Euro 2012 in Poznań, Ireland...I mean Poland

The majority of our travel during our first year here will be in/to countries where German is the primary language. Therefore, our first trip out of Berlin was to Poznań, Poland. The trip served multiple purposes which I have touched on before but will restate here.

1. We really needed to sleep in a bed with a mattress not 3/4 filled with air.
2.  It's Euro 2012 time here, and we are a 3-hour train ride away from the most amazing football/soccer/fußball being played in the world (sorry Landon Donovan and MLS).
3.  Neil's family is Polish, in case the last name wasn't a giveaway. (This is somewhat up for debate as his grandfather may or may not be from the Ukraine and may or may not have had to flee to Poland at some point. I hope to explore this further while we are over here).

Since we have no car, we began our exploration of the European rail system. the last and only time I rode on a train was the Summer of 1989 from DC to NYC. In America, the train is slow and expensive, and (apart from the Boston-NYC-Philly-DC corridor), kind of creepy. I mean really, why are those people not flying? All kidding aside, I have to say that train travel is kind of luxurious. There is plenty of space between seats, no seatbelt sign, and no TSA line. A conversation on safety and the ability to travel across borders with no checking of identification or baggage could be had here, but let's face it, that is boring. Annika quickly took over my seat, and we embarked on our journey to Poland.

Our chariot to Poznań.

Annika in my seat.

Annika doing some serious reading.

Daddy doing some serious reading.

So, we arrived in Poznań Sunday afternoon and quickly tried to decide whether it was more difficult to understand Polish people speaking Polish or Irish people speaking English. I joke, but as the Irish became/continued to be drunk, they could have been speaking Polish for all we knew Nevertheless, we made our way to the bus and to our hotel. It was a charming little Polish hotel, and if anyone is ever in Poznań, I highly recommend Hotel Mat's. It was less than a mile from the stadium and a quick bus to downtown. There were a lot of Irish fans staying there, and we figured it must have been a tour group or something.

After regrouping a bit and an unsuccessful attempt at a nap, we decided to head down to the Euro 2012 Fan Zone and see what there was to do. We walked through a beautiful downtown area where there was a huge monument with a plaque saying something in Irish or Polish about Pope John Paul II. I took pictures and looked up later to find that it was a monument to the first uprising in Poland against communism which took place in Poznań in 1956. Multiple other uprisings and political demonstrations were added to the monument at later dates. The plaque, I researched later, was to commemorate JP2's visit to Poznań in 1997. They really love JP2 in Poland.

The Fan Zone was loud with expensive beer, but we came and we saw, and we took an obligatory picture before heading into the main square to find a spot to eat. On the way, we encountered hoards of Irish fans and a smattering of Italian fans. It was no matter, as everyone was in good spirits and enjoying the Euro 2012 atmosphere. We found an open outdoor table (no small feat on the eve of a game in a town not normally so flooded with Irish football fans), and we had a lovely meal of pierogi and meat. Annika embraced her roots and took to everything we offered her. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the big game the next day.

Fan Zone...obvs.

Me and an Irish fan...obvs.

Pierogi sampler platter with a grabby hand.

We woke up Monday and basically killed time riding the public transportation of Poznań and exploring the city. This included a visit to the oldest cathedral in Poland, Archcathedral Basilica of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. It was a nice cold building on a hot day and offered a look at numerous building styles and materials used over time and various renovations. When we had sufficiently cooled ourselves/Annika got to loud for the echoey old church, we headed back to get ready for the game.

Basement of the cathedral. 2 points if you can find the skull.

I have to say, I was briefly hesitant to don our pro-Italy shirts to head to the game as Poznań was the site of the first real riots of the tournament the previous week and 92% of everyone we saw was for Ireland. However, all was well as everyone was basically drunk and excited to watch some football.

En route to the game.

A sea of Irish fans.

Enjoying the antics of the other fans.

Euro 2012 trip summed up in one joyous, amazing picture.

Fortunately, upon arriving at the game, we found our seats to be in the Italian section. This was super fun in general and specifically during the anthems. In case you haven't checked it out, Italy has what I believe to be the greatest pre-game anthem out there. I love me some America, but watch this and tell me that this anthem doesn't rock...particularly as interpreted by Gianluigi Buffon, the Italian goalkeeper. It should also be noted (and can be faintly heard) that during the instrumental intro, all of the Italians sing along in a chorus of ba-ba-da-bas...it's the best.

To be surrounded by real football fans during a major championship is something to behold if you are a football fan. For those of you who don't remember, Italy won the game, and it was capped off by a goalazzo by Mario Balotelli. To be present for a goal like that when a group of thousands rises and jumps and cheers as one giant organism is one of the greatest things in all of sport. 

On our way out of the game, I was approached by a red-headed drunk Irish man who put his arm around me, told me that Annika was beautiful, and wished Gli Azzurri well against Spain. I thanked him, gave him a hug, and commended him for the tremendous spirit of all of the Irish fans we had encountered over the course of the weekend. We got back to the hotel just ahead of a thunderstorm and enjoyed one last night on a mattress before returning to Aerobed hell. I've said it once, I'll say it again. I love sports.