World Cup Adventures

My World Cup adventures began in Rio on the night of Wednesday, June 18^th.   After exiting the plane I immediately heard the “Chi, Chi, Chi….Le, Le, Le!” chants echoing throughout the airport - meaning Chile had just eliminated Spain from the World Cup.  I knew the next week was going to be amazing if fans were celebrating and going crazy at the airport.

I spent the next 8 hours searching out creative ways to pass the time in the airport while waiting for my friend Rakesh to arrive from California.  The airport hotel was full and there weren’t any nice lounges.  Instead I walked the two terminals several times to find the best spot to sleep that also had Wi-Fi connectivity.  Eventually the Chi-Le chants died down and Rakesh arrived to bring our first official day of World Cup madness. 

Other airport sleepers like me

Fuleco the Armadillo (of course)

After picking up our World Cup tickets at the airport ticketing center, we took a taxi to our hotel in the area of Lapa (just a few blocks from central downtown Rio de Janeiro).  We chilled in our neighborhood on the first day, catching some soccer matches and amazing Brazilian food nearby.  It turns out this area of Rio is the place to party and is full of many great bars which are over flooded by thousands and thousands of people at nighttime.  But the long flight combined with some incredible tasting Fejoada (famous rice/beans/sausage slow cooked meal) had us both passed out by 8 p.m.!  

On day two we were ready for some exploring.  We caught a local bus hoping to tour the district of Santa Theresa, which offers neat architecture and great views.  However we quickly realized we did not know what we were doing.  So rather than risk stumbling through the wrong neighborhood, we jumped off the bus when we saw signs up the mountain for the Christ the Redeemer statue.  From there we were able to find a taxi shuttle to deliver us to Paineras station where we could walk the rest of the way up.  There were about 10,000 other people who also had the same idea as us that day, so we spent most of the day in lines and crowds enjoying the views from Jesus high on the mountain. 

Everywhere we went the World Cup spirit was amazing - even our van back down the mountain had an onboard TV to watch the matches!  It took us about 6 hours to see the number one tourist spot in Brazil which meant it was already time to get back and party in Lapa!  We spent the evening enjoying Caipirinhas from street vendors and exploring the party scene around Lapa.   Later we discovered a special Cheetos flavor that was absolutely amazing and had us hooked the rest of our trip - Cheetos Assado Onda Requeijão.  We tried to enter the famous Rio Scenarium club but were greeted instead by at least 1,000 other people (no exaggeration) waiting in line to get in!  We stuck to the madness on the street instead as it filled up with enormous crowds. 

At one point we were peacefully enjoying a beer outdoors at a street bar when the police suddenly swarmed in and caused a lot of commotion.  The bar closed up their tables in a rush and lowered their shutters, which put us in a startled rush back to our hotel while we scoped out what was going on.  Later we heard some demonstrations had turned up a few blocks away and the police were there to squash them out.  Fifteen minutes later it was like nothing happened. 

We spent our third day in Rio at the beaches.  We met Rakesh’s Brazilian friend for breakfast at the Copacabana Fort and enjoyed some great beachside views.  In preparation for the USA match the following day we were waving our USA flag everywhere we went.  His friend works for the city and was even able to catch us on a security camera posing in front of a statue on Copacabana.  We were complete suckers for all the beach souvenirs and within an hour were completely outfitted in Brazil yellow and green and kicking a soccer ball on the beach.  

We watched the day’s soccer matches outside the FIFA fan zone (public viewing area) on the beach and met lots of crazy fans like us.  Even if we weren’t actually making it to any games, the atmosphere along the beach would have made the trip to Brazil worth it.  It was such an awesome time combining the beach atmosphere with a huge celebration and World Cup soccer.  It was always surprising to me how there were thousands of people from all over the world and everyone was just having a good time together.  There was never a moment of violence or fighting that we saw.  

We met some other locals up for dinner and devoured some amazing frozen Acai - it is like the greatest berry smoothie imaginable, though it looks like a pile of poop.  We ended the night there and returned back to our hotel to prepare for our adventure into the jungle starting the next day. 

The following morning we caught an early flight to Manaus in the Amazon - a 4 hour journey northwest across the country.  Our trip got off to a great start when after exiting the plane we were treated to a free cold Budweiser beer and a map of the city.  Talk about customer service.  We arrived smoothly at our hotel and had a few hours to prepare for the USA vs Portugal match.  We enjoyed some views and a quick swim in our rooftop pool before setting out for the game. 

You can see the Amazon River in the background

Our plan to take a taxi was scratched once we heard the announcements of road closures.  So we started walking to the stadium in the hot humid heat with a couple Canadians who decided to tag along with us.  Just by chance, we passed by the hotel where the Portugal team was staying and they were preparing to load up their team bus.  Fans were lined up to get a glimpse of CR7 (Cristiano Ronaldo) himself, but we pushed our way through determined to make it to the stadium.  

We caught a lucky break when a Brazilian family stopped to take a photo with us and offered to drive us closer to the stadium in their pickup truck.  This saved us about 30 minutes of walking in the intense heat.  The atmosphere approaching the stadium was a huge party for the Red, White, and Blue.  USA fans were clearly in the majority and very creatively outfitted.  However, my favorite costume of the day was the kid dressed as CR7’s Panini card. 

His beard was red, white, and blue 

We made it into Arena Amazonas about 30 minutes before the match began and we were seated with a large group of passionate USA fans.  It was an incredible game and we screamed our heads off.  The heat was exhausting and we were witness to the first ever World Cup water break in the second half when players started collapsing on the field.  CR7 was quiet for most of the game, but the second he touched the ball the stadium erupted into an incredible roar of boos and cheers.  Then he made us all cry with the cross to setup the tying goal 30 seconds before match end.  It was a huge disappointment but at least we did not lose.  And as I write this now, I know now a win over Portugal would not have changed the outcome of the group.  The USA match was definitely the highlight of the entire trip for me.  

Last few hours as a 28 year old

The following day (also my 29^th birthday) we went out for an Amazon tour with a group of about 15 other tourists.  We got to hike through the rainforest to different caves and waterfalls while learning about the jungle ecosystem.  It was all quick and short, but an incredible moment to walk through the famous Amazon jungle. 

Walking through the Amazon

After lunch the tour took us to some river waterfalls where you could swim.  The water was a beautiful dark tea color but at the same time very clear.  I took a quick swim but was hesitant to drift to far downstream or stay in the water too long because of all those scary amazon stories you hear (piranhas, anacondas, penis eating bacteria, etc.). 

Lunch in the Amazon

All the wildlife we saw (noise from 15 people probably scared off all other animals)

We arrived back at the hotel for the end of the Brazil vs. Cameroon match.  We watched the city light up in celebration when Brazil won with exploding fireworks, honking horns and vuvuzelas blowing from rooftops.  The city went from silent to party in an instant.  Later that night we went out for a birthday dinner at a Churrascaria (classic fine cuts of beef buffet brought around on skewers).

Sunset from our hotel's roof

The next 48 hours were pretty much a blur and spent mostly traveling between airports.  We checked out of the hotel and enjoyed the rest of the day enjoying the city of Manaus.  We found some cool public viewings for the day’s matches and enjoyed some amazing grilled Tambaqui fish with rice and beans dinner. 

Eventually we made it to the airport for our 4 a.m. flight and slowly made our way back to Rio with a long layover in Brasilia (when we originally booked the flight it was nonstop….).  We locked up our luggage in the Rio airport and set out for our next match: France vs. Ecuador at the famous Maracanã.  It was an amazing atmosphere to watch soccer, although it was a bit of a boring 0-0 result and the match paled in comparison to USA. 

The French fan in the bottom left had a croissant on their hat…. probably stolen from their breakfast.

Afterwards we were back at the airport to fly home.  My schedule flight with TAP was delayed 4 hours, which meant I would definitely miss my connecting flight in Lisbon.  However I really lucked out and was able to switch to a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt.  In the end I arrived an hour earlier than expected in Munich and just in time to watch USA vs Germany battle it out with my dearly missed wife.  It never felt so good to be back home.  

At the airport bar rooting for USA amongst the Germans

All in all it was an exhausting seven days of World Cup soccer full of eating incredible Brazilian food, partying with fans from around the world, and too many hours trying to sleep in airports.  But I had more fun on this trip than I anticipated and got to see a bit of the beautiful land of Brazil.  Perhaps the greatest unexpected part was to have the company of people from around the world who were doing exactly as I and roughing their way around a foreign country for the love of the game.

Pre-World Cup Adventures

There is pretty much only one thing on my mind right now and that is the fact the 2014 World Cup in Brazil could not start any sooner. 

I fell in love with soccer (and Julie.. but this is unrelated to my soccer love) about 10 years ago and decided that it would be a life goal of mine to attend a World Cup match.  NPR wrote an article this week that perfectly describes why I like soccer so much.  No matter where you go in the world, you can probably find someone kicking a soccer ball around.  It is a good read for anyone who is curious about the appeal of soccer.

Now for the story of my life working up to this trip.  If you want – you can skip all the way down to the last paragraph to see what my plans are without reading the story, but what fun is there in that?

Last year I decided that Brazil 2014 would be a really great opportunity to make this life goal a reality.  When one has the time and money to do something then there is no other reason to wait!  And thankfully, I have the coolest wife ever who told me from day one to not worry about the money and just go!  Now a week before I am set to depart she is probably regretting those words, but I cannot thank her enough for being so supportive of my big, expensive adventure.  Thank you so much Julie!  I love you!

Planning the trip to Brazil has been an adventure from the start, so I decided to split my blogs about my World Cup experience into a ‘pre’ and ‘post’ adventure.

I began my ‘pre’ World Cup journey last summer when I began recruiting someone to travel with me (as Julie wasn’t interested).  With a bit of luck, I found my friend Rakesh willing to jump on board with me.  The first step was for us to get tickets to a game and secure our airfare.  I lucked out in one of the early fall 2013 random draws and secured tickets for H1 vs. H3 match (teams were to be announced later in random draw) in Rio de Janeiro on June 22.  A few weeks later we booked flights.  Great!  We are all set, right?!  Not so fast…

Along came the final draw in December 2013, where the 32 qualified teams were sorted into the 8 groups by drawing balls out of a bowl.  My goal from the beginning was to see USA or Germany play in a match, so I watched the draw while gripping my seat with white knuckles to see who would end up as H1 and H3.  The teams were sorted starting with group A and progressing up to group H.  Throughout the process, the draw was going perfectly, because both Germany and USA remained in the bingo bowl up through group G.  At this point, they would be assigned to either group G or H – my chances were looking good to see at least one of them play in group H (and perhaps even both of them)!  However, just at the last moment, both teams were selected to play in group G, and they would in fact play each other as G1 vs. G3.  It felt like I was one number, or in this case letter, away from the jackpot on my lottery ticket.  And instead of seeing either Germany or USA, I would be seeing the match Russia vs. Belgium.  I was left speechless after the draw.

Any soccer fan will tell you that Russia vs. Belgium is still a pretty good match to see.  And I could not complain because I was one of the lucky ones who already had their tickets back in 2013.  But this was not really what I was hoping for when I decided I would go to the World Cup one day.  And it’s wasn’t like I could just go out a buy tickets to another match since every sales phase is random, and just to get any tickets at all requires a lot of luck.  Plus - even if I could get the tickets, the only USA game during my 8 days in Brazil was on June 22, the same day as the match I already had tickets for!

Now that the teams were assigned to the games, Rakesh and I decided we would try for a second set of match tickets in Sao Paulo, as it is relatively close and affordable to get to.  I figured going to two games would make up for the fact that I wouldn’t see my home country play.

We went ahead and secured a round trip flight to Sao Paulo to be prepared, but our plan to secure tickets to the match (England vs Uruguay) failed miserably.  This left us a bit depressed because now our World Cup trip to Brazil was turning into a very expensive site-seeing trip around Brazil without a chance to see the matches we wanted.

All was not lost though.  We still had the next phase of ticket sales: the first-come-first- serve sales phase.  Somehow Rakesh was able to skip the electronic queue and get access to buy tickets.  This is the queue that Julie and I waited in for 2, 3, 4 hours and never even made it through to the sales platform.  I still can’t understand how he did it (it’s that Keshdude magic)!  He was able to buy tickets to any of the 24 first round matches EXCEPT for the one we wanted in Sao Paulo!!!  How could we just barely miss what we wanted again!?!  It was like we missed our powerball number again.  We were both feeling defeated, but we couldn’t dwell on it too much – Rakesh’s screen full of green symbols (signifying availability) was turning black very rapidly.

This is when we decided to take control of our own destiny, current plans be damned!  Screw the fact that the only USA match we could see is taking place the same day as our Russia vs. Belgium match!  Forget about those impossible to find hotel reservations we already secured!  Who cares that we already bought flights accommodating the matches we expected to see?   Instead – let’s go ahead and buy two tickets to watch USA vs Portugal in the middle of the Amazon jungle in Manaus!  This was a very, very stressful decision, but one that has made my trip to Brazil a dream come true thus far.

4 months into planning our trip, we basically erased our detailed Brazil itinerary (though at least my main international flight from Germany to Brazil is staying the same) and started planning our World Cup trip all over again.  We changed our Sao Paulo flight to go to Manaus and were able to cancel our current hotels and find new ones – though of course there were additional fees on top.  But it is all worth it to show up and support the RED WHITE and BLUE!

Great!  Now we are all set for Brazil 2014!  Almost…..

Now it was time to secure my entry visa here at the Brazilian embassy in Munich (no easy task), get caught up on the necessary Amazon regional vaccinations (yellow fever, Hepatitis A), get briefed on the risks of Malaria and suck up the cost of an emergency prophylaxis, all the while hear nothing but the bad things that might happen to me in Brazil (muggings, protests, murders, crime, disease, malaria, don’t swim here, don’t fly there).  Surely there has to be some positive and fun stories of Brazil?

Have I mention yet that my wife is the greatest in the world for supporting me in planning this crazy trip and trusting that I will come back in one piece?  Julie you are the greatest!!!!

With a little bit more luck (me refreshing the FIFA ticket site hourly for days and days) I was able to secure us last minute tickets to a second match in Rio the day I fly back to Munich (my flight is in the evening, so hopefully this works out).  We now have tickets to the Ecuador vs. France match on June 25 in the world’s most famous soccer stadium: Maracanã.

If you skipped the entire bulk of this post, but want to know what I said in 2 sentences: I have tickets to see USA vs Portugal on June 22 in Manuas and Ecuador vs France on June 25 in Rio de Janeiro.  Unfortunately, I had to give up the tickets for Belgium vs. Russia as it is also on June 22 back in Rio de Janeiro.  Now, if you could all wish me luck and safety!

Four Years Stronger

We recently celebrated our 4^th wedding anniversary and freakishly realized this was our 3^rd consecutive one while living in Germany.   Have we really been out of the USA this long?!  This year also marks 10 years since we first got together, the best decade I could have ever imagined.

We stayed closer to home for our anniversary this year at the Spitzingsee in the Bavarian Alps.  That means the dogs were lucky and also got to tag along our little getaway.  Our trip was delayed and cut short a bit by bad weather, but we were able to enjoy 1.5 beautiful days at the alpine lake. 

 

We spent our first day enjoying some nice hikes around the lake and surrounding area.  There we met probably the happiest cows in the world.  And then the rest of the time we were enjoying the spa/pool with a lakeside view. 

We ate dinner at the hotel’s Italian restaurant, where we enjoyed an absolutely delicious appetizer buffet.  However we almost made ourselves sick on all the marinated vegetables, cheese, and bread.  We could barely eat the pizza we ordered for the main course.

The dogs also had a wonderfully spoiled day.  Many German hotels, especially in the countryside, are very dog friendly and provide nice accommodations for pets.  This particular place had a bowl of treats in the lobby entrance.  This meant the dogs never really wanted to leave the lobby, and were actually excited when the walks were over and it was time to return to the room.  Each walk by they would grab as many treats that would fit in their mouths, knowing we wouldn’t let them have more than one pass at a time. 

Not a photo of the treats, but a cute picture of Sadie scaring off a duck 

We spent the night star gazing and trying to capture some night sky photography.  We lucked out with clear skies and were able to spot the 2 or 3 constellations we actually know.

When it was time for bed, we didn’t sleep too long before waking up for our anniversary tradition of photographing the sunrise (a very painful 5 a.m.).  We got some beautiful shots of the lake reflection before stumbling back to bed to try to grab a few more hours of sleep. 

However our plan to sleep in late was interrupted by what Julie thought was a casino that opened outside our window.  There were so many loud clangs and people cheering that she finally got up to see what was going on.  Looking out the window she learned that it wasn’t a casino, but a cattle drive directly through town (and right outside our window).  The noises were the cowbells and the farmers in lederhosen directing the cows through the main street. Oh the things you can see in Bavaria! 

After our cowbell alarm clock we decided to take a gondola ride up the mountain.  It was the first gondola ride for the dogs, so it was fun to watch their reactions to it.  However they have learned that when on vacation with us, they get to experience pretty fun things, so neither were worried enough to avoid the strange new ride.  At the top the weather was completely different, so we found ourselves stuck in a bit of a cold rain cloud.  Though we didn’t let it stop us from stomping around a bit and enjoying some nice views and hot chocolate before making our way back home. 

Happy Anniversary Julie!