Scotland v Germany
10th September 2003 Dortmund
Firstly, the big gig is on the 9th September the day before the match. The pub to be in is Limericks, Dortmund the Irish bar which can be located particularly easily if you are already drunk as a more rational man will think about directions and a drunk will simply keep walking when the train has spewed him into the station. By walking in a reasonably straight line he will immediately see Limericks and go in.
Those of a more sober frame of mind can follow the link:
www.limericks-irish-pub.de/index2.htm
I will be on stage earning a crust with my friend and colleague, Quest the famous piper. (Notable to footie fans as the man who played pipes at the Stuttgart v Celtic and Stuttgart v Heart of Midlothian matches in recent times) We will be playing a mixed kind of evening with lots of Scottish traditional music, (some Irish music as it is an Irish bar) and some rare guest performances by fans. That's you. The beer is plentiful, the staff friendly and the food is top. Check out Quest and his multicolored career here:
www.questpiper.de
On the afternoon of the 9th September the place to be is "Hofsteder Straße 124" (Westfalia, Bochum). This is the pitch, where Scottish football fans meet a Bochum brass band in a friendly match. It's impossible to get lost if you get out at Deutsches Bergbau Museum U-bahn station (local underground). The Central meeting Point will be the pub Haus Beucker; Herner Straße 91a, (Tel.: 00 49 (0) 234 513282).
The Germans have already intimated that they are bringing 200 fans or so. If you bring your boots you could well get a game. The Bochum Coach will be there plus pipes from Quest (busy day), a German brass band, the press and the beer. It's fifteen minutes ride on the s-bahn (local train) Dortmund.
As Dortmund will be well represented on any fan club tourist guide I thought I'd chip in a bit about the surrounding attractions which might be less well represented:
Bochum
A couple of user friendly bars. O'Neills, Brückstrasse 4, Bochum is near the station. It's run by Jimmie who is a local Irish legend and always great for the craic. O' Neill's is friendly, good beer, great music. Jimmie will be at the match himself supporting the boys so try and get down to his pub and support him. He probably won't shut until you finally leave and if you are a traditional player he will give you a good welcome. There's an outdated site, which at least gives you the address and a map here:
www.lemenu.de/Gastronomie/oNeills.html
There's another local, small but friendly, Irish bar in Bochum Langendreer West: the Guinness Treff, (Eislebener Strasse 19a) run by Chris. That's one stop outside Bochum station on the S-bahn (local train). Up the road in central Bochum is a region called the 'Bermuda Triangle' There the Mandragora (Adenauerplatz 1 - 44787 Bochum Tel: 0234-64218 ) is a great café pub with good food and sometimes live music. The manager knows his stuff and boasts a superb collection of contemporary sounds. The Bermuda triangle is the student area and a great place to sit outside in a café in the open air dreaming about that elusive second round.
Lots of stuff about Bochum here:
http://www.bochum.de. For those whose German is as bad as mine there is an English language section (no Gaelic). And for the lazy folks who don't want to plod through the site here is its city map:
www.bochum.de/english/bocity.htm
Muelheim
Muelheim is only a short distance from Dortmund and it hosts arguably the best Scottish restaurant in the known universe. This place is called Haus Klever and is run by Peter and his lovely wife Birgit. Peter is not only a top chef, fishing aficionado and general raconteur; he also tells jokes, plies you with the finest whiskey and has been known to make bacon and eggs at six in the morning when guests are thinking they might finally toddle home. Peter and his wife have such a way with people that you feel instantly comfortable, relaxed and easy. There is a nice little bar where you can while away an anecdotal evening and if you are crazy, merely drink while watching others eat. Every time I leave their restaurant, stuffed with the finest cooking and some amazing whiskeys, I have the unique experience of feeling as though I haven't been to a restaurant but simply left a good friend's house after a brilliant party. The restaurant is on Bover Strasse 28, Muelheim a.d. Ruhr, Tel 0208 99 57 309) And if I was within a hundred kilometers of it I would deviate just to smell Peter's cooking (He didn't pay me for this. I mean, I'm from Portobello and he's a Glaswegian.).