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23rd-27th June, Durban, English Bliss, on the piss, & Ronaldo is rubbish!
We awoke late, two of us full of nervous Silver not really bothered either way (he is an England fan when it suits him!). Today could be the day that England were going to go home. The previous two games were woeful in all honesty an although playing the lowly Slovenia we were far from confident about getting the job done and qualifying for the round of 16. We had turned off our mobiles so our new Slovenian acquanitance Tina couldn't make fun if we lost. In the end Sunhee decided to join us whlst Haena stayed with her friend team meaning we were a 4 for the day. We decided to go to the fanpark again for the game following the good time we had their during the South Africa game. We walked down and had a kick around on the beach whilst Sunhee took the time before the game to learn how to vuvuzela.
We asked an official to double check they were showing England vs Slovenia at the fan park and not the USA vs Algeria game...they weren't. This made us and the thousands of other English supporters most of which were African rather annoyed. Apparently it was due to Algeria being an African team. In all honesty most African countries don't recognise arab African countries as being African more middle eastern - that is until their teams start getting knocked out of the World Cup one by one! So we ventured on to find the other big screen in Hyundai park which was showing the game. Along the way we learnt about how Sunhee was volunteering in Swaziland for a month and was in Durban for a break.
The game was tense but thank you Jermanine Defoe England managed to get a 1-0 victory which would put them through. At half time and fulltime we had a kick around with our supermarket ball - in note their was a very gifted kick up artist who was showing off his skills with us! All the English were celebrating at the final whistle so much so they failed to otice USA netted a late dramatic winner against Algeria meaning that England were knocked off top spot meaning a probable match up against the much feared German side - stupid Landon Donovan! During the game we began to drink and nevous sipping led to more drinks. After the game we headed to Joe Cool's where we sat and talkd for a long while. Once we got up it was clear Sunhee and I were a little worse for wear. On the walk home Sunhee claimed she was cold and Silver was the only on with two tops on so Scott kindly volunteered him to be a gentleman and give Sunhee his England top to keep her warm and he did. Later on in the hostel Sunhee was put to bed after her day drinking with the three of us still in Silver's England top. I soon retired to whilst Scott and Silver stayed up and later met Haena and they made plans to go to the beach with her and her friend Tim the following moning.
That night was the worst nights sleep ever. There was a big bear like Brazilian whose snoring could be likened to that of a vuvuzela! We all found out we were still awake around the 3am mark and found it quite comical how loud the snorer was! Unfortuantely that meant that when we did drop off we were out for the count and when HAena came to see if we were up she couldnt face waking us so left a post-it note describing where she would be at the beach. We eventually rolled out of bed late morning and went down the beach as planned. Unfortunately we couldn't find HAena and Tim but we enjoyed the beach nontheless. We had a game of kick the football in the beach bin which took much longer than it should of. Afterwards Silver slept on the beach whilst Scott and I tackled the Durban sea. The waves were quite impressive and it was good just to get some exercise and get in the ocean! When we returned we eventually did see the pair we were looking for but they were due to depart so we said our awkward goodbyes. Afterwards we made lunch, during which we met Sunhee. She handed Silver her favourite 2002 Korean jersey she wore during the semi final game she was at and told him it was in exchange for his personalised England jersey. Im not sure whether this was the intention of Silver to swap or not but he took the top and has been wearing it regularly ever since.
Later in the day Canadian Chris from Rosebank Johannesburg turned up at the hostel we were staying at by chance we shared drinks and later on we were joined by two of Chris's Cape Town friends named Saki and Alysson.
The following day was the day of the big match between Brazil and Portugal at Durban and they were the hottest tickets in town, with people paying big money to see the game which was billed as the game of the group stages. Chris managed to get a ticket off a girl staying at our hostel and the four of us plus Saki and ALysson walked down to the game together. The place was packed full of fans, all the bars were full and ever individual were sporting the colours of one the respective teams. We had drinks at a beach side beer garden which was far to full, and had a few oppurtunistic pickpocketers on show - thankfully none of us lost our stuff! The atmosphere in the stadium was electric and there was a roar when ROnaldo appeared for the warmup. Unfortunately the game didn't live up to the billing and it was a dull 0-0. We had seats very close to the front behind on eof the goals so we had an up close view of the stars on show. The fact it was a 3rd round game ruined it as a spectacle as the 0-0 draw put both sides through - very amicable. There were in fact a few boos ringing out after the game with lots of supporters feeling short changed I guess.
After the game we met up with Mathieu the Frenchman that we met in Zambia who stayed wih us. We gave him stick for his sides poor performance before agreeing to meet up for drinks tommorrow with him and his South African girlfriend (he has two one in SA one in France!) at Joe Cool's for the USA game.
The following dy started with Chris, Scott and I going down the beach a litle later than planned for an early morning swim. Silver opted not to join us as he didn't want to get his new dreads wet - Diva! Afterwards we went up to the internet cafe when I received some terrible news. I had been out of contact with my family for a few days and they had been trying to contct me by phone but were unsuccessful so sent me n email telling me how one of my childhood friends Dominic had been hit and killed along with nother girl by a drunk driver in the USA where he had just moved out. I've been lucky enough in my life to experience very little tragedy (touch wood) so I can't imagine how the family must be feeling. When I was younger I was very close with the family and I still and to Dom's mum Bernie. She gave me her best wishes and support and advice for the trip following her eldest son Matt venturing around the world for a year with his girlfriend. I know if my mum would be finding it tough missing me Bernie would give her support and Im so glad my mum and dad were there to pass on my condolescenes and support at such a tragic time. Upon reading that email it fel like everything stopped for a split second and it made me realise how lucky I have been in my life! Later that day I took a moment to myself to think about the childhood memories we shared and the celebrated the time we spent together in my early life. Rest in Peace old friend and best wishes to you and your family x.
Later that day as promised we did end up at Joe Cool's with Matt and his South African girl. We drank the night away, ultimately celebrating Ghana's victory over the USA much to the annoyance of the cluster of USA fans in the bar. By the end of the night we were very much worse for wear some more than most. Mathieu disspeared off to the beach with his girlfriend whilst we got a takeaway and headed bck to the hostel. Now just next to Banana backpackers is a place named Sonia's Escort and Massage parlour... Now the three of us plus Chris upon venturing back from the br decided to go nd stick our head through the door as none of us had been in a....er "escort and massage parlour before!" We took a look in to be greated by an African lady wearing a 2 piece lingerie set with an Asian girl on a sofa with a few gentleman also welcoming us into the premises. Us being smashed humoured the hostess and were asking her questions about the nature of their business and what they did. We were told that they offered a rate of 400 Zar an hourm we exchanged a few more words before politely declining and returning to our hostel. The trouble was that our hostel had a balcony overlooking the street where Sonia's was placed so when we arrived in the hostel the staff began to tease us as they saw us come out of the place! We explained it was a harmless visit to much dubious looks! We spent the rest of the night drinking and chatting to the staff!
The worst part of the night was the fact we had to wake up ridiculously early to fly to...J'burg where we were due to stay for one night and watch Mexico vs Argentina before moving on to Cape Town fun times!
Love
DC Scott Silver x
- comments
Di (Dan's mum) Gosh you certainly been hitting the booze. Are you ever sober you lot. You've certainly met alot of people along the way Dan. Sounds like a very busy time. Didn't think anyone could snore any louder than Uncle Andy!!! xx mum
Martin (Dan's Dad) Great to read more about your travels, thoughts and friends. Certainly a melting pot of people out there. Look after yourself. D x