This train is for Cockfosters

Here is another article about me leaving Germany. My semester is rolling along and the world cup fever is getting stronger every day. 28 days to kickoff. The weather here in Konstanz is great and we have had some nice grill parties with the best sausage I have ever tasted. I plan to go swimming for the first time in Lake Constance this weekend at the nude beach. Anyway, last weekend I went to London. Once again I stayed with some family friends and just saw as much as I could in the two days I spent there. I visited the stadiums of Arsenal and Chelsea, ate the greasiest fries I had ever seen, saw the tower bridge, big ben...it was cool. whatever. The highlight was the Chelsea victory parade. I was walking near Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's stadium, on saturday and saw the road closing signs for the parade that the club was holding the next day to celebrate winning the premiership this year. All of a sudden I realized the timing of my trip was amazing. So on sunday I went back to see what english football hooligans are really like. There were 250,000 people decked out in blue chelsea gear, waving flags, drinking beer, screaming, fighting and throwing celery at policemen. It was great. I reserved a place for myself next to some nice englishmen who told me that america was a beautiful place compared to england, citing the drunk fans across the street and the overcast sky. I couldnt argue. As the bus carrying the team came closer, the crowd went into a frenzy. There were people weeping with joy. I was about six feet away from the players as they passed by on top of the double decker blue bus, they themselves getting pelted by celery as well. I have no idea where all the celery came from.

Last night, back in Konstanz, they were showing the Champions league final in the biggest classroom on campus. The room was packed and very loud. Needless to say, the crowd was not happy when the German national team keeper got a red card ten minutes into the game. His team (and my team), Arsenal, ended up losing to Barcelona after getting the lead late in the first half.

I bought a bike at a flea market a couple weeks back and I love it. It is at least thirty years old, a ladies' model and candy apple red. I fixed it up with a new seat and a little grease on the chain, and she is working like a charm. I use it more than the bus now. The bike lanes here in Germany are great.