On Sunday night, we found a street full of pubs showing the England-France football game in the Euro2004 tournament. England scored in the 38th minute but was unable to hold the lead until the end. France scored two goals at the end of the second half to win the game and break the hearts of all the English fans. Although I was rooting for England, I wasn't too upset about the loss. If it had been the Pittsburgh Steelers blowing a lead like that against a rival like Baltimore or Cleveland, I'd have been crushed, so I can understand how football-crazy Europeans get upset over a loss like this. It's only the first round, and England can still move on in the tournament by beating Switzerland and Croatia. Check the pictures link for some shots of Frankfurt and of us watching the game.
On Monday we went to work (that IS why I'm here). So far, the project is going well and we haven't had any serious complaints from users about the new firewall restrictions. It looks like we'll be done by Thursday evening, which is convenient since my flight leaves on Friday morning.
Part of the fun of dining in Frankfurt is figuring out what the English translation of the German menu really means. Kerry, one of my co-workers here, is a vegetarian, so he's had some trouble ordering meals. At one restaurant, one of the dishes said "tofu" along with some other words, in the English translation. It didn't mention that only part of the dish was tofu -- the rest of it was some sort of poultry. Last night, he was about to order something labeled "tatar" until I figured out that it was what we Americans call steak tartare, or raw meat. Instead, he had French onion soup and potato pancakes. I had a delicious veal cordon bleu, which was two veal cutlets pressed together, stuffed with ham and cheese, then breaded and fried. Served with fried potatoes and washed down with a half-liter of hefe-weizen, I'm lucky my heart didn't stop. But it was damn good.
Tonight, we're looking forward to the Germany-Netherlands match. We're going to find a busy pub area and enjoy the game with a large crowd. I don't think I'll cheer for Germany, but I definitely WON'T root for the Netherlands.
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