The World Cup in Paris, Bruges and Amsterdam

We couldn't have timed our trip better: all three countries we were visiting were in the World Cup games in July.

Not that I'm a big fan, but I remembered from our trip to Italy in 2008, that the street scenes during games are such fun, so I was looking forward to seeing how these three cities enjoyed the games.

While we were in Paris, on the 4th of July, France played Germany---and lost. We did see crowds outside of a few pubs, trying to watch on the big screen, but surprisingly few people wearing French, or German, colors:

 

Mostly student types (from the Sorbonne nearby?) sit in the alley drinking the cheaper beer at the pub behind them, but watching the game at the more expensive pub across the way.

 

A mix of tourists and Parisians watching the game from the sidewalk and street (luckily for all, drinking alcohol on the street is not a crime in Paris).

 

 

The Hotel Navarra, in Bruges, Belgium, was so excited about the World Cup they turned one of their conference rooms into a soccer room for the World Cup, serving drinks and appetizers for those who wanted to watch the game with others. While Belgium missed the finals by losing to Argentina on July 5th, clearly, enough Germans, Dutch, British and French tourists took advantage of the space: we couldn't find an empty seat.  We went back to our room to watch in comfort as Germany slaughtered Brazil that night. The next night, the Netherlands and Argentina tied, and my guess is the room was packed that night, too: Dutch is the language spoken by most of the people who live in Bruges.

 

It was only in Amsterdam, however, that World Cup fever was everywhere. Many streets had Holland's orange flags for the Netherlands-Brazil game on July 12th (see below). And when Germany played Argentina the next night, we heard the crowds that took over Rembrandtplein singing both the German and the Argentine national anthems. [Hearing the German national anthem  is still disconcerting: it is the same tune as a hymn we sing in church, for one, and it also just reminds me of all those WWII movies.]

 

 

One of many streets in Amsterdam celebrating "The Orange".

 

We didn't go to a pub to watch the games while we were in Amsterdam. Most evenings, after a late dinner, we'd get a bottle of wine to drink in our room from our favorite store,  Albert Heijn.  We started calling it Albertsons. They are everywhere in the city. [You can see just how many people ride bikes in Amsterdam from these two photos.]