World Cup fever in my hometown (30-06-06: more party, more pics!)

[Kirsten]

Sorry, but I just cannot resist to post this! :)

Germany has reached the quarter-final of the football/soccer world cup today, and the entire country went crazy as if our team has already won the cup! ;)

For hours, you could hear the sounds of the car horns, and there were parties everywhere. I went downtown to find that many people were out on the streets, celebrating, dancing and singing. I never saw that much of black, red & gold before, and I'm sure that you can witness scenes like this in every German town tonight. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny, a phantastic atmosphere that I tried to capture with my cam:

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(To be continued)

[Kirsten]

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Soccer may not be a very popular sport in the US, but here in Germany, it is VERY popular, as you can see. And it's especially great that the World Cup is carried out in our country this time! :)

Kirsten

[caseysmom]

Germany is so pretty. I was there for only 2 days in 1982, I love the feel of the European cities.

[Kirsten]

Germany is so pretty. I was there for only 2 days in 1982, I love the feel of the European cities.

Where exactly have you been? Germany has so many different faces. :)

My hometown (in the middle of Germany) is more than 800 years old, you can really feel history here.

Kirsten

[caseysmom]

I took a train from Sweden to Italy and stayed overnight in Germany in Munich. My father was 100 percent German, his mother immigrated here as a young girl.

[Aspen and Misty]

I want to visit Germany some day and if I like it how much I think I will I would love to move there. I love your town, it's so pretty!

Congrats on winning!

Ashley

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

These are GREAT pics, Kirsten!! I can almost feel the atmosphere!!Most of the tri-coloured stuff would also be useful for Belgium. To bad Belgium isn't selected...... . Our colours are black-yellow-red, and the stripes are horizontally instead :)
I love that style of houses very much, you can see those in most part of Germany. In what town are these made?

Go Go GERMANY Go GO!!!!

[Miss Z]

They are beautiful pics! I love this pic, what is the name of this 'Straße' (teehee, got the German in there;) )? I would love to go there in the future, it looks so pretty.http://www.catmom.de/pix/wm3.jpg

Such a different atmosphere from the Stuttgart Standoff yesterday, unfortunately involving a couple of fans from my home country :rolleyes:

[Kirsten]

@caseysmom: Munich is 500 km away from here, in the south of Germany. Sweden is also a beautiful country! :)

@Ashley: Thanks! :) Yes, Germany's a beautiful country and it used to be nice to live there. Now things are not so easy anymore. Our economy is down, and we have a high unemployment rate.

@Lut: I made these photos in my hometown, Hann. Muenden, which is between Goettingen and Kassel (in the middle of Germany). Some of these houses are 800 years old.

@Miss Z: The street is called "Lange Straße". :) I saw what happened in Stuttgart last night, German and English fans were involved. :( Hope everything will remain quiet after England's match today...

Kirsten

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Kirsten, I LOVE your town!! I enjoy this side of life so much more than the big cities. To me, most big cities are so much alike - they're all big cities. I would much rather tour the countryside and small villages like yours.

I heard on the radio this morning that German pride is at an almost unprecendeted high right now, and more German flags are being flown now than almost at any other time in history. :cool:

[caseysmom]

Kirsten, Yes I enjoyed Sweden a lot. I stayed in a dorm with my brother in law and hubby for a month. It was in uppsala, I rode my brother in laws bike to the store and actually felt like I lived there. The people were very nice and everyone knew english. I found that to be true in most of the european countries we went to, everyone was friendly and spoke English with me.

There was a lot going on politically at the time, Reagan was in office and not particulary liked in Europe. Still everyone was nice to me even with talking politics.

I enjoyed the food in Italy the most...the men weren't too hard on the eyes either. :D

[Kirsten]

I heard on the radio this morning that German pride is at an almost unprecendeted high right now, and more German flags are being flown now than almost at any other time in history.

Yes, that is true! I never saw something like that before, it's amazing! :) You know, due to our history, patriotism isn't such a popular thing here. But now everyone's so proud of our team! :)



I found that to be true in most of the european countries we went to, everyone was friendly and spoke English with me.

Well, but didn't you think that many Germans just speak a horrible English? LOL

I remember the Reagan era, it was the time of the Cold War, and nuclear disarmament was always a subject on the news. The 80s were very politic as far as I remember.

LOL, I agree on the Italian food - and yes, the men don't look too bad either! ;)

Kirsten

[Barbara]

In Munich you hardly could take any pictures like that as the streets were so crowded and crammed I would not have dared to go. ;)

[caseysmom]

Kirsten, I was just happy to have people that spoke any kind of English so I didn't really care. When I phoned home my sister said I talked slow and loud...I was use to trying to communicate with people that didn't speak english much.

[Kirsten]

When I phoned home my sister said I talked slow and loud...

How long did you stay in Europe that it affected your way of speaking that much? LOL



@Barbara, were you in Munich that night? It must have been unbelievable!!! I saw on tv how overcrowded the streets were. My co-worker said she tried to call her son who lives in Munich, but she couldn't understand a single word, that's how noisy it was! :)

Kirsten

[Barbara]

I was still in LA. And as I am afraid of crowds I'll certainly stay out of town on soccer evenings ;)

[caseysmom]

I was in Europe for 6 weeks. My sister also said I looked European when I got off the plane. Remeber the style with the short boots and the pants tucked into the boots. Europe is always a bit ahead on the styles and I got off the plane sporting that fashion.

[Kirsten]

Remeber the style with the short boots and the pants tucked into the boots.

Yes, I remember that. :) When was that? Early 80s?


Barbara, there's only one match left for Munich (semi-final), and that one won't include the German team! :D

Kirsten

[caseysmom]

Yep...1982...

[Kirsten]

OMG, yes... 1982! We all look so funny in these old pictures! LOL

Kirsten

[Kirsten]

Now here comes Volume 2!! :)

Germany has reached the semi final today and again, I was downtown, taking shots.

Tonight, there were even more people celebrating, and the parties still go on. Car parades are making their way through the streets of our town, hooting. I never saw something like this before in my entire life. What an enthusiasm! It was just fun to be there! :)

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Kirsten