What was it like in Hamburg away from the Reeperbahn?

[The Equalizer]

I think the name of the Irish bar on the main drag was Molly Malone's.

My memory is a bit hazy for some strange reason, so I could be wrong.

Molly Malones... that's the bastard that got me pissed!

I got leathered on the way there in the minibus with Airfix, BB, Rhi, Marc, Ze German, Ze Belgian and Dutch. Cracked open the first tinny at 6.35am on the way out of Elephant and Castle. The next day was spent in and out of Molly Malones and the London Pub - I managed to meet pretty much everyone that I've ever previously met at a Fulham game. Some proper old faces from messageboards of old:

Sutton Phil, Mr G, The Rev. Chisum Monkey to name a couple. Plus a load of my dad's friends, one of the regulars in my local  boozer and a thousand others. What a trip.

[The Equalizer]

Oh, and this:

Fulham fans on way to Hamburg 20100512.mp4

[epsomraver]

Ain't they all posh! which one is Fred! :011:

[The Equalizer]

Ain't they all posh! which one is Fred! :011:

None of em. The interview was with Rhi, Toby (Ze German), Marc, BB (Alan) and yours truly - I'm the handsome one with the hangover who ruined our chances of winning in a single word: Fulhamish.

[The Doctor]

Our little group spent all of the Wednesday build-up in the Reeperbahn, like most others.  The atmosphere in Hans Albertz Platz was great, and as has been already been highlighted the Atletico fans were a good bunch - they mainly congregated around UEFA's "Fan Zone" on the Reeperbahn.

My abiding memory of the journey to the game is at Reeperbahn station.  Loads of Fulham and Atletico on the platform and a great atmosphere with both sets of fans each enjoying a great little sing-song.  As we descended onto the platform there was a school party trying to get out of the station and several of the kids were in tears.  Can understand they might have been frightened but there really was no hint of trouble, just a lot of noise.  Poor planning by the teachers on that front.  As we waited for a train, Atletico had a bit of a sing - quite a long song.  Then a few of our boys started singing "Take me home, Al Fayed..."  As they cam to the end of the first rendition, a few of the Atletico fans started a good natured jeer - sort of "is that all you've got?".  Then every Fulham supporter in the station joined in for the second rendition and deafened them.  One of the Atletico jeerers was stood near us and the look on his face was great..."Feck me, where did they all come from!"

One of my mates has got a video somewhere of it, I'll see if I can't get him to upload it to YouTube

[The Equalizer]

Doc, how could I forget, we even met up with you, Owen and WhiteJC! I wasn't drunk you know ;)

[The Doctor]

I was.  Had to pack it all into the Wednesday as I was driving back from Stansted on Thursday evening

[The Equalizer]

I was.  Had to pack it all into the Wednesday as I was driving back from Stansted on Thursday evening

I had to pack it in on Thursday night as we had to drive back to London from Hamburg that day! God I felt rough on the friday... :dft011:

[The Doctor]

Don't know how anyone could do that drive.  We flew to Bremen and got the train from there.  Owen got the coach, and it sounded like hell on earth.  A mate's brother and his missus decided to drive to Hamburg the night before the game.  One of many comedy highlights was when they phoned me just as we pulled into Hamburg..."When we get to Hamburg, where's best to park?"...how the hell do I know?!

Fair play to you and the other intrepid minibusers

[HatterDon]

Ain't they all posh! which one is Fred! :011:

None of em. The interview was with Rhi, Toby (Ze German), Marc, BB (Alan) and yours truly - I'm the handsome one with the hangover who ruined our chances of winning in a single word: Fulhamish.

I really hope that was the presenter's first day on the job. She couldn't get two correct words out in a row. Perhaps she got her job through other oral skills.

I know  :yellow:

[The Equalizer]

Ain't they all posh! which one is Fred! :011:

None of em. The interview was with Rhi, Toby (Ze German), Marc, BB (Alan) and yours truly - I'm the handsome one with the hangover who ruined our chances of winning in a single word: Fulhamish.

I really hope that was the presenter's first day on the job. She couldn't get two correct words out in a row. Perhaps she got her job through other oral skills.

I know  :yellow:

Presenter? That's Rhiannon - she was the person approached to record a video journal of the journey and have the breakfast interview. I chose to step in and do some on-the-bus commentary though as I was mostly pissed at that point.

[HatterDon]

You're friends with the in-studio presenter?

Nice one, Cyril. No wonder you weren't interested in meeting my NZ lady friend who came over to recruit, organize, and train the bunnies for the new London Playboy Club.

I thought Rhi was the lady who was interviewed.

[Burt]

Ain't they all posh! which one is Fred! :011:

None of em. The interview was with Rhi, Toby (Ze German), Marc, BB (Alan) and yours truly - I'm the handsome one with the hangover who ruined our chances of winning in a single word: Fulhamish.

NOW I KNOW WHY WE LOST!!!

Never seen that clip before...

Just remembered we stayed at the Sleepz hotel at the end of the Reeperbahn. Never really saw it though, as we got back 3am after the match and were out again after a short 30 winks.

The atmosphere was just amazing. To be part of such an occasion felt like a once-in-a-lifetime event. Aside from the result, it was just the perfect trip.

Strangely, I have never been able to bring myself to watch a replay of the match itself, which given I was half-cut during it means I will never know how well we actually played!

[The Equalizer]

You're friends with the in-studio presenter?

Nice one, Cyril. No wonder you weren't interested in meeting my NZ lady friend who came over to recruit, organize, and train the bunnies for the new London Playboy Club.

I thought Rhi was the lady who was interviewed.

Oh THAT presenter....  :dft012: I haven't watched the clip for a while and can't right now as I'm in work! Of course, you are correct, Rhi was the interviewee who couldn't string two word together  :dft011:

[finnster01]

I should note prior to the final the last time I was on the Reeperbahn I was in the navy and we made the trip on leave from a visit to their naval academy which is in Flensburg.

In any event I remember vividly walking into a house of men's pleasures and as you can look at the "wares" through the door I saw our Chief Mechanic stark naked except for his socks getting his money worth.

What makes this story funny is that he explicitly told me: "Son, do not ever put any money in your pockets they'll rob you, keep it in your socks"... Later we got a call we had to come bail him out at a police station in Hamburg because he had been robbed.

[gang]

Fat Freddies Cat it is not normal to be ripped off in the bars in Hamburg, you may have been brought a different beer by the waiting staff than you the one you ordered at the bar, over charging 50 cents is not worth the possibility of a confrontation, we are nice people in Hamburg.

[Shredhead]

I loved both trips to Hamburg. The Hamburg fans for the semi and the Atletico fans were very friendly. I'd done some research on good places to drink beer and was in a microbrewery and another bar in the city centre that was a bit like an Amsterdam 'brown' bar. Both had a good mix of fans and locals. I also went to Germany for the 2006 World Cup finals, staying in Dusseldorf to go and see Trinidad and Tobago v Sweden in Dortmund. Dusseldorf is a class place as well - lots of fantastic brewpubs and a great setting on the Rhine. I'm actually thinking of going to Germany on holiday as a result of my footy trips there.