Romance Board and Germanic Board

No, you are not. I have often felt that the "To the West" board is overly cluttered with insignificant places like France and Spain.

I'm not sure I like Germanic and Romance, thou. How about "to the South" for Portugal, Spain, and France. Then, since they already have "To the North", maybe "to the Heart". Or maybe change "To the North" to "Scandinavia" so the northern continent could be "To the North", and it could include UK.

Maybe the reason they haven't done it is that the can't figure out what to call it.

There was formerly only one board here.

There are several other boards where you can select which country you want to read about:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ListForums-g4-i11-Europe.html

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/

http://www.frommers.com/community/forum.cfm/europe/germany

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forum.jspa?forumID=27&keywordid=121

Pffffttt! to Lee for his list of insignificants.

But then, if you had Romance, you'd have to move Italy back over. And what about Romania -- it'd have to move as well, making 'To the East' short one. Which will only restart the thousand-post gypsy thread again.

Well........seems to be working just fine as it is.

The entire Brandenburg Gate area has been transformed into one giant "fan fest". You can't access the square other than as a football fan. Should Germany make it to the final, as expected, wear a white shirt (t-shirt, it's tropically hot over here at the moment). In any case you might want to make sure not to wear anything orange ;-)By the way did you notice: Uruguay wear Puma, the Netherlands wear Nike and both Spain and Germany wear Adidas. So one thing is for sure: Adidas will be in the final - either playing Nike or Puma ;-)

Yes, although the Germany board should just be called "World Champions Board" ;-)... And since the Netherlands will come in 2nd they can be included in it ;-)...

I will be in Berlin on July 11. I'm really pulling for Germany to win it.

I will be in Berlin on July 11. I'm really pulling for Germany to win it.

I will be in Braunschweig and have been "asked" (read: gently required) by 2 friends to watch the World Cup, probably in a neighborhood bar. I'm not a sports fan of any kind and have no idea what to expect, so if Germany is in the final, will there be lots of screaming and drinking like in the U.S.?

I remember that in the 2006 World Cup at one of the games the announcer said, "Zehn Maenner stuermen fuer Deutschland."

How true, now that Germany has made it to the semi-finals. Prima!

And, most definitely not orange!!

I will be in Amsterdam on July 11 and am routing for the Netherlands. Go Orange.

Pam

Sarah, I was watching the quarter finals in Mannheim, a smaller city somewhat comparable to Braunschweig (although probably a bit larger). After the match the downtown area was completely clogged with flagged cars honking and people screaming and dancing in the streets. Police pretty much shut down all major streets as there were too many people dancing in those streets. Yes, people will be walking around with beer bottles in their hands but all in all it's surprisingly safe and sane. Again, should Germany be in the final the best thing you can do is wear a WHITE shirt and black shorts/skirt. People will ask/offer to paint black-red-golden stripes on your cheeks. By the way there is a Native American Tribe in Florida who use the exact same color combination ;-)

Downtown Frankfurt was a blast! Parades of cars cruising through the streets, all honking, people hanging out the car windows, flags everywhere, and folks just having a great time.

One doesn't need to understand the game or even like sports very much to enjoy the atmosphere of the World Cup party in any city you happen to be in.

Wherever you are in Germany, be prepared for the Vuvuzela horns. Everyone here has one and blows it like made when Germany scores. Whether in my small village or Berlin (I was there for the last game) you hear them everywhere.

Pauliner packages one Vuvuzela and 5 beers in a box...now that's a party waiting to happen!

Der 4 stern fur Deutschland!