You have to say that some nights are just Golden, really. We’ve all had them – usually not planned (often not even deserved!) they just seem to happen for no reason other than “because …”! Sachiko has kindly let me put this story into the famous “blog” (getting a bit Global now isn’t it readers? have you seen the map of people viewing this? Incredible …)
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| Building sized TV screen!!! ヒュンダイファンパークの巨大スクリーン！ |
A few weeks or so ago, I arranged a business meeting in Madrid – we picked a day convenient for everyone, but I can honestly say that there was no other checking of dates and times etc. And really, it was just a few days before leaving that I realised that I will be in Madrid, overnight, on the evening that Spain play Portugal in the 1st Round World Cup knock-out match! Regular Sachan-Blog readers will know that she classes me as the “Hooligan” for the football coverage – and who am I to disagree?? – so this would be a big event! I thought – find a really nice (Tapas!!) Bar with TV screens and a group of Spaniards and just enjoy! This will be great – football is one-thing but there are however some rivalries within the context of the game that transcend the mere playing of a match; England vs Germany; Argentina vs Brazil; Blue Moon (Manchester City) vs the Red Devils (Manchester United); Glasgow Celtic vs Glasgow Rangers; Real Madrid vs Barcelona; Inter vs AC Milan; and of course, Spain vs Portugal. The history alone makes it “tense” but in a World Cup?? Just watching in a bar with fellow “hooligans” will be so much better – better certainly than the some “entertainment” in Spain, like a fat tart in tap-shoes and a too-tight red dress dancing with a tiny emaciated tosser with slick hair and 9 inch hips presenting “Flamenco for Foreigners”! (Do they still have those glass “tea-pots” that you fill with cheap wine and then finish up pouring the stuff down the back of your neck??? Or is that only in Torremolinos? And what about those poor Bulls???)
So I mentioned this to my host in Madrid – the handsome Carlos Lopez (you’ll see him in a photo here – nice, isn’t he ladies???) – and he invited me to the “Hyundai Fan Park” instead (can you guess who he works for???) …To see the ambiance, click here. Huge screens; 40,000 plus screaming Spaniards and all set up in the grounds of the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu – the home of Real Madrid and something akin to a cathedral for us (proud) hooligans! And what a night – the noise, the crowds, the excitement, the heat, the free drinks (VIP Morris! how classy …) and then Spain scored! Click here to see THE moment!! And they held on as well to make the night complete for everyone. Not nice for the Portuguese of course – but there weren’t any of them there, so …
I do love Madrid – the city is beautiful, the people have an easy grace and a somewhat simple sophistication about them so that you always feel comfortable – the food is superb, the wines are great and it feels a little more relaxed to me than Barcelona or certainly any of the resort locations where people are just too busy trying to extract money from you – Madristas don’t seem to bother with this and the place is better for it as a result.
A great night – the kind that money simply cannot buy and an experience you should feel privileged to have been a part of! My thanks to Carlos for the invitation – and to Sachiko for posting the piece!!
Sachan in Europe agrandie 
Hola Tomo-chan!
Hope you're getting ready for the Germany-Spain extravaganza? And yes, I do know the difference between a Bayerisch and Schwabian! Even my car comes from Stuttgart!! although Sachiko's machine comes from Muenchen so I suppose we can be said to be balanced …
We're going to have a few days in Ireland this week – no doubt the blog will be very different next week … cead mille failte!! Bernie
Guten morgen Sachan & Bernie! What's a day yesterday, Deutschland – Argentina 4-0 and a lovely greeting from Bernie-san himself♪ Thank you so much. Our conversation this morning:
T: Manfred, the husband from Sachan who is English asks if the Schwabians really understand football.
M: What, an Englishman ? Has he never heard about Bayern München ?
T: Schatz, not the bavarians but the Schwabians.
M: I know, I just wonder if he knows the difference…
To tell you the truth, my husband is not Schwabian but worse: Rhinelander… Anyway, if you want to know more about the Schwabians, you will be always welcome by us !
ありゃりゃ ずいぶんお褒めにあずかって、なんだか穴があったら入りたいにゃん。今後ともどうぞよろしくお願いいたします☆
評判のカルロスさん 「女のこたちの反響を教えてくれ」と、なにげに気にしておられるようです。うふふ。sachanも実は「目の保養」でした！
・・・あっそれからjunjunがみつけた「サッカーボール」のかたちのボタン。ほんとだね！！他のビデオでも試してみたら、「コウノトリにVuvuzela」とかも可能でした。ちょっとミスマッチだけど。
Hi, Bernie! Thank you very much for exciting report of your special night in Madrid. Especially, I enjoyed two short movies and glad to see handsome Carlos. I just assumed you went there for business. Off course, it's true, I know.
I thought that if you click the little soccer-ball-shape button in the lower right-hand corner of the first movie, you can listen to real noise that you experienced with annoying Vuvuzela. Is it true?
Tomo-Chan – Vielen Danke!
Very glad you enjoyed the post – it was a very special evening for me and I understand your “mann” is a football fan as well (… not too sure that Schwabians really understand football, but …) so I'm sure that you, like Sachiko, can gauge how it felt for us “hooligans”!
I am of course very proud of Sachiko's writings – both in this blog and in other things as well – although, of course, I would never tell her this!!. It does go beyond being “a bit clever” and her range of readers which is getting larger by the day is a testament to this – please God this continues as I believe that the observations are not trite or simple but have a true significance for day-to-day living and coping with a significant culture change for both of us! I know she's extremely glad you enjoy it, and we really all must meet up together someday!
m.f.g. Bernie
Mille mercis Sachan & Bernie pour ce super post !
Le blog de Sachan est vraiment incroyable de tout ce qu'il contient comme idées, photos, vidéos et par dessus tout cela les textes fascinants! Une tasse de café à la main et lire ce blog est devenu pour moi une habitude journalière incontournable 🙂
Côté foot, j'adore comment joue l'équipe espagnole ces dernières années et espère beaucoup qu'elle va enfin atteindre la demi-final ou même la final.
Bonjour Carlos, (je suppose que vous comprenez le français?? Sorry I can't write in Spanish)
Merci beaucoup de votre commentaire!
Bernie est revenu extra heureux après cette super soirée et il fallait absolument qu'il mette cette histoire sur le blog…. et bien sûr avec VOTRE photo!
Hi, good to see you enjoyed your evening here!
For non Spaniard readers, I have to say Bernie hits the bullseye on descriptions about my country, 100% understanding on our Spanish culture and habits (absolutelly agree with your comments on Flamenco and Torremolinos)! but I can not agree with your description about me though 🙂
take care!
carlos