Work trip to Frankfurt, Germany - 10th July 2006

Less than 12 hours after the World Cup Final, I was on my way to the host country, Frankfurt to be precise, to see some colleagues. Arriving at Frankfurt airport, all of the "World Cup Welcome" was still very much in evidence, including a very large cutout of Michael Ballack in the arrivals hall.

Talking to colleagues in the city (which had hosted an England game in the World Cup), they all seemed to have really enjoyed having the England fans in town. I had read these rave reviews in the UK press about how well received our fans were by the Germans, but was never sure if it was just UK press fanfare. But, it does seem that Frankfurters in particular enjoyed having English fans around - especially the local bar owners, I suspect. Perhaps their compatriots in Stuttgart weren't so happy, though.

A hot and humid city had me glad to get back into the airport at the end of the day, at least for the air conditioning! Security at the airport seemed to be very stringent, even more than at Heathrow, which I never thought possible. Two separate x-rays for my bag, emptying the pockets three times, and a special laptop check - all very attentive. Almost like flying from an American airport!