Sitting and Running

As I mentioned earlier this week, the European Championship has started and with it, Igor's schedule has become very busy:)  Last Thursday was a perfect example. 

Igor spoke to me (very earnestly) Sunday night about how Thursday would be a busy day.  After work, Croatia played Italy at 6pm.  The JP Morgan Corperate Challenge started at 7:30pm.  Spain played Ireland at 8:45pm.  It would all flow so he could see the games and run, but he needed to be disciplined to be able to watch-run-watch as he hoped.  So he reserved at table at a pub close to the start of the race and after the game, ran to the start, then ran to the finish, then watched the second game.

The kids came along (it's all about teaching them important things at a young age: soccer is important. Make complicated arrangements to be able to see the game), which meant that I spent the first half of the game trying to keep them in the restaurant without breaking anything.  The second half was rescued by the restaurant staff, who brought out boxes of toys, set up a play corner for them and played with them - amazing!

One of the many bands that played outside

After seeing Croatia tie Italy 1-1, we went outside to the street to watch the runners.  Again, here is an example of how fun it can be to live in city: this business run (which takes place around the world in cities like New York, Sydney and London) has about 70,000 runners from various corperations in the Frankfurt area.  Although the 5k run doesn't provide too much room for actual competitiveness (unless your in the first top group), it does provide a fun atmosphere and a chance to leave work at a reasonable hour to get some exercise and fresh air.  About 5pm, the streets downtown are filled with runners, fans and bands.  After the race, most businesses have after-run parties for their employees; it's always a highlight to see what special events are planned for these parties - this year, showing the Spain-Ireland game was a requisite:)


Igor raced by (I'll put in a pic our friend took of him as soon as I recieve it) while our kids were being entertained by their uncle.  It was so cute to see them racing about, playing with their mini (Croatian) soccer ball.  Soon afterwards, Bubba made a new friend: Charlie.

It was very relaxing to have the children playing on this blocked off street (because of the race), enjoying the longer daylight we experience in summer.  Finally at 8:45 (even though it still looked like 7pm because of the light), I headed home with 3 happily tired kids.  Igor, of course, had an important game to watch and a party to enjoy:)

If you get a chance to experience Europe during a soccer cup time, do so!  I find the atmosphere of games being shown on big screens at most cafès or at live-viewing arenas set up by the city to be a unique and fun experience.  It seems like everyone has an opinion about the games and how they were played or how they will turn out, and I find the comaraderie shown between fans to be very special (even if I don't always understand it).