Germany’s match against England this past Sunday will come to mind for a long time coming when I think of highlights of our first days in Hamburg. Reggie and I have gotten into a terrible habit of sleeping laaaaaaate and then rushing out the door once we finally wake up so as not to miss anything else in this fabulous city. Each day as we are running down our three flights of ridiculously steep stairs we ask each other how we could have possibly let ourselves sleep so late again. Over sleeping on this day was particularly annoying because it was Sunday. We had been told by Reg’s co-workers that most places of business are closed on Sundays, so we would need to do our grocery shopping prior to that so we wouldn’t starve come the end of the weekend. While we had done some shopping at the end of the week we didn’t have nearly enough for both of us to eat, and since we weren’t aiming to starve, we were in a hurry to get into town to find the groceries for our potential dinner before stores closed, if they were open at all. I could feel my hunger growing as I flew through each flight of stairs.
As we turned the corner out of our neighborhood and onto Max-Brauer Allee we were met with the buzz that has become familiar since we started watching soccer on a near-daily basis. The horns and chanting that make up the buzz that is always present in the background of the televised matches could be heard throughout the street. A few steps later we heard a wave of cheers from just up ahead in Central Park, a fenced-in park designed to resemble a beach and stocked with all the amenities aside from the water. This loud wave of chairs was connected to a goal by Germany, no doubt. We had no choice but to check it out.
Misconception #1: Nothing is closed in Germany when there is a soccer match---even on a Sunday.
Bikes lined the street outside the park and once inside we felt as if we were back in the US…in Panama City Beach during Spring Break—MTV Style. Bikini bodies lounging on towels and chairs glistened in the sun, stuffing themselves with different types of wursts and beers. Multiple TVs were set-up on the fence walls of this terrific zoo of soccer fans and though we couldn’t figure out how most of them could have a view of the match these dedicated patrons remained glued to the screens. Witnessing this camaraderie is a very powerful thing. I fell in love with Hamburg even more deeply as I stood there, sweating and struggling to see even a corner of the screen and surrounded people as passionate and happy as any I’ve ever seen.
Because we had no solid view of the match and because our shorts and t’s left us feeling severely overdressed we decided to continue on with our meal mission. Down the street we found half a dozen other mini public viewings, always a crowd of people outside a café or snack shop gathered around a TV, sitting on chairs, tables, benches, crates, or cars. We stopped at a few for ten minutes at a time and then made our way to Sternschanze, a borough next to ours, that we were told was hip and may be a nice place to live. As with the majority of streets in Hamburg the streets in Sternschanze are crowded with small eclectic shops, cafes, bakeries, and other snack and meal shops. Each one we pass is one I want to return to, especially because I have yet to be let down by a meal so far. Not only were all of these beauties open, but they were swarming at max capacity with excited soccer fans/Germans (these names can be used interchangeably). We found a spot to stand outside a darling café to watch Germany score two more goals. (I say this without any exclamation points though it warrants many to depict the crowd’s reaction.)
My appreciation for soccer has grown from low to high after witnessing the appreciation Europeans have for their sport. This appreciation appears to be felt by all people—those of all ages and those that appear may have different interests. It doesn’t take much time living in a major city to realize that a variety of personality types are an urban center’s specialty and this statistic ranks among the top on my list of pros for living here. Knowing this I thought it was safe to assume that a variety of interests would come along with the assortment of personality types. This leads to my next misconception:
Misconception #2: There must be some people in Germany that aren’t interested in soccer.
Boy, was I off. With the passion that comes along with this sport in Europe, how COULD anyone neglect this country’s favorite pastime? Even Reg and I can’t stop singing the Deutschland cheer.
As we turned the corner out of our neighborhood and onto Max-Brauer Allee we were met with the buzz that has become familiar since we started watching soccer on a near-daily basis. The horns and chanting that make up the buzz that is always present in the background of the televised matches could be heard throughout the street. A few steps later we heard a wave of cheers from just up ahead in Central Park, a fenced-in park designed to resemble a beach and stocked with all the amenities aside from the water. This loud wave of chairs was connected to a goal by Germany, no doubt. We had no choice but to check it out.
Misconception #1: Nothing is closed in Germany when there is a soccer match---even on a Sunday.
Bikes lined the street outside the park and once inside we felt as if we were back in the US…in Panama City Beach during Spring Break—MTV Style. Bikini bodies lounging on towels and chairs glistened in the sun, stuffing themselves with different types of wursts and beers. Multiple TVs were set-up on the fence walls of this terrific zoo of soccer fans and though we couldn’t figure out how most of them could have a view of the match these dedicated patrons remained glued to the screens. Witnessing this camaraderie is a very powerful thing. I fell in love with Hamburg even more deeply as I stood there, sweating and struggling to see even a corner of the screen and surrounded people as passionate and happy as any I’ve ever seen.
Because we had no solid view of the match and because our shorts and t’s left us feeling severely overdressed we decided to continue on with our meal mission. Down the street we found half a dozen other mini public viewings, always a crowd of people outside a café or snack shop gathered around a TV, sitting on chairs, tables, benches, crates, or cars. We stopped at a few for ten minutes at a time and then made our way to Sternschanze, a borough next to ours, that we were told was hip and may be a nice place to live. As with the majority of streets in Hamburg the streets in Sternschanze are crowded with small eclectic shops, cafes, bakeries, and other snack and meal shops. Each one we pass is one I want to return to, especially because I have yet to be let down by a meal so far. Not only were all of these beauties open, but they were swarming at max capacity with excited soccer fans/Germans (these names can be used interchangeably). We found a spot to stand outside a darling café to watch Germany score two more goals. (I say this without any exclamation points though it warrants many to depict the crowd’s reaction.)
My appreciation for soccer has grown from low to high after witnessing the appreciation Europeans have for their sport. This appreciation appears to be felt by all people—those of all ages and those that appear may have different interests. It doesn’t take much time living in a major city to realize that a variety of personality types are an urban center’s specialty and this statistic ranks among the top on my list of pros for living here. Knowing this I thought it was safe to assume that a variety of interests would come along with the assortment of personality types. This leads to my next misconception:
Misconception #2: There must be some people in Germany that aren’t interested in soccer.
Boy, was I off. With the passion that comes along with this sport in Europe, how COULD anyone neglect this country’s favorite pastime? Even Reg and I can’t stop singing the Deutschland cheer.
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