Joe - MD usually finishes a week before Fairfax, so I'm thinking it's a 2 week miss, easily. I think I'm going to go for the knockout rounds. Planning to arrive a couple of days early, which may still require missing some school. Let's hope that the US does not crash and burn and that I'll get to see them in at least one game. I'm already planning things we'll do that the kids should enjoy, such as a side trip to Salzburg (I'm going to base myself in Munich). Of course, my husband's still not totally with the program, but I think he'll come around. I'm also going to invite my mom to accompany us seeing as how she's a former German teacher and my team's have never lost a game when she's gone to a game with me.
We are planning to try to take all 5 kids (ages in 2006; 16-14-11-11-1) and unlike some of your kids all are addicted (well the jury is still out on the baby) to the soccer (my wife blames me). We are trying to look into THE most economical passage to Germany. I am not going to be able to purchase tickets in Feb of 2005 so it looks like I will be looking into some type of package, if affordable. As a backup plan we will go to a qualifier but the two oldest (both boys) are dying to go to Germany, as am I!
Hey - I've got twins, too! And like you, I had another after the twins. My twins will be 16 next summer and my daughter, who is one of them, really wants to go to the WC. Her twin brother doesn't want to, my youngest, who'll be 12, only wants to go to Disney World or Hawaii and my oldest, 20 next summer, doesn't want to go and I'm glad.
You can always hop over to Euro Disney World near Paris in between games. An easy train ride from many German cities.
My oldest two are both boys, the twins are girls (gulp) as is the baby. All four play and would want to go to Germany as does my wife although she wants to see other things besides soccer. Good luck with your deliema - mine only has to do with $$$$$.
Disneyland Paris is easy to reach via train (Cinderella's castle is a very short walk from the station), but we warned the crowds are maddening! Despite the park's finacial problems the theme park is very popular. In the summer they usual have shut the gates at midday becuase they park is over capacity. On the upside, DLP isn't as hot as orlando!
From Munich to Paris is 8 hours (so it's probably a 7 1/2 hours) if memory serves. This would entail staying overnight probably a couple of nights. If you've been to WDW - DLP is no comparison. I would equate it more to DL - but still not as nice.
If you're looking for other ideas in and around Munich, I can suggest the following: Dachau (Concentration Camp) and Neuschwanstein Castle. The latter is absolutely gorgeous and is a great day trip. The scenery in the area of the castle is surreal. Definitely something for the whole family. Dachau can be done in a half a day although while the site itself isn't too terrible, the pictures in the common areas along the foot tour can be mentally gruesome. I'd think teenagers could cope but kids much younger would either not understand or have considerable problems. Other things in Munich to do include Mike's (not related) Bike tours. Take a bike with a group of people around the city for the day. I had a great time on this as we got to see all the major sites in Munich during a gorgeous summer day. It's inexpensive and informational although they don't go into huge amounts of detail.
It's amazing that you mention this because I did exactly what you said above.. Dachau was emotionally draining for me.. It probably didn't help that it was early February, butt cold and starting to snow.. Very moving.. From there we took the trip to Salzburg, Austria (just about 1 1/2 hours from Munich) for a few days.. Wow is all I can say.. Salzburg is absolutely stunning.. I wish I would have been there in the spring so I could have seen the gardens in full bloom.. Anywho, our last day in Germany was spent at Neuschwanstein Castle in a foot of snow.. Fantastic trip. I highly recommend doing this..
Agreed. Couple of things. Rent a car, get there as it opens. take the horse up the hill - unless you're a hiker (big hill). after touring, hike around the backside - cool view. hike down. Then, tour around the bavarian alps in your car.
Totally agreed. Touring the European country side by car is a great experience to do for a few days. Nothing like getting lost in a foreign country driving your tiny citroen or opel on twisting and winding back roads through towns where the signs are completely foreign and the people look at you the same way a dog looks at your girlfriend each time she speaks to it in a baby voice (you know what I'm takling about, the little head tilt)....lol
I also plan to take my 11-year-old son to the WC. Having him miss 8-11 days of school to follow the USA team for two weeks is not a huge problem. My wife would object, but in the end I suspect she would give in. Now, money is becoming my biggest hurdle to overcome. I estimated the trip based on an Euro/US Dollar exchange rate around 1.0. At the current rate the trip will be 30-40% more expensive. I hope the US Dollar gets stronger, but with no end to the expansion of the deficit that is looking unlikely.
Kevin, The poor exchange rate is not due directly to the deficit but to the easy money policy of the fed relative to the tighter policy advocated by the EU. You will notice that if our economy starts to overheat and the fed raises rates significantly, American "money" will become "more expensive" - - ie more valuable and if the EU does not change its policies, then the DOllar will rise relative to the EUro.
The crash of the dollar is due to the gigantic trade and budget deficits, disapproval about US government polices, and the belief in financial markets that fair elections are not possible in the US, meaning the policies will continue. The spread between Euro interest rates and dollar interest rates is not that great, certainly not enough to cause the spectacular collapse in the value of our curency. Currencies outside the Euro zone are breaking records too. Ten years ago, Polish contractors bought Russian rubles with dollars and used the useless banknotes as insulation in construction projects. Now the ruble is breaking records as traders dump dollars and buy rubles. You can't blame that on ECB interest rate policies. The U.S. could turn the dollar around in the short run at least if Snow made some assuring comments. Don't hold your breath. Whatever the reasons, we are stuck with a financial nightmare in trying to support our national team abroad. Clyde Prestowitz said in an NPR interview that the dollar would fall to the rate of two dollars buying one Euro by 2006! I was in Germany when 82 cents bought one Euro and it was expensive even then! Good hotels could run $700-900 per night. A beer in a nice bar could cost $13-15. I think fans must consider alternatives like hostels and hitch-hiking that they normally would not consider. The numbers do not add up otherwise.
Now my undergrad degree is in economics (which means I don't know jack about the topic) and I've been trying to wrap my brain around all the currency issues lately. I've even pulled out and read some chapters from old textbooks. As stated, this has a lot to do with lack of foreign confidence in the US economy. A Fed increase would help in the short-term, but there are structural issues in the US economy that cause concern for European and Asian markets. The major structural issue is the current account deficit. I realize that the administration is trying to bolster exports with the weak dollar, but it's a vicous cycle. The policy can dilute the growth of foreign economies thereby cutting our exports. It takes nearly $2 billion dollars per day of foreign investment to underwrite our appetite. When our "line of credit" is called in, i.e. the Asian central banks move to the Euro, we're in deep doodoo. If we hit €1 = US$2 by 2006, a lot of us will be staying home.
There is a great opinion article in the December 4th-10th issue of the Economist titled "The disappearing dollar" with the big news being "If the dollar falls by another 30%, as some predict....." http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=3446249 in addition, some other dollar related articles: "The Wolf at the door" http://www.economist.com/finance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3329902 http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0623/p16s01-wmpi.htm