Game 19 Brazil Grille, Hartford July 8, 2006 Our last stop on the World Cup Tour 2006 was, for me, the most anticipated. I had previewed the Brazil Grill restaurant the week prior by popping my head in during the group play Japan game. Even though it was a Thursday afternoon and the game meant absolutely nothing … [Read more...]
Tour Stop 9: Ed Has a Heart After All
Game 16 Goal International Sports Bar, Hartford June 22, 2006 At this point, I'm only writing this blog entry for the sake of consistency. Because our first attempt at a "Brazilian day" was a bit of a failure. Albeit a fun and delicious failure. We opted to watch the game versus Australia on Sunday at Goal … [Read more...]
Tour Stop 8: Italian Whine
Game 15 Francesca's Ristorante, Hartford June 18, 2006 Despite my apparent zeal for the World Cup, I've never really been a soccer super fan. Sure, I played up through 9th grade like every suburban kid in America. And yeah, I paid attention maybe a little bit more than others to things like the World Cup, but … [Read more...]
Tour Stop 6: Ay Carumba!
Game 11, Mexico vs. Angola Ay Chihuahua Mexican Restaurant and Cantina June 16 , 2006 Since it was Friday and since it was a nice hot day here in central Connecticut, Ed and I figured that we simply had to take in the Mexico vs. Angola game at a true Mexican cantina. Now, Hartford has a massive Hispanic … [Read more...]
Tour Stop 4: Damian’s in Dutch Now!
Games 6 & 7 My living room and The Cambrense Cafe in Hartford June 11, 2006 Day three of the World Cup had another 3 matches on tap, two of which I planned to take in. After yesterday's indoctrination, Damian was ready to roll again today. The Netherlands were matched up against Serbia and Montenegro. Two on … [Read more...]
Tour Stop 2: POLSKA!
Game Number 2 Poland vs. Ecuador, Stadion Cafe in New Britski June 9, 2006 Stadion Cafe is no longer open. Ed and I arrived on New Britski's Broad Street about half an hour before the 3PM kickoff of Poland and Ecuador. I drove up and down the length of the Little Poland section of the city and Ed marvelled at … [Read more...]
Tour Stop 1: Wurst. Crowd. Ever.
Game Number 1 Germany vs. Costa Rica, East Side Restaurant in New Britain June 9, 2006 I was a bit fearful as to how this day would turn out, as I had no idea whether or not the places I planned on going would be as soccer-friendly as I'd hoped. We Americans are always told that the rest of the world loves … [Read more...]
World Cup Tour 2006
I was able to fulfill a dream in 2004 by going to France to see the Tour de France. Another wish is to see the World Cup in all its insanity at some point in my life. Short of that, I was fascinated by a series of online articles in Salon back in 2002 in which the intrepid reporter attempted to watch World Cup games … [Read more...]