Stapel
FIAT 850 coupé
As I have posted in some threads, me and my wife have made the rather ad hoc the decision to GO THERE.
We did so, right after the victory over Brasil in the quarter finals on 2 July. The same night weve run through dozens of websites and finally we were able to book a flight from Paris to Qatar and one from Qatar to Cape Town. Flights directly from the Netherlands were ridiculously expensive . We also managed to book a fairly cheap apartment near Cape Town for 4 nights, rather easily I must say, and weve booked a car at Cape Town airport. And that was it! Fairly unprepared, so to say.
Sunday 4 July, at 7:30 am, we left home for a walk to the train station. After a short trip from The Hague to Rotterdam, we took the Thalys train to Paris Nord. We had lunch in Paris and took a train to Charles de Gaulle Airport. Because we had to wait for 8 hours at Qatar Airport, a filthy place to be, and made a stop at Johannesburg, we arrived at Cape Town at 7pm. We collected the car and around 8:30 we were in our apartment in Fishhoek. After e a simple pasta meal we had visited a small supermarket at the airport we got to bed early, as we needed some recovery from our 37 hour journey.
The next morning, I couldnt believe it was the day of the semi-final.
I got up early to surprise Mrs Stapel with a nice breakfast. Instead off a quick trip, I stayed away for too long, as I also purchased a South African SIM for my cell phone. This annoyed my wife a lot! She totally is not the type to do anything unprepared. Once more, I realised what lucky man I am she agreed to go to South Africa.
Around noon, we left for the Mother City. A straight forward train took us right to the official FIFA Fan Fest square. With a stunning view to the Table Mountain, we automatically enjoyed and participated in the great atmosphere. However, we had not yet time to party, as we still lacked the most important of all things: TICKETS. A weird feeling of inconvenience went through my brain, as I hadnt encountered a single black market trader yet, not at the train station, nor at the fan fest, nor anywhere in between. Im fairly experienced in getting around on the black market (1990, 2000, 2004, 2006), but this was dire! Having done our homework, we decided to check the rather strong rumour that FIFA would still sell tickets, and went of to the official FIFA ticket office. I was surprised to learn that Cape Town finest traders had gathered right in front of the FIFA office .. And even better: As tickets were still for sale inside, we were able to get tickets under the face value prices!
I cannot describe the feeling! We had quite some hours left to party at the Fan Fest, before we joined the impressive march towards the stadium. The victory over Uruguay, everybodys main enemy by now, needs no further description.
Afterwards, we got fairly drunk in what appeared to be Cape Towns gay area....., and got a taxi home.
The next morning, I had a very bad hang over and we got up (too) late. But we had a job to do! We originally had two plans. If we wouldnt beat Uruguay, we would simply make it a nice holiday at the Cape! During the train trip to Paris, we had already managed to book a fairly cheap ticket from Cape Town to Amsterdam, via Dubai, for the Monday after the final. This meant we had to get back to Cape Town anyway, yet it was by far the best offer. Anyway, we had to book tickets to and from Johannesburg, find a place to stay there, and book a rental car. We headed off to Simons Town, and found an internet café. I think weve spent three hours to get things done. Flights from Cape Town to Johannesburg are normally rather cheap, but these were World Cup times! But eventually we got what we wanted for a decent price. We would fly to the smaller northern Johannesburg national airport on Friday night at 8pm.
This meant we had the whole Thursday and most of the Friday to do some proper tourist stuff, without worrying about to much organising. However, keeping your eyes open to find traders wouldnt matter! We visited the Table Mountain, the Waterfront, the Cape of Good Hope, a Penguin breeding colony, crossed the hole Cape Peninsula. But we had to skip Robben Island and a trip through the wine area.
We arrived Friday night at our apartment in Johannesburg and had a good night sleep. The next day, we simply took our rental straight to the FIFA ticket office. Though not a single ticket was for sale inside, there were quite some black market traders outside! But price levels were skying to 800 900 euros per ticket . Eventually, we got tickets for 530 euros. A hell of a lot of money for a football match, but this was the World Cup final and Orange was in it! Saturday night, we went out in one of Jo-burgs fancy areas.
Sunday morning, my nerves took over and wouldnt go away! Ive always been heavily emotionally attached to the results of the Dutch football team, but this was over the top. We were lucky to have a very friendly local resident who took us for a trip through Soweto, including the Hector Pieterson Museum, before dropping us off at the immense Soccer City stadium. I must say: visiting Soweto brings one back to realise what life is really about.
After a few beers and dozens of cigarettes, the match final began. What can I say: a thriller! The Dutch played hard, and rightfully so imho, when you are playing a final, but the Spanish managed to do what no team had done so far: completely smothering Wesley Sneijder, also by some hard play.
I cannot describe the disappointment. So
ing close!
In hindsight, we took the right decision. Some euros lighter, but we did make the trip of our lives! And we will most definitely go back, probably to watch cricket .
We did so, right after the victory over Brasil in the quarter finals on 2 July. The same night weve run through dozens of websites and finally we were able to book a flight from Paris to Qatar and one from Qatar to Cape Town. Flights directly from the Netherlands were ridiculously expensive . We also managed to book a fairly cheap apartment near Cape Town for 4 nights, rather easily I must say, and weve booked a car at Cape Town airport. And that was it! Fairly unprepared, so to say.
Sunday 4 July, at 7:30 am, we left home for a walk to the train station. After a short trip from The Hague to Rotterdam, we took the Thalys train to Paris Nord. We had lunch in Paris and took a train to Charles de Gaulle Airport. Because we had to wait for 8 hours at Qatar Airport, a filthy place to be, and made a stop at Johannesburg, we arrived at Cape Town at 7pm. We collected the car and around 8:30 we were in our apartment in Fishhoek. After e a simple pasta meal we had visited a small supermarket at the airport we got to bed early, as we needed some recovery from our 37 hour journey.
The next morning, I couldnt believe it was the day of the semi-final.
I got up early to surprise Mrs Stapel with a nice breakfast. Instead off a quick trip, I stayed away for too long, as I also purchased a South African SIM for my cell phone. This annoyed my wife a lot! She totally is not the type to do anything unprepared. Once more, I realised what lucky man I am she agreed to go to South Africa.
Around noon, we left for the Mother City. A straight forward train took us right to the official FIFA Fan Fest square. With a stunning view to the Table Mountain, we automatically enjoyed and participated in the great atmosphere. However, we had not yet time to party, as we still lacked the most important of all things: TICKETS. A weird feeling of inconvenience went through my brain, as I hadnt encountered a single black market trader yet, not at the train station, nor at the fan fest, nor anywhere in between. Im fairly experienced in getting around on the black market (1990, 2000, 2004, 2006), but this was dire! Having done our homework, we decided to check the rather strong rumour that FIFA would still sell tickets, and went of to the official FIFA ticket office. I was surprised to learn that Cape Town finest traders had gathered right in front of the FIFA office .. And even better: As tickets were still for sale inside, we were able to get tickets under the face value prices!
I cannot describe the feeling! We had quite some hours left to party at the Fan Fest, before we joined the impressive march towards the stadium. The victory over Uruguay, everybodys main enemy by now, needs no further description.
Afterwards, we got fairly drunk in what appeared to be Cape Towns gay area....., and got a taxi home.
The next morning, I had a very bad hang over and we got up (too) late. But we had a job to do! We originally had two plans. If we wouldnt beat Uruguay, we would simply make it a nice holiday at the Cape! During the train trip to Paris, we had already managed to book a fairly cheap ticket from Cape Town to Amsterdam, via Dubai, for the Monday after the final. This meant we had to get back to Cape Town anyway, yet it was by far the best offer. Anyway, we had to book tickets to and from Johannesburg, find a place to stay there, and book a rental car. We headed off to Simons Town, and found an internet café. I think weve spent three hours to get things done. Flights from Cape Town to Johannesburg are normally rather cheap, but these were World Cup times! But eventually we got what we wanted for a decent price. We would fly to the smaller northern Johannesburg national airport on Friday night at 8pm.
This meant we had the whole Thursday and most of the Friday to do some proper tourist stuff, without worrying about to much organising. However, keeping your eyes open to find traders wouldnt matter! We visited the Table Mountain, the Waterfront, the Cape of Good Hope, a Penguin breeding colony, crossed the hole Cape Peninsula. But we had to skip Robben Island and a trip through the wine area.
We arrived Friday night at our apartment in Johannesburg and had a good night sleep. The next day, we simply took our rental straight to the FIFA ticket office. Though not a single ticket was for sale inside, there were quite some black market traders outside! But price levels were skying to 800 900 euros per ticket . Eventually, we got tickets for 530 euros. A hell of a lot of money for a football match, but this was the World Cup final and Orange was in it! Saturday night, we went out in one of Jo-burgs fancy areas.
Sunday morning, my nerves took over and wouldnt go away! Ive always been heavily emotionally attached to the results of the Dutch football team, but this was over the top. We were lucky to have a very friendly local resident who took us for a trip through Soweto, including the Hector Pieterson Museum, before dropping us off at the immense Soccer City stadium. I must say: visiting Soweto brings one back to realise what life is really about.
After a few beers and dozens of cigarettes, the match final began. What can I say: a thriller! The Dutch played hard, and rightfully so imho, when you are playing a final, but the Spanish managed to do what no team had done so far: completely smothering Wesley Sneijder, also by some hard play.
I cannot describe the disappointment. So
ing close!In hindsight, we took the right decision. Some euros lighter, but we did make the trip of our lives! And we will most definitely go back, probably to watch cricket
.
