大象传媒

Keep on trucking

• Martin Richardson - Sport Interactive journalist
• 20 Jun 06, 06:39 PM

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.

Firstly, 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.

The 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?