I for one will be much too drunk to be driving when I'm there. I don't know if you've been to Germany or not, but supposedly the mass and public transport systems are great.
Exactly. Yeah, I've been to Germany and agree with you on the train system. However, if we had someone who doesn't drink, I'd be content chipping in for the rental car. This permits additional alternatives for the "flat", because it doesn't need to be near a train line. I just knew if I was flying solo, I absolutely would not rent a car. The problem with the car is if you're staying in a city, parking can be a pain (such as in Munich). A car would be a hinderance in that case. I would still probably prefer to be near a train line in order to have flexibilty to go whenever and whereever.
Yes I did, unfortunately in my haste/lack of sleep, I caught it after my edit button expired. Oh well maybe a mod will correct my typo. Yea, no need for a car except the for the idea of hauling in the good old American TAIL GATE PARTY. I've been toying with the idea of for at least one game, renting a van, buying a cooler and a grill, and making it happen. Say 8 hours before the game starts The way i see it, if i'm over there for 30 days, 29 of which I will be eating and drinking all things German, at least one day, I can have cheap american beer, chicken wings, hot dogs, and hamburgers. maybe I'll call it the "Great American BBQ featuring [Team X] [Food]". So for example if we are playing England, we'll have all the great american food plus have a fish fry going "Great American BBQ featuring English Fish Fry" Ok now i'm just rambling. I'm sure someone did this during a US game in Korea, unfortunately I was stuck in Japan going to other games.
I can almost guarantee that noone did this in Korea as I'm sure we would have heard about or seen it. The trains were the way to go so I can't imagine that any yank fans rented a car there (How would you have read the signs?) I do think that tailgating is a great idea though. It is the one aspect of American sports that I love and I'm all for exporting the tradition to Germany during the WC. There should be a fair few US fans with rental cars this time around so I'm sure it can happen at every US game.
Hey - since Budweiser is the only beer vendor for the WC, you won't have to rely on the tailgate for your cheap American beer.
I can't imagine cheap American beer at the stadiums. I plan on going and drinking plenty of cheap German beer, and never touching American beer. I might have to compromise if that's all that's sold in the stadiums. I've had a car in Munich, it's a pain. I parked it, took public transportation in Munich and to Dachau, then drove onto to our next destination (Salzburg)!
No kidding eh! Funny thing is, unlike Japan/Korea where beer was sold in the stadium through half time, at EURO 2004 in Portugal, alcohol was prohibited from being sold inside the venues. I hope that FIFA doesn't adopt this policy due to the WC being in a European nation. As for the car, wake up, rent the car, drive to stadium, start tailgating until game time. After game time, take the car back (and/or take it back the next day). I agree, no need for a car in Germany unless you want to take a road trip for fun.
Some of the locals will need to verify, but I expect parking for several dozen cars at most stadiums. I would get verification before I took a car near any of the stadiums. My expectation would be unbelievable traffic and an inability to get within a km of the stadium.
Yea, don't get me wrong, this thing needs some serious planning (at least I have 18 months) in order to pull it off, but I have the help of my Cousin who lives near Hamburg and several friends who live in Berlin to do all my dirty work. You know what they say, where there's a beer there's a way (or was that a will)....
What I think IASocfan was trying to get at is that Budweiser is an official sponsor thus only Bud beers will be sold in the stadium - probably around $6 USD a beer. Korea was awesome b/c Buds only cost $2 USD. You probably won't be able to buy any non-Bud beer anywhere on the stadium grounds, which means if you want German beer, you'll have to find it elsewhere before.
Oh I understood, I just drove the conversation in a different direction. Prior to gate entrance there will be enough random vendors selling cheap beer that I'm not worried. Further, if I am in fact to pull off the Great American Tailgate in germany, I'll need some plan around either importing American beer and/or finding a European distributor to purchase from. Then re-sell it (per my original idea above) to friends/US Soccer hooligans who care to join me and my friends in a fantastic tail gate.
Actually, the thing to do will be to try and get Budweiser -- the official beer of the FIFA World Cup, US Soccer & MLS, to sponsor the party. Despite the ramblings of beer snobs (like me), Budweiser actually is pretty popular in Europe.
You're absolutely right, Bud is very popular in Europe. When I lived in London, I couldn't understand how every night when I went to the pub, they could drink the stuff given all the other great beer they had in front of them. None the less, getting Bud to sponsor the party is a good idea to cut down on costs, but then again I'd feel like I'm selling out. I'd prefer to do the grass roots effort myself.
I agree with Mikeymike. I think the whole fan movement for the national team should stay as far away from corporate sponsorship as we can. It will be the ruination of a unique, grassroots effort. We can put on our own tailgate. We are not that broke. There was a rumor of a USSF sponsored tailgate in Korea but it never happened. I can think of a lot of problems with that one but it should be easier in Germany, albeit more expensive. In Korea and France in 2003 we met at local pubs before the game. Three years ago I was in the Vancouver youth hostel and picked up the local paper, which had rather good soccer coverage. There was an article in there about the American custom of tailgating. It said the Canadians had not copied this at all, even though most of them knew all about it.
Excellent points. Soon after the New Year, I'll know for certain about whether my wife, kids, or brother will be going. If they stay home, I'm all for hooking up with several others for company and economy. I'm one of those travelers who sees no need in traveling in luxury, but I'm not going to sleep on a park bench either. Convenience, cleanliness, and cost. Maybe we need a thread for "organized solos". And for the record, I'm pretty normal. Male, 34, live in TN, married, father of two, social drinker, occasional cigar (outdoors only), postgrad, lean to the left on politics and religion (but come from conservative parents so I don't mind Repubs), night owl. And, oh yea, soccer fan. (Geeze, sounds like a singles ad -- if I were single.)
i potentially have a group of 10 going.... but i dont think we will be renting an apt, as we have relatives in zwribrueken we can stay with. somewhere outside of frankfort... but i would love to connect with some US fans to watch some games in a pub.... just need some way to recognize someone from the BS board or as an american?
I also am in the same boat. If my 12-year-old son can't miss two weeks of school in June (it is hard to ask permission from his future 5th grade teach that hasn't even been assigned yet) I will be going solo also. You make an excellant point about incompatibility ruining the experience. The tailgate parties for domestic qualifiers could become an effective place to meet and find a compatible WC cost sharing partner. I wonder how many potential solo WC travelers are out there?
Advertising is a wonderful thing. If you put enough Budweiser adverts on TV people lap it up. Also remember that the most popular beer in Britain is Carling Black Label which tastes like piss, but is extremely cheap and heavily advertised.
Ditto here. My brothers are discussing going, but I'm not sure. Regardless of whether they go or not, finances are definitely an issue, as we're all still in school now, and most likely will be in 06 (i'm in grad school now, my brother john will be, and my brother matt will still be an undergrad). I'm all for organizing a BigSoccer Yanks-in-Germany Contingent. We could all rent a flat and I'll film it. It'll be the reality TV smash hit of the summer.
Whooaaa not sure i'd want you to film me, all you'd get is my back side as I lay passed out on the bed from too much drinking the night before! However, you could film our pre-game tail gate parties, now there's gotta be some good footage that comes from that!
You never know, that backside might make it to the OUR WAY II dvd. Also, though it's not much a concern, since Germans tend to speak English quite well, how many folks here speak German? I was pretty fluent a few years ago...it's rusty now, but I'm sure I could get by.
I have a German-speaking friend of mine who's from Switzerland. (He lives in the States nowadays working for European travel agency.) I saw him last night at a Xmas party and he mentioned that while fluency for tourists isn't absolutely necessary, it's very helpful. It just makes life a little easier not having to ask for an English menu for instance. And I shouldn't have to rely on other people's bilingual ability to survive. (I took Latin in school. Helps with the English grammar, but not much help at the World Cup.) To learn German, I've been using the Random House Living Language series for a couple of months now. I've progressed. I have both the basic/intermediate and advanced versions. Going at a steady pace, I hope to finish up by early 2006. I have the pronunciation down pretty well and the grammar isn't too bad. My big issue is German vocabulary.