Bi-planes and World Cup finals. 1/2

Author note: As I only get a few opportunities to update my blog, when I update with multiple posts, I shall preface them with a counter of what number and order to read so you won't miss a beat.....or get trapped into some weird time warp that goes forward and back in time (while describing the past as it happens!)



One of the many great things of travelling is experiencing other cultures and languages , trying new foods and seeing landscapes and architecture completely foreign to our own comfort zone, pardon the pun. This is nothing new to those of you that have travelled and hopefully words of inspiration to those thinking of leaving down under for the first time. Despite the all of the joys of travelling, there is also a downside; leaving family and friends for a while, losing a comfort zone and the familiarity in life that these bring. One thing you know in you’re local area is where to get a good feed. Some are even lucky enough to know a good chef well enough to leave the menu closed and ask for the to “whip something up” for you, leaving the decision to the chef in the knowledge that you will not be disappointed. This kind of dining is difficult, if not impossible, when backpacking around foreign countries. While in essence every time you pick up a menu and order something, particularly when you don’t understand the language, it is the same thing. Then again it’s not.
Fortunately, another great thing of travelling is the people you meet and the people you meet through them. Friday evening was finally time to catch up with a close friend of Volker’s named Uli, also a pilot. We met Uli as we waited, with some 6,000 other supporters, for the German team to arrive in Stuttgart for the 3rd place final the following day. To the disappointment of the fans, the bus slowed and drove through the throng of supporters with the players waving from windows. There was to be no time for autograph signing this evening. After consoling a young toddler who couldn’t quite put it together that the team was on the bus and that’s all that was going to happen, we headed off to a small Italian restaurant well known to Uli. We were warmly greeted by the owner/chef and it became quickly clear that Uli had eaten more than the take-away pizza they had on offer. A quick decision was made to leave the details up to the chef and we sat back to get acquainted. Over a glass of beer and then some wonderful white wine we settled into what turned out to be a sumptuous 4 course meal:
Starter – German style Garlic pizza
Entrée – homemade 3 herb pesto pasta
Salad
Main – pan fried king prawns, some fish (I can’t remember the name) and calamari, with rocket and a light balsamic dressing.

This meal was washed down with a glass of red and topped with a small nip of Grappa. Despite all protests, it was clear that I was not going to be able to contribute my share of the bill however had I thrown in my ≈ €40, it would have been money well spent. We left to get ready for the following days activities with included an air show and the Germany vs Portugal game.
The air show was a real treat, the highlight being a 1953 Antonov A2(?), single propeller bi-plane that was the heart of the Lufthansa fleet in earlier times and later for East Germany.



As Uli was working with the Antonov he kindly secured us free seats for one of the accreditation flights, i.e. the flights not allowed to take regular passengers as they were assessing a pilot for solo flight status. Cool?!?!?!? I was admittedly already a little nervous about getting onto this 1950’s plane that spewed incredible about of oil out of it’s single propeller engine the entire time. Pilot competence was not my greatest concern, it was more the combination of old plane and air show. History tells us that the introduction of “air show” into some circumstance has led to trouble, crashes and death. Now I was about to get into a plane that combined old plane, one engine, pilot assessment and air show into the same equation. Was I crazy? Oh....did I forget to mention bad weather?!?!



Nonetheless, with earplugs in place and camera at the ready, I climbed in to take up one of the 9 passenger seats in the passenger compartment.



There was no cabin service on this baby, it was strap yourself (work that out for yourself too, no safety video or steward demonstration, although there was a safety card)



and hope to God you got the opportunity to get back off in one piece.
At the end of the day, it was an awesome flight. Despite the close proximity of the trees to the wings during the 2 touch go landing-take offs we did, the experience was well worth the apprehension and there was now an opportunity to take the return flight from the airfield to where the aircraft was based the following day. Despite the awesome, and generous offer, this left me in a quandary…the flight would mean missing the World Cup Final.
The game between Germany and Portugal was a spirited contest between two teams wondering about what could have been. However it was the German team that looked to have dealt with the disappointment, of missing out on the finals, in a more positive way showing a lot of the class that had been the hallmark of their campaign. A brilliant goal in the 1st half, followed by an unfortunate own-goal later in the half kept the keen Portuguese supports quiet. A second brilliant goal by the Germans was the nail in the coffin for the Portuguese team who left the tournament, without a medal but still knowing that they were No. 4 in the world. The German fans were back to their best as car horns blared and sirens wailed. Initial concern that perhaps the magic had gone after being knocked out of the race for the final was quickly dispelled leading up to the game, with flags out windows, over bonnets and even out of roofs. It ended up being a good result for them and a fantastic World Cup. I was certainly glad to have been a part of it.