So the group stage is now over, after each country has played 3 games and tried its best to advance to the knock out stage and continue its hopes of World Cup Domination. Germany has made it through to the next round, thanks for a win tonight against Ghana (who the US now has to play on Saturday) and the celebration in the city is, literally, insane. In the best possible way.
The game ended in the open air plaza where I was watching with hundreds of other people, most of whom were dressed wi
th German flags wrapped around themselves and with German flags painted on their faces.This <--- is what the plaza looked like after Germany scored its goal. The arm in the picture is a man in a German flag waving a 2nd german flag and started some chants :) Fantastic. Everyone jumped up and was cheering like crazy, blowing their noise makers, high fiving, and screaming at the top of their lungs. Good things goals don't happen too often ha ha On my way to the Bus station to catch the bus back to my dorm, I cross a road the runs right along the area where the buses pick up and runs through the center of the city. This road was backed up beyond belief and police were standing everywhere, ready to break apart a riot or something. There were people
all over in the roads, probably drunk, celebrating that Germany has won and moved on. These boys were making a canopy of German flag that cars had to drive under/through, it was hilarious. Most cars were pretty cool about it too, and the police officer who was standing about ten feet away.As I was standing at the bus station, I had about ten to fifteen minutes to wait for the next bus, I was watching all the literally hundreds of people walking by to their trains or buses or next bar and not a single one wasn't wearing either black, red, gold, a german flag, a german colors flower necklace, or had a german flag painted on their faces (or other body parts). It's incredible how patriotic the Germans are when they're allowed to be. The World Cup gives them the chance to be proud of their country and to showcase that pride. Back to the bus station though: this road that runs right by the station was FULL of people, not kidding at all the street was literally almost invisible and the cars looked out of place. The people were standing and cheering as the cars drove by, innocently enough. When a car happened to be enthused though, the crowd became ridiculous. They would shake the car, cheer even louder, chant German soccer songs in the street, the car would honk its horn, people would be hanging out of t
he windows or sun roofs and screaming. Insane.This is the amount of people lining the street. You can sort of see them shaking a car behind the bench also. Poor people in the car ha ha
This is all the people lining the street. Incredible...
The bus finally arrived and I got on. About 3 stops later, the bus was stuck at a stand still in traffic because of all the celebrating, so I got out and walked home the rest of the 20 minutes from there. As I walked down Bertha-von-Suttner Platz, a busy area where the street cars and buses have multiple stops outside the Beethoven house, the atmosphere was incredibly infectious. I found myself smiling non-stop and cheering along with the cro
wds. As I got to the end of the road, I noticed people were all looking behind me at something so I turned around. There was a man climbing on top of a bus stop shell to jump on the top of the halted bus, to start shaking it... all while cheering madly and being egged on by thousands of people around him in the street. The people inside the bus looked terrified but it was amazing to see. I kept walking and was honked at by many many cars and started cheering each time. (to the right is a pretty awful picture... thanks night time... of the incredibly crowded road on the way back, the street where the man was on the bus) On the way back, I encountered two German boys and I asked them if they had been here in 2006 (when Germany hosted the cup and took 3rd) and if it was always like this. They said it's always like this when Germany wins... so I can't wait for more wins and celebrations :)It's now shortly after midnight and the game ended about two hours ago. I still here the sound of car horns and cheering out the window, less with each passing minute but they're still there.
I find it incredible the way the Germans channel their patriotism into the outlet of football and how deep their passion for their country runs. When it surfaces, it's phenomenal to witness. I doubt I'll ever see a frenzy like this in America, even Badger game days don't compare. There's something special about the world cup.
I hope I get a chance to see a game in Cologne and witness the insanity in an even bigger city.
Let's go, Deutschland! '54, '74, '90, 2010!!!!!
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