On the Road ... Tour de France

Busting stereotypes 

I've been to Europe three times (four if you consider the Middle East part of Europe), but everytime I visit, I am amazed by everything from the food to the people.

Take our all too brief time in Germany. Most of what I've read about German cuisine is that it is usually unpopular among both Americans and other Europeans. But one of my travelling companions insisted that we should at least try a real German restaurant. On the suggestion of our hotel front desk clerk, we tried one that was just around the corner from where we were staying.

True to what I'd heard, the menu was entirely in German and I didn't have a clue what anything was. We asked the waiter to just bring us four different plates from the "daily special" list and crossed our fingers (I think that qualifies me for another travellers badge of courage).

At the risk of hyperbole, what he brought out was nothing short of outstanding. Fruit and chicken salad with a curry dressing, a brisket served in a cold vinagrette sauce, a steak salad and some kind meatloaf-style dish. All we hear and read about in the United States in regards to German cooking are things that end in "wurst," and these dishes all showed nuance that all cultures possess, but are easily overlooked. With two rounds of beers and two potatoe sidedishes, our meal came out to about $15 US a person. That made it one of the best "value" meals I've had anywhere in Western Europe.

Considering all the sordid tales about the Germans themselves, I was equally surprised at how nice they were despite having their country invaded by millions of soccer-crazed visitors. Apparently the theme of the World Cup is something like "Do Germany proud," by which they mean to encourage their citizens to be as nice as possible to foreigners. Obviously, I can't speak to how it's been in other parts of the country, but in the Dusseldorf/Gelenkirchen (prounced Gil-sen-kir-shen for those of you that are still interested) area everyone I met went out of their way to be polite — even the one guy I met who obviously didn't care for me.

Without a doubt, the highlight of my trip has been the four or five hours my wife and I spent with two 22-year-old Oberhausen residents we met while on the way to the game (and yes, one of them was a huge David Hasselhoff fan, which shows there is a reason some stereotypes exist). Marcel and Daniel spoke extremely good English (although they say they rarely get to use it) and gave us all kind of insight into Germans' perception of the U.S. and quizzed us about American girls, movies, tv shows, girls, music, spring break and girls all while we watched two World Cup games at the Fan Fest, which itself was a wonderful show of German hospitality. For more on that read my most recent column.

While we're talking stereotypes, I must admit some are true. First, there was Marcel's affinity for David Hasselhoff. Next, I personally witnessed how the Brazilians have gotten their reputation. I was in Amsterdam during their first game, a 1-0 win over Croatia, and they absolutely took over parts of town. Impromptu parades materialized everywhere and scantily clad Brazilian revelers could be found wondering the streets well into the early morning. No other first-week victory has touched off a celebration that compares in any way.

posted by FreeSanJose at 5:03 AM

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