June 14 (Wednesday)
Germany breaks through Polish defence

According to my friend Craig Welsh the above headline appeared in a number of online sites. You wonder "What?!? Did we suddenly rewind back to 1939?" No, this was the World Cup 2006, Germany versus Poland. For me it was a slow day of relaxing and visiting Schloss Charlottenburg. The evening was to be spent at a Biergarten watching the impending battle of the neighbouring countries.

Yes, Berlin was football crazy!

The Biergarten itself was huge and in the middle of two buildings, as if the garden was placed into a burned out or bombed out building. Outside a giant screen showed a couple hundred Berliners (not the jelly doughnuts) the game. I attempted to show my grace in getting a "Kartoffel Salat mit Broetchen"in front of a rather cute girl we had been chatting with. Of course, I proceeded to dump the plate quite spectacularly in a shower of potatoes as it was handed to me.

The game was exciting, and made even more so by being surrounded by a few hundred German fans. Late and into injury time Germany scored, bringing the fans forward like a jolt of electricity.