In the short time spent at the B&B, I had gotten very comfortable. My room had 2 beds, adequate bathroom/shower, television and ceiling fan. The house was in tip top shape and had several indoor and outdoor lounge options. The kitchen was proper for a house of its size and driven by the 2 to 3 African housekeepers who busied themselves cleaning rooms, doing laundry, and cooking breakfast. 3 days into my trip and I finally get a nice, slow sit-down breakfast! After a yawn and a stretch, I sat myself in the small dining room and read several local newspapers while eating eggs, sausages, bacon, tomato, and toast. The Oj was fresh and the coffee rich. The sun was full by mid-morning and a new climate emerged.....what a pleasant morning!
While very much enjoying the warmer weather, I planned my day : I wanted to walk around and locate a few resources in my area and get my bearings, as I was to be there for 4 more days. At 1:30 and after my little walkabout, I was to attend the Holland v Japan match at the snazzy new stadium a mere 5 minutes from the B&B. Following the match, I planned to walk to the beach fan fest which was already gaining the reputation of best fan fest at the 2010 games. I reckoned I could hang out at the beach for the second round of games in the afternoon and then adjourn to the B&B at dusk. Sounds like a good day, right?
Directly in front of the Sommersby B&B was erected a shopping mall iced with apartments. It was not an obnoxious, sprawling thing.......it went up like a wedding cake, not out like a cheap ass kid's birthday cake. The mall on the bottom 3 floors had a grocery store, card shops, sweets shops, cell phone service counters, liquor store, fast food, biltong (jerkey) shop and any other goods or services available in such a place. More and more malls in far away places predictably resemble one another. In the grocery store I bought water, fruit, juice, and garlic (a few raw slices a day helps to ward off cold symptoms). At the liquor store I bought a 6 pack of Castle lager and some peanuts. Across the street I went to drop off my goods and then head in the other direction to survey the bar, restaurant, and internet cafe scene.
Two blocks behind the B&B was Florida Road, which guide books revealed to be endowed with many places to eat and drink, maybe watch a game, and get onto the internet. I walked up and down the mile long stretch and made my way into an internet cafe. After a little facebook here and some email there, I returned back to my room for a beer and shower. The time was 11:30 or so.
After a rinse and relaxation I found myself chatting with other guests on the back patio over cigarettes and Castle. There was a bright Canadien fellow who was blogging daily for some site or other. Next to him was a fun Afrikaaner from Joburg who was working the Coca Cola booth at the fan fest.....this guy's Afrikaaner accent was very strong and unexpectedly pleasant, in spite of popular Anglopinion. There was a German guy as well, but language barriers being what they are, the German was silent. House owner Chris was inconsolable with respect to England's awful showing the night before. The Canadien was also going to the game, and as excited as I to see the class of Europe take on the class of Asia. Holland was a sound bet, as Japan had lost all of its warm up matches leading to the cup. This disappointed me a bit as I had liked Japanese football since the early 90's. I offered that I had a ticket* to sell if anyone was
interested, else I would soon split to sell the thing outside the stadium. No takers.*(In the second phase of ticket sales in May of 2009, I had purchased 2 tickets each for 2 matches in Durban for a total of four tickets. At the time or purchase there was the real possibility that I was going to either be traveling with my mom or another friend and wanted to be prepared. As it turns out, I was overprepared.)
I left for the stadium about 12:30 on foot in a northerly direction. 3 blocks past the mallcake, over the bridge next to the train yard, and then down a slanted walkway to the stadium security............but first, the ticket. I posted up on a corner just getting off of the bridge and turning towards the stadium. All fans had to pass this spot and there was (virtually) no security. For about half an hour I eye-contacted
prospects while chanting I got a ticket! The only responses I got were from others in the same position wondering about my ticket seat and price.......they cost me about USD $120 each and were decent seats in the second tier, but towards the center. No takers, no worries. I even thought about giving the thing away, but that was a diminishing option; time was close, and people were already prepared. Lesson learned: group stage tickets not so sought after. I got in line at the south entrance security post. After a polite pat down and bag check I proceeded through the commercial booth area (banks, McDonalds, mobile phone companies having interactive booths or whatever ...... young kids seemed to like them). On the short walk to the second security and ticket check closer to the stadium, it occurred to me that the approach to the stadium and time spent in line at security was much less of an ordeal than I had expected. Either there would be many unclaimed seats, or the planning of the event was more than adequate, or both. Also apparent was the beauty of the Durban stadium in the bright African sun. After my scanned ticket went 'beep' I went through the turnstyle and approached the arena. My Ajax Pienaar 10 strip drew comments from mzansi and oranje alike as I headed for my seat.
I was seated in the middle or the second tier somewhat towards the center line, and facing east. The winter sun was up high and casting elegant shadows of the arched handle transiting the stadium. On my right sat an older gentleman, maybe in his fifties; on my right the empty ticket. The section held blues and oranges alike, with a smattering of impartial locals. I took photos as I chatted with my older neighbor, leading to his giving me one of his beers. Nice!
Noel spoke with a more pronounced British accent and was born in Ireland but been in Durban for 40 years or more. Noel owned a local business and was more likely to watch rugby than soccer. As the referees (including my neighbor from the flight) and teams emerged from the catacombs, my new guide spoke of all things local: economy, social changes, effects of the World Cup on Durban and the country as a whole. Noel seemed to be enjoying the social aspect of the cup just fine, but like many others wondered at the price tag and its legacy. Noel was also quite the randy old man; repeated pleas for the long legged Indian vixen a few seats down to sit on his lap went unanswered, though the girl's father found the humour. He was also very active in heckling the Indian South Africans in front of us for poor national cricket form. I got video of the line-up and the Holland national anthem, and then a still of the kick-off. The stadium was 5 butts shy of full; the place was packed. What a glorious day for a match!
I assure Noel that I am no fan of American football or the culture that surrounds it and that his son must change his direction immediately! Rugby folks look down on both American and Association football, so he was at least pleased with my reluctance to support gridiron. This led to Noel giving me his home phone number and insisting that I visit for dinner and he would take me on a tour! I wasn't sure that I was going to make good on the offer, but I was very appreciative of the hospitality. In hindsight, I'll bet it would have been a fun and interesting time. The teams came out for the second half.
in the 55th minute, Wesley Sneijder sent a bullet of a shot right at the keeper. In a spectacular blunder, the Japanese keeper made contact with the swerving ball but only to divert it into the other side of the Japanese net. All witnesses agree that the keeper should have dealt with it, but he did not; 1 - nil to the Dutch! After 5 minutes it became apparent that the Dutch were content with the one goal lead and sat back while the Japanese contrived to breach the opposing box. In history, this technique has left Het Oranje out in the cold but on this day it would serve them well with a second win and group topping full points. Holland fans rejoiced; Japanese fans clapped in austere reverence.........日本人 did not disgrace themselves on this day.Upon the final whistle, we said our goodbyes and Noel implored me to call him the next afternoon though I knew I probably wouldn't. I then filed slowly out of the stadium and headed east for the 15 minute walk to the beach. The sun was big, the temperature comfortably warm.
The fan fest was right on the beach and had activities for a day's worth of fun! There was swimming, surfing, beach soccer, live music, drum lessons, a skatepark, and other activities for younger kids with fuzzy mascots and stuff. There were delicious food vendors offering sausages, curries, pasties, kabobs, and chicken burgers. Me being a curry fanatic, I ordered a 'chicken bunny,' short for chicken curry bunny chow. Bunny chow is a Durban specific curry dish served in a hollowed out half loaf of bread. Evidently, this dish idea developed decades ago in an Indian community at 'Buni's Curry Shack' or something like it. Bunny is not the meaning of rabbit, but rather a convenient Anglicization of an Indian language proper noun. 'Chow's meaning more obvious. Curry to go in a bread bowl : Brilliant! Coupled with a frosty Castle draft, I was well ready for the next match, that of Ghana v Australia from Rustenburg.
For the next two hours I wandered up and down the boardwalk, out on the pier, and out in front of the enormous screen in the sand showing the match. Australia already looked demoralized after Germany handed them their asses in their first match. One worse, talisman Tim Cahill was wrongly sent off and would not be playing in the Ghana game. In spite of Ghana being the superior team, the teams shared the points, 1-1. I hopped a cab back to the B&B; the time was 6:15 or thereabouts and the African sun was disappearing behind the mountain ridge just west of the city.
Back at my room, I showered and set myself for the 8:30 match between Cameroon and Denmark. Others at the house said they were going out to the bars to watch the game, but I wanted a quiet night at home. I slipped out to get an English pie and prepared salad from the grocery and returned to watch the lacklustre event. Denmark looked like they wanted it more, though both teams were guilty of playing a boring match. I spent much of the time keeping in touch with my schedule and trip notes or chatting with the Afrikaaner cola booth worker from the day before. He and his girl were hanging out having drinks before going out to the bars. In time, the match ended and the locals departed. I retired to my room.........fun day! Sleep was had in no time; my data center thinking ahead to tomorrow, a day in which I had NO PLANS!
