he let his hair grow and has long curly hair. Isaac was a post-graduate student in biochemistry when I was at Newcastle. He continued his PhD studies and has just finished his course in last summer. He was born in Barcelona but his family originated from Andalusia. Like many other Andalusians, his family also moved from Andalucia. I would say he is more Catalan than an Andalucian. He supports FC Barcelona and does not seem to have much interests in neither flamenco nor bull fighting.
Last October, he moved to Seville, the capital of Andalucia and worked in a small fertilizer company. He worked there several months before coming to Munich. According to him, his boss has good personality and the job was not bad. But his boss is not very talented in managing a business. Creditors often call his boss to repay debts and when a secretary was not around (maybe hiding), Isaac was the one who had to pick up the phone.

From the airport we took a train to Penzburg, a small town located in the southwest of Munich. It was already seven but it had no sign of sunset. In summer, the sun sets after 9 pm in Europe.
It is my first time to visit Germany but the view from the train to Penzburg looked familiar: It looks quite similar to Switzerland but of course without mountains.
After one hour and half, we arrived in Penzburg. As Isaac described, it is a small town. People in Penzburg go to a main street for drinking and have fun. There are several bars and restaurants on the street. That is it.
“After the quarter final against Germany, Italians drove up and down the street by car with their national flag. ” Isaac said.
He lives in an apartment located a 15-minute from the train station. His apartment is spacious. He lives with another colleague from Poland. We had a chat before my eyes refused to stay open. Unlike my younger days, it took me almost a week to get over jet lag.

Day 2
In my second day, I stayed in bed till a little late. I slept very well. In Germany, houses are not equipped with air conditioning because both temperature and humidity was not high.

Before starting to write about my holidays in Germany. I want to introduce a little bit about people and customs of this country.
Generally speaking, Germans are more health conscious than other Europeans. You may find a lot of people doing some sport and exercises in their free time. If you travel by car in Germany, you will come across many cyclists. In each side of roads, there are bicycle lanes where pedestrians are prohibited to walk. Trains have bicycle carriage. Like in Switzerland, many people take a train with bicycles to the countryside where they enjoy their leisure.
The other aspect is that Germans have a strong awareness to protect nature. Local communities and governments are keen to enforce regulations and systems to protect their environments. Coming to Germany, some foreigners take time to get accustomed to some rules of German life. For example, you may be used to putting all waste into a rubbish bin. However, in Germany, many apartments and houses have compost where they throw food disposals such as peels, bones and some rotten food. Glass is separated in color. Brown glass and green glass go into different bins. Paper is also collected separately. Some keen environmentally friendly consumers separate household dust into even smaller categories: papers, plastics, aluminum, steel, cloth and so on. Many shoppers bring a shopping bag or used plastic bag to a supermarket. When you take out some sandwiches and drink, you are charged for extra, for example one Euro per bottle. If you bring it back to a shop, you will get it back. The government introduced this system to reduce waste and make people aware how important for them to contribute their environment.
Organic food is quite popular here too. If you go to a supermarket, you will find a wide range of organic products from fresh vegetable and fruit to meat and cheese. There are also some grocery stores or market stalls where they sell only organic products.
In Japan, you cannot get any organic meat. There is also a small range of organic fruit and vegetables. And organic products are only found in a department store targeted to higher income segments. But in Germany, you will find them in any supermarkets.




Today, I decided to cook some dinner. As some of you know, I love grocery shopping and cooking (even though my cooking sometimes turns into a horrible disaster).

I went through an entrance door and then I first found vegetables and fruits section. In the shelves, there is a good range of organic products: onions, potatoes, kiwis, apples and so on. I picked onions and kiwis and go to a cheese section. I was surprised to a variety of foreign cheeses: They have not only Italian and French cheeses but also Spanish ones such as Manchego, Queso Samorano, Valdeon (in Picture).


Penzburg is a small town in the southwest of Munich. I previously thought that Germans are more conservative in food. At least, they may not hesitate to take some foreign cheese and ham.
I prepared some rice soup and pork with soy sauce. Around 5:30, Isaac came home and told me that he asked several friends to come over for dinner. So, I had to prepare more rice and Isaac made some Spanish omelets. At aournd 9:00, friends started to arrive. We had a fun and the party was successful.




"Mosquitos attracted to Isaac's yellow T-shirt. They chased him all around Regensburg..."

Day 3
Today is Saturday. We planned to go to Regensburg, a city located in the north of Munich. In the morning, we had Spanish breakfast with café con leche (milk coffee), toast, jamon (cured ham), chorizo (spiced salami sausage) and cheese. And freshly squeezed orange juice.





When we realized, we were about to be late to catch a train. Unfortunately, train connection from Penzburg is not so good. If we miss it,rain, we have to wait about one hour or more. It takes 15 minutes to the station on foot. There was only ten minutes or so. So, we had to run. Gasping my breath, I followed Isaac to the station and we arrived there in ten minutes. Luckily, we made a mistake about the time when the train leaves. We actually had enough time to catch it. We took off the shirts as we felt hot with an early exercise and try to catch our breath.










We bought tickets and got on a train in time. Regensburg is a pretty city with a Gothic cathedral and Roman ruins. After visiting a few historical sites, we found a small fair on the opposite side of the river. Some people dressed in costume of old days. There are a lot of food and playing stalls in the fair. There were many German families who brought children to spend a quiet weekend.
We ordered grilled sausage and drinks at the fair. German sausages are different from region to region. Here in Regensburg and Nuernberg, grilled brown sausage is famous.
In Munich, a famous one is a white boiled sausage. People peel off skin before they eat. People have a different taste. I personally favor this grilled brown sausage over boring PALE boiled sausage from Munich. A common habit of eating sausage in Germany is that it is served with mustard and ketchup. I preferred to pour a little bit of sweet mustard. It was delicious. On the other day, I saw a man pumping out ketchup all over his sausage and chips. I glanced at him with a disgust….

We left Regensburg for Munich after five. We were going to meet Isaac’s friends at the English garden in the city center.
Isaac hang up his mobile and said, “Gloria and David will be there to keep a table for us. ”
The English Garden is one of the places where you can watch football matches in an open air during the World Cup. A huge screen was installed on the stage. In summer, German people come to drink beer here.
When we arrived in Munch Bahnholf, we took the subway to the English Garden. By the time when we got there, the beer hall was almost full: full of German supporters.
“Gee, I am in an enemy territory. ” I wondered and I tried to find some Portuguese there but no success.




On July 8, Germany meets Portugal in Stuttgart for the third place match. I had thought that Germans were very discouraged with the last minute loss in the semi-finals but the audience in the English Garden was in a festive mood. Many people brought the national flags. When the replay of previous matches started to be shown, Germans began to chant:
“Deutchland, Deutchland! ” they waved the flags.
The match started. We were sitting in the fifth or sixth row in the middle of the garden. In addition, in front of the screen, there are enthusiastic German supporters with flags in hand. We did not have a good view of the game.
Scolari did not put Figo in the starting lineup. Ricardo Carvalho, the best Portuguese central defender could not play in this game because of suspension. Instead, the coach had to put a horrible one for the replacement: Ricardo Costa who conceded four or five goals against Iraq in the Olympic games in 2004. I had a bad feeling about this game.
In the beginning, the match seemed to be played evenly as German supporters were still anxious. As I could not have a good view of it, I sometimes had to guess what was going on the pitch by just watching the reaction of German supports.
They were very excited and screamed time to time. All of sudden, they were exploded with a joy. It was a nightmare for me. Schweinstaigar scored.
“Deutchland, Deutchland! ” the crowd in front of us stood up and started to chant and sing.
Soon the second goal was made. After all, Germans were playing in their home ground. Portugal had not recovered from the loss of the semi-final. I was almost the only one who could not speak and watch the game in horror.
“Yasu, it is not over. ” Isaac and other friends at the table tried to cheer me up.
The game was over. The score was 3-1: Portugal lost. In the last ten minutes, Scolari put Figo and Nuno Gomez. They created a goal to avoid a humiliating defeat.
Isaac and his friends suggested us to got out to see Germans’ celebration. We took the subway to the other part of the city. We walked down the main road to the square. Many Germans walked down the street chanting and singing, “We are the champion”. Interestingly there were not so many cars and horns. Two years ago, after semi-final of Euro 2004, beating Holland, Portuguese went to the street with cars in the center of Lisbon. Full of cars. Here in Munchen, I just saw a man with the national flag on his bag went past us, pedaling a bicycle toward the square! Germans seemed to be very happy with the result of their World Cup.
While David was taking us back to Penzburg, I was knocking my head up and down with sleep. I had not fully recovered with a jet lag yet.







Day 4
Our plan for Sunday is to visit Neuschwainstain Castle. It is said this castle is a model of the Disney castle and there are a great number of visitors every year. Interestingly, the castle itself does not possess a historical importance. The castle is very beautiful but as the name suggests, it is quite new building in the German history. It was built in the end of 19th century by Ludwig II. He spend a lot of money to build this castle. But he ended his life with a mysterious death. His body was found at the lake nearby and the cause of death was unknown.
We took trains and bus to visit the castle. We saw it on the hill surrounded by wood.



“There was nothing but wood before the castle became famous in tourism” I wondered. Now there is a small town nearby with some holiday houses and hotels.
I joined a tour alone as Isaac visited once before. As he said, the castle is well worth to visit because of its beauty but the inside museum is not very interesting to visit twice. The part of the castle was decorated by Ludwig II but the majority of rooms remains untouched because of his early death.
After the tour, we went further up the hill to overlook the castle. The view from there was splendid.










After the visit, we headed for Munich to watch the Worldcup final. When we got to the central station in Munich, the match was about to begin. When we caught a Metro, a referee whistled to kick off. The metro’s electronic signal board which usually show the next stop, started to show “France 1-0 Italy.” Zidan succeeded in the penalty kick. Before the Metro reached our destination, there was a drama. The board showed “Italy 1-1 France”. There was a cheer inside the Metro.
When we got there, Gloria and David had kept seats for us again. There were two French girls. They were not in a comfortable position. The rest of us favored Italy: There were three Spanish and a fanatic Portuguese supporter whose teams were defeated by French.
Today’s main casts were Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi in both good and bad ways. The screen showed Marco Mafiozino arguing with Zidane. All of sudden, Zidane made a massive header not toward a goal net this time but onto the naughty Italian defender. Zidane knocked him out in front of the worldwide audience.
The match was ended when Italians snatched victory in a penalty shoot-out. The night was noisier than yesterday with the minority of Italians driving cars with their national flag around the city of Munich.



Day 4 & 5
On Monday and Tuesday, I spent days on shopping in Munich. In the evening, Isaac cooked some Spanish meal for us.
A pack of meat was laid on the kitchen table.
“What is it?” Stan asked Isaac with curiosity. Stan is Isaac’s flat mate. He’s from Poland . They started scholarship at the company in the same month.
“It’s rabbit.” Isaac answered. The skin and fur was neatly removed. So, there was no obvious clue for him to guess it.
“So, where did you get this guy?” I asked Isaac.
“I brought him from Spain.” He answered with laugh.
“Rabbit is my favorite meat.” Isaac continued
“I cooked rabbit for my girlfriend. She likes it but hates eating head. So, I cut the head into half trying not to look noticeable for her and placed it into her plate. She was angry when I told her that she had just had the head. ”
I laughed.
“Yasu, it’s a pity. You can not stay longer.” Isaac said.




“Yes, true. You should stay another week. I do recommend to go to Austria.” Stan said
I was glad. We had some rabbit and wine for dinner. It was nice and I noted down the recipe to try it when I go back to Japan.

My visit to Germany was short. I missed visiting a lot of places around Penzburg. “Germany is a place where to spend a relaxing holiday. German people respect nature and environment. And they also enjoy the nature in life.”






"One thing I did not like in Germany. People have to pay to use a toilet. This toilet is the worst one. Ripping off travellers at the central station!"