I am not much of a soccer fan, but you can’t help being sucked up in the World Cup mania if your living in Germany.

We arrived back in Germany four years ago when Germany hosted the last World Cup games.  It was such a great surprise seeing Germany show pride for their flag once more.  Post WWII, the average German didn’t really fly their flag with jubilation and it was almost a political statement if you did.  So to see the excitement and many times the sheer creativity they exhibited in decorating their house, cars and many times themselves was a true delight.

Last evening we had guests visiting so we took to the Medieval market square of Ladenburg to eat alfresco…it seemed along with the rest of the village.  The whole walk from the house to the square we passed groups of tri-color clad people, young old, it mattered little the excitement and anticipation of the game filled the air.

The USA had played and won their game earlier in the day, so as I passed these group I yelled “DEUTSCHLAND” and the replay was always “USA!!!”.

Many of the town’s restaurants have huge flat screen TV’s mounted outside for patrons to watch the game.  It seem most people gathered at a particular coffee place in town….standing…breathless waiting for the chance to get that 4 th star for their jerseys.

Happy New Year 2010!