The Child's Eye View

The year was 2006. I was a young teenage boy, stuffed aboard a coach of around 30 other young men. As we stuttered away from our parents, with just a few football coaches keeping watch over us, I had never felt such freedom or anticipation. A twenty hour road and ferry journey later, we arrived in Ludwigsburg, South Germany. The city is approximately 8 miles north of Stuttgart, and has a population of 87,000. When we arrived we stumbled into our hostel, a large concrete building on the outskirts of town, surrounded by plush gardens and forestry. There wasn't much time to admire them though.
We were in town for a football tournament and were the only team from Britain. A smaller bus ferried us into the centre of the city for the welcome parade. We and the many other teams assembled and were championed through the town centre in on huge floats, the streets were lined with people throwing confetti, clapping and grinning. The sun shone gloriously and in the warmth of both the welcome and the sunshine I had never felt so happy to be anywhere.
Being in Germany during 2006 was made more special by the fact that they were hosting the FIFA world cup at the time. The people were constantly wearing their country's jersey, or doused in the colours of the Bundesflagge und Handelsflagge.
Over the course of our week we visited several parts of the city. The most notable was a large outdoor swimming complex right next to the river Neckar, a major tributary of the Rhine. The sun did not cease to shine (a huge novelty for a Welshman) as we relaxed in the vast pools.
The most memorable moment however, was the city centre during the quarter finals between Italy and Germany. Huge screens surrounded a square filled with stages and stalls selling memorabilia and a variety of German sausages and beers (sadly I was too young to sample these). The people of the city were so animated, it was as if we were in the centre of a festival in its own right. When the Germans won on penalties the whole city exploded, people sped around waving flags from their bellowing cars, chanting, laughing and crying. It was a surreal but truly beautiful scene of passion and pleasure. To this day I have yet to witness the same mass of swirling colour and blaring noise.
When it came time for us to begin our 20 hour journey back to Wales I was gloomy indeed. However, I was also content in knowing I had visited one of the most beautiful and welcoming cities in my life. One that I will never forget.