大象传媒

World Cup 2006 Blog

From our reporters in Germany

Keep on trucking

Martin A CAR/CAMPER VAN PARK, ULM - Being on the road quite a lot has meant we've missed out on watching a lot of the footie, but with the games getting more interesting at the end of the group stage we're determined to halt that trend.

So, at four this afternoon we pulled off the motorway and wandered into the services in the hope of seeing Germany take on Ecuador.

rasthaus.jpgFirstly, the services strike you as being a cut above your standard Moto or Welcome Break stop, the Rasthof Gruibingen between Stuttgart and Ulm is set in a valley between three hills and proudly boasts to be the first rest stop in Europe.

Around the outside there were picnic tables and chairs and some deck chairs occupied by content souls, oblivious to the fact their national team was about to kick-off an important World Cup tie.

Then once inside there is no fast food in sight just a wide selection of freshly laid-out sandwiches, meals and salads, although one American customer mistook the spread for an all-you-can-eat affair and was keen to load up his plate before being corrected.

Happily there were two TVs showing the match, unhappily they were playing the two different channels trick, with one a few seconds ahead of the other, and I settled down at the coffee bar just in time to catch Miroslav Klose's .

Fletch on the other hand was at the counter buying a couple of , a new favourite, and was held up even further by the checkout girl who leapt up and raced around to the TV to catch the replay

A four'o'clock kick-off on a Tuesday is obviously not the most convenient time for a game and there were not very many ardent fans alongside us - they were obviously more organised than us and were presumably starting the evening early in biergarten across the country.

services203.jpgThe was a whoop when the first goal went in, but the second was greeted with a mere smattering of applause.

The game was not as closely-fought or dramatic as Germany's last, against Poland, although Podolski's excellent goal in the second-half was very warmly recieved.

We've driven the remaining 40km to Ulm now and parked up at a designated camper van stop - these Germans really know how to make life easy.

Tomorrow, on the suggestion of blog reader James (see comment nine), we're going to climb the Ulm Munster spire.

It's 161.5 metres high and looks a monster from the quick glimpse we got on the way into town, thanks a lot James!

Hopefully we'll find a little bit more atmosphere for the England game later, but have any of you watched a game in an unusual place?

Comments  Post your comment

  • 1.
  • At 10:11 PM on 20 Jun 2006,
  • Lake Constance wrote:

Hello Martin,

in case you leave Ulm and want to go to a little town which is supposed to be typical of middle ages German architecture but located in the middle of nowhere, then you ought to see Dinkelsb眉hl. It is about 100km north of Ulm. You just follow A7 (-> W眉rzburg)for about 75 minutes, take the exit Dinkelsb眉hl and after about a 10 minutes drive you will arrive.
But as I said, it's far off any bigger city and I am not quite sure whether they will have these Fan Feste there. I guess, judging from my very, very southern German home, that is more a city thing ( and which I envy pretty much).
Please keep us posted with your daily messages. It is a very, very funny and nice and rather interesting thing to have my country being seen and described through foreign eyes. Sometimes I even feel like a Martian... :-)

Complain about this post

Post a complaint

Please note Name and E-mail are required.

Required
Required (not displayed)
 
  • 2.
  • At 11:29 PM on 20 Jun 2006,
  • Martin Stock wrote:

There are also fan fests with public viewing in many smaller towns. A map for the state Baden-W眉rttemberg

(by far not complete!)

Don't know if such a map also exists for Bavaria.

Complain about this post

Post a complaint

Please note Name and E-mail are required.

Required
Required (not displayed)
 
  • 3.
  • At 12:01 AM on 21 Jun 2006,
  • Laurence wrote:

It's a nice resthof, and one of the few that doesn't charge you to use the bogs..

Another suggestion for sightseeing is Nordlingen which is also about 100km north off the A7. I'm told its the only town in Germany with a complete medieval wall, it lies in the middle of a meteor crater, and the NASA astronauts used to train there (u can dine in the same cafe as Buzz Aldrine used to)

Complain about this post

Post a complaint

Please note Name and E-mail are required.

Required
Required (not displayed)
 
  • 4.
  • At 02:18 AM on 21 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Good luck with the Ulmer-Muenster - hope you don't have claustrophobia :)

Complain about this post

Post a complaint

Please note Name and E-mail are required.

Required
Required (not displayed)
 

Post a comment

Please note name and email are required.

Comments are moderated, and will not appear on this weblog until the author has approved them.

Required
Required (not displayed)
  Your email address will only be held by the 大象传媒 and will be used for the purpose of administering this blog site. The 大象传媒 may also contact you to further inquire about issues raised in mails posted to the blog. If you would like further information, please read the 大象传媒's privacy policy
    

The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

大象传媒.co.uk