THE ED HITS THE GRIDIRON GLROY TRAIL TO FRANKFURT.  (PT 1)

We may not have the Wembley weekend any more, but this was certainly a good substitute. The gridiron tartan army were about to go on the march to the Frankfurt to roar on Criner and Co in their  final battle for World Bowl glory

A weekend long party, with a game thrown in for good measure-heaven or what!!!!

But even though I was there as a fan, I had to wear my media hat first and what made the visit more intriguing was that after having covered the game for seven years, his was my first visit to the Waldstadion and to Germany.

Whilst the first ever visit to a foreign country might be intimidating for some, I was determined to be fully prepared.

For many European travelers, it was normal to dig out  the conventional phrase book - not me.  As far as I'm concerned, you only need to learn a few key phrases:  Where's the toilet," "I'm lost," "Mine's a Pint" and "He's Paying!".

And whist I was looking forward to looking forward to the flight, I must admit I was a little bit concerned when I saw the plane -  a plush jumbo jet it was not.  

And as I was negotiated my way up the stairs, I said to my photographer:  "If that pilot's name is Pontius - I am out of here."

Two hours and a dodgy landing later, we finally landed at Hahn, a military base in the middle of nowhere where we then embarked on a two hour journey to the train station where we then had to send the next half hour trying to break the code of the ticket machine to get our final train to the hotel where the team was staying.

It was a lovely hotel, but not exactly in the heart of Frankfurt's night life.  We were between a German B &Q, a MacDonalds and  2 Pizza Restaurants - there is nothing like exploring a new country's culture.

We were totally cream crackered but when other members of the tartan army turned up it was time to meet up with fellow members in town at an Irish Pub- a small drinking establishment, that was so claustrophobic, people kept having to go out for fresh air.  

And the rest rooms were in such a state, you would have needed to carry down  a canary with you every time you needed to spend a pfennig.

But the evening soon whizzed by and we were now heading towards the final countdown, where the work and the party was about to start for real.

PT 2

Saturday's alright for partying!!!!!