The StuSie: WM-Deutschland: Day 1 in Dresden

Samstag, Juni 10, 2006

WM-Deutschland: Day 1 in Dresden

No, it's not a misprint. The World Cup is NOT in Dresden because the stadium here looks more like a vintage 60's Parteitaggelände for the DDR, but we (Adam and I), and Hannes are in Dresden, so this is where we spent opening day of the World Cup. The opening kickoff between Germany and Costa Rica coincided perfectly with our hour-long layover in Leipzig, so we watched the kick-off outside an Adidas store with some crazy Germans while cracking some beers (which were promptly re-capped when the Polizei informed us that there is Alkoholverbot in the mall area of the Bahnhof...at least he didn't hit us with a 'du bezahlst jetzt 20 Krone Alkoholstrafe!). In any case we got to watch the first jubilation as Germany went up one nil, and then the first sub-human growls as Costa Rica slipped past the German defense.
Our hour trip to Dresden on the ICE was uneventful, and we found out from the train guy that Germany had extended their lead against a fearsome side (ok, maybe not fearsome, but the Germans are still happy with the win). So then we arrived in Dresden, city of construction and the Semper Oper. The shaved-headed Hannes snuck up behind us and he quickly informed us that he missed the last 30 minutes just for us. He was already mildly intoxicated when he picked us up, but he still successfully led us to his abode, which is most fitting: a gray, forlorn, concrete block of a Studentenheim, this is the building that Hannes calls home. We're staying in some textbook Plattenbau with a towering smokestack looming over the view out the window. This is the former east Germany. Adam and I are completely fertig from the 11 train journey from Austria, so we shoot down Hannes' requests for hitting the discos at 2 AM (this is his suggested departure time, mind you). So we drink beers in Hannes' room, which has frighteningly similar attributes to Hannes' room of old. Poland and Ecuador at 9PM gets off to a fast start. I'm pulling for the upset, because in the picks that Adam and I wrote down, I figured, hey, Ecuador is in South America, right? Brazil is from there, too, so Ecuador must be pretty good as well. Turns out my bastardized betting logic actually worked, because Ecuador pretty much dominated the game and came out with the first surprise of the tournament, blanking a degraded Polish team (they're not really a country anyway, right, but just united ex-sections of the German and Russian Empire!). So thus ends our first day of the world cup, with Hannes characteristically stumbling around the room, tripping over Adam and I as we try to sleep off the train journey. Let the games begin. Photos will follow!