World Cup Cuisine

by Erik Olsen on

Oh, hey, and while I’m posting about the World Cup, let me draw your attention to a nice entry over at Slashfood about food and eating at the World Cup.

The post calls out a piece in The Guardian wherein you will find a food guide to the 12 cities that will play host to the tournament. German cuisine is pretty good. Why, just this weekend I was in Brooklyn and had myself a very tasty schnitzel.

But we’re talking here about more diverse foods than that. For example, treat yourself while there to a little brezen, buttered pretzels filled with salami or cheese. Or the more gustatorily ambitious can sample a tasty saumagen, or pig’s stomach filled with potatoes. Yummy.

Word for the Travel Wise (04/27/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

It’s coming… The World Cup that is and it’s time to start prepping for the big journey over to root for your country’s team. Now in my mind there is no better way to cheer the team on than in your native tongue, but it’d also be pretty nice to know some of the local vernacular. To stay in the theme of things you can skip right over all the unimportant jargon like “Where’s the bathroom?” for something a bit more useful when you’re in the stands like “Go for the pill!” With the games approaching so fast there is no time to waste. Click here for cool World Cup phrases.

Today’s word is a German word used in Germany:

Bolzen (s) – To kick about. Playing just for fun in your spare time.

You can find audio and German slang at BBC Languages, who continue to impress on the online scene. They probably have one of the BEST FREE German language guides on the net. Make no mistake in passing this one up! When it boils down to it there are several good sites to learn the Deutsch lingo. Deutsch Lernen and German for Travellers are two other good picks. First Step World offers study abroad courses in Munich and Berlin.

Past German words: vorglühen(s), krieger

Going to the World Cup

by Erik Olsen on

I got an email recently asking about trips to the World Cup
in Germany. As you might imagine, the place…umm, that is certain cities in Germany like Frankfurt and Munich…will be
a madhouse, and even though most of us know and care very little about soccer, there are hard-core multitudes who DO
care and many are making or have already made travel plans to Germany. Personally, I’d LOVE to see the cup. I’m not
that big on soccer, but I’d like to learn more. And I’d certainly love to head to Germany if just for the global
cultural experience that is the FIFA World Cup. I’d take it over the
Olympics, in fact.

Well, as I say, I got an email from a reader expressing concern about getting to Germany
for the cup, and did some poking around. Turns out that on way to get to Germany for the cup is to fly first to Dubai.
Yes, Dubai, ye of the US ports fiasco. Dubai is an official partner of the games, and Emirates Airlines has access to tickets for the matches
which they are offering free to passengers who fly to four cities in Germany: Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and
Düsseldorf. It will cost you a bit: about $1900, but if you’re a die hard fan, this could be the solution you’re
looking for.