Real Velona

Was very excited to visit Germany for the first time to attend a couple of the Euro 2024 finals.

We visited Munich and Berlin, both amazing cities.

Munich

Munich had more of a laid back, family feel. I loved the architecture, and really got a real understanding about how embedded beer is into German culture. Well I kind of knew this already, but seeing it first hand gave me a much better understanding of just how important beer is to Germans.

One of the highlights for the family was visiting a very large beer garden in the middle of Nymphenburg park. We were hosted to a picnic by some friends, who prepared some local delicacies, which we paired with beer from the local beer houses. It is a nice setup, where you can bring your own food and enjoy the environment. The kids especially liked the deer enclosure that surrounded the beer garden.

One of the main reasons for the visit to Germany, was to attend some of the games at Euro 2024. I’ve been watching this tournament since I was a very young boy, and have a great affinity for European football. It was awesome to be in the same continent and in the same time zone as the tournament this year, which meant I watched many of the games, and didn’t have to stay up late in the evening to watch them.

We attended the Holland v Romania Round of 16 game, and the whole family really enjoyed the atmosphere created by the travelling fans, both Romanian and Dutch fans sung and chanted all day in the city and all evening at the stadium. The event was very well organised which was just as well because the crowds were huge.

Berlin

Of the two cities I had a preference for Berlin, which I found to be more modern, cosmopolitan and approachable.

I enjoyed touring the Bundestag , the old Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie, you can do them all in one morning. It was also interesting to try and spot the differences between the old East and West. It’s harder to tell the difference these days, but I found the East charming with its trams which were very familiar to me as trams are a core feature of my hometown of Melbourne.

Next was off to the football again, to watch the Quarter finals of the Euro 2024 tournament, which was between Holland, who we had already seen in the Round of 16, and Türkiye. The atmosphere at this game was next level, although maybe a little too intense, and with a few violence and skirmishes in the crowd, that both surprised and worried the kids. You could sense that there was tension both at the game and outside the game, but the German authorities were ever-present all over the city, which dampened any possibility of widespread violence. I have to commend the tournament organisers and local authorities for the crowd control and security arrangements.

Overall a great trip in Germany, some other highlights included the BMW Museum in Munich which was very well thought out, and the Berlin Zoo, where the kids really enjoyed having a Panda bear experience.

I would have really liked to get to Stuttgart for the Porsche museum experience, but that will have to wait for next time.