The Road to Germany
No ... I'm not talking about the qualifying process that the 32 nations had to go through to reach the World Cup Finals. It's MY Road to Germay, and it goes a little something like this ...
It all began in late 2004. After some discussion, my college roommate, Josh, and myself decided we would try our luck at getting tickets to the World Cup. I won't bore you with the details of the the FIFA Ticket allocation process, but it was basically set up in five different phases.
The 1st phase began on February 1, 2005, and it was a basic lottery. We applied for tickets to 6 matches. We later found out we were unsuccessful in our 1st bid.
Fast forward to the 3rd sales phase, which began on December 12, 2005. We once again put our names in the lottery for the same 6 matches. Once again we were unsuccessful. It was not looking good.
It was around this time that the decision was made that we were heading to Germany with or without tickets, and I began booking beds in hostels.
Now booking hostels was quite a quandry. I was still holding out hope that we would somehow scores tickets, but time was slowing ticking away, and places were booking up. I decided that Munich was the only "must-go" and I would book rooms in a few other cities and decide later where to go, depending on if we ever got any tickets. So I went to work booking beds. I secured beds in Munich on March 7, 2006 in a popular downtown hostel. Over the course of the next few days, I also reserved beds in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, and Leipzig. In addition, I also booked some beds in Amsterdam (just in case!) . The light at the end of the tunnel was getting closer.
Next step was a railpass, but which one to get? This is when the decision was made to start and end the vacation in Amsterdam. It's one of the craziest cities in the world, and two or three days in the land of ganga never hurt anyone. Besides, I had been there twice before so I knew that lay of the land, and it would be a great place to start the adventure.
In was about this time that tragedy struck. Josh would not be joining me on our adventure. The suits at the Associated Press wouldn't grant him the time off and the decision was in my hands to push on solo, or bag the entire trip. The decision took about a half second.
OF COURSE I'M FUCKING GOING ... IT'S THE GODDAMN WORLD CUP!!!!
No offense to my boy, but this actual made things easier. I was on my own to book flights, hotels, and trains at my own will, and the procress was expedited.
After about six months of watching airfares and comparing arrival and departure cities, I purchased my flight on April 14, 2006. Aer Lingus, New York JFK to Amsterdam Schipol with a layover in Dublin (it turned out to be much cheaping to take Amtrak to NYC and catch a flight there rather than get on a flight in the DC Metro area). Almost there!
A few days later I purchased my Germany-Benelux 5-day rail pass and sat down to finalize my itinerary. Now, having beds booked all across Germany was both a blessing and curse. It was great to have the freedom, but I had to decided where to go and where not to go. But, fate and perserverance made that decision a lot easier in early May.
The 5th, and final, sales phase for World Cup tickets began on May 1, 2006, and it was basically a free-for-all. Any tickets that were left were released on a first come, first serve basis. Basically it took countless hours of sitting at a computer, hoping that the games that you wanted would become available. This is when fate tipped it's cap at me. On May 5, I was able to score a ticket to the USA-Czech Republic game on June 12 in Gelsenkirchen. It wasn't a city that I had a bed in, but who gives a shit, I could deal with that later, I WAS GOING TO SEE THE YANKS PLAY IN THE WORLD CUP!!!! The next day, I was able to get a ticket to the Tunisia-Saudi Arabia match on June 14. This was a match that I was focusing on since day one. It was in Munich at the brand new Allianz Arena, and I wanted to go to a match there. DONE! Then, the break through. Late that night, after trying for hours, I secured a ticket to see The Dutch play their opening match against Serbia & Montenegro and June 11, in Leipzig. My prays had been answered, I was going to not only be in Germany, but I was going to three games!
I cancelled my beds in Berlin, Cologne, and Hamburg, and decided that I wouldn's stay the night in Gelsenkirchen the day of the US match. So, here's how it stood ...
June 7 - train to New York, flight leaves at 6 pm
June 8 - arrive early morning in Amsterdam
June 9 - full day in Amsterdam (1st day of the World Cup)
June 10 - early morning train to Leipzig (pick up tickets)
June 11 - full day in Leipzig (Holland-Serbia & Montenergo at 3pm)
June 12 - early morning train to Gelsenkirchen (USA-Czech Republic at 6pm)
June 13 - early (and 'm talking like 12:30 am early) train to Munich for a full day there
June 14 - full day in Munich (Tunisia-Saudi Arabia at 6pm)
June 15 - mid-morning train to Amsterdam
June 16 - afternoon flight to New York
and it all begins in just over 72 hours!
It all began in late 2004. After some discussion, my college roommate, Josh, and myself decided we would try our luck at getting tickets to the World Cup. I won't bore you with the details of the the FIFA Ticket allocation process, but it was basically set up in five different phases.
The 1st phase began on February 1, 2005, and it was a basic lottery. We applied for tickets to 6 matches. We later found out we were unsuccessful in our 1st bid.
Fast forward to the 3rd sales phase, which began on December 12, 2005. We once again put our names in the lottery for the same 6 matches. Once again we were unsuccessful. It was not looking good.
It was around this time that the decision was made that we were heading to Germany with or without tickets, and I began booking beds in hostels.
Now booking hostels was quite a quandry. I was still holding out hope that we would somehow scores tickets, but time was slowing ticking away, and places were booking up. I decided that Munich was the only "must-go" and I would book rooms in a few other cities and decide later where to go, depending on if we ever got any tickets. So I went to work booking beds. I secured beds in Munich on March 7, 2006 in a popular downtown hostel. Over the course of the next few days, I also reserved beds in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, and Leipzig. In addition, I also booked some beds in Amsterdam (just in case!) . The light at the end of the tunnel was getting closer.
Next step was a railpass, but which one to get? This is when the decision was made to start and end the vacation in Amsterdam. It's one of the craziest cities in the world, and two or three days in the land of ganga never hurt anyone. Besides, I had been there twice before so I knew that lay of the land, and it would be a great place to start the adventure.
In was about this time that tragedy struck. Josh would not be joining me on our adventure. The suits at the Associated Press wouldn't grant him the time off and the decision was in my hands to push on solo, or bag the entire trip. The decision took about a half second.
OF COURSE I'M FUCKING GOING ... IT'S THE GODDAMN WORLD CUP!!!!
No offense to my boy, but this actual made things easier. I was on my own to book flights, hotels, and trains at my own will, and the procress was expedited.
After about six months of watching airfares and comparing arrival and departure cities, I purchased my flight on April 14, 2006. Aer Lingus, New York JFK to Amsterdam Schipol with a layover in Dublin (it turned out to be much cheaping to take Amtrak to NYC and catch a flight there rather than get on a flight in the DC Metro area). Almost there!
A few days later I purchased my Germany-Benelux 5-day rail pass and sat down to finalize my itinerary. Now, having beds booked all across Germany was both a blessing and curse. It was great to have the freedom, but I had to decided where to go and where not to go. But, fate and perserverance made that decision a lot easier in early May.
The 5th, and final, sales phase for World Cup tickets began on May 1, 2006, and it was basically a free-for-all. Any tickets that were left were released on a first come, first serve basis. Basically it took countless hours of sitting at a computer, hoping that the games that you wanted would become available. This is when fate tipped it's cap at me. On May 5, I was able to score a ticket to the USA-Czech Republic game on June 12 in Gelsenkirchen. It wasn't a city that I had a bed in, but who gives a shit, I could deal with that later, I WAS GOING TO SEE THE YANKS PLAY IN THE WORLD CUP!!!! The next day, I was able to get a ticket to the Tunisia-Saudi Arabia match on June 14. This was a match that I was focusing on since day one. It was in Munich at the brand new Allianz Arena, and I wanted to go to a match there. DONE! Then, the break through. Late that night, after trying for hours, I secured a ticket to see The Dutch play their opening match against Serbia & Montenegro and June 11, in Leipzig. My prays had been answered, I was going to not only be in Germany, but I was going to three games!
I cancelled my beds in Berlin, Cologne, and Hamburg, and decided that I wouldn's stay the night in Gelsenkirchen the day of the US match. So, here's how it stood ...
June 7 - train to New York, flight leaves at 6 pm
June 8 - arrive early morning in Amsterdam
June 9 - full day in Amsterdam (1st day of the World Cup)
June 10 - early morning train to Leipzig (pick up tickets)
June 11 - full day in Leipzig (Holland-Serbia & Montenergo at 3pm)
June 12 - early morning train to Gelsenkirchen (USA-Czech Republic at 6pm)
June 13 - early (and 'm talking like 12:30 am early) train to Munich for a full day there
June 14 - full day in Munich (Tunisia-Saudi Arabia at 6pm)
June 15 - mid-morning train to Amsterdam
June 16 - afternoon flight to New York
and it all begins in just over 72 hours!
posted by littles: at 1:12 PM
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