Day 2 - Our First Game

The walk to the stadium was surprisingly easy, although it was very crowded, even for such an early time. While the game was still a few hours away, apparently the fans wanted to get a head start on the celebrations. The police had closed off the main road to traffic, so we didn't have any cars to contend with. We stopped off and grabbed breakfast, and just after we got seats, a horde of Portuguese fans arrived. They were all in good spirits and confident, even though North Korea had held Brazil in check and Portugal had tied the Ivory Coast.

Apparently, the Portuguese were correct in their assessment, as Portugal finally cracked through and then decimated the North Korean defenses in the second half, turning a 1-0 halftime lead into a 7-0 rout by full time. Even Carla's favorite player, Cristiano Ronaldo, got into the act, scoring the 6th goal. We had a group of Portuguese behind us who were singing the entire time and could, surprisingly, be heard over the din of the vuvuzelas. The game was played in a torrential downpour, but, fortunately, we were under a covered area, so, while we all had our rain gear, we felt nary a drop.

Once the game was over, we decided to head to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront and look around. However, before we got there, we did manage to find the handful of true North Korean fans! Actually, they were British guys who decided it would be fun to fully deck out as DPRK fans, and they were dressed to the nines, minus, of course, the mandatory khaki jumpsuits.

We walked around the V&A for a little while and then headed off to grab dinner at the Savoy Cabbage. It could also, I guess, be called the Savory Cabbage, as the food there was fantastic. Janie also got to sample her first African wild game, as we all ate kudu loins. Sated and stuffed, we headed back to the house to sleep off and digest our first full day in South Africa.