Durban: Portugal vs Brazil!

After a very, very fun night...and little sleep, we made our way to Durban for the next part of our crazy adventure. We checked into our hotel – Southern Sun Elangeni - and were surprised to find that the room we were given keys to had not been cleaned yet, so we hit up the breakfast buffet. The hotel - an official FIFA hotel - was jammed full of Portuguese and Brazilian soccer fans who were getting ready for the 4pm match just down the street at the Moses Mabhida stadium. After breakfast, we were surprised to learn that we were being upgraded to a larger room (yay!) and our breakfast was free...things were looking up in Durban! But with no time for nap and an exciting afternoon ahead of us...we really needed to get our act together.

We hit the News Cafe in the nearby casino complex where we would meet up with Nick, a business colleague who we would be attending the game with, and his friends who were visiting from the UK. A couple of cold Savannah Dry, a table for 8 and we were all set. The pub was filled with painted faces and colourful jerseys...and the male:female ratio was definitely working in our favour. So much that a waitress came by to let us know that a gentleman wanted to buy us drinks. "Seriously?", I said. "I do not lie", she said. We asked for her expert opinion of what we should order and she suggested a fancy cocktail. Two "Faithfull Bitches" coming right up. Delicious. Though our admirer - Salvadore -  didn't have the courage to come by and say hello, he did send his phone number over via the waitress. Very nice...but weak, if you ask me.

Nick and friends arrived with a special guest - their waiter from the day before. Apparently they had a wonderful lunch (so wonderful that it lasted a whopping 11 hours and several bottles of wine long) and they tipped their waiter with a ticket to the game. Such a great story! And what a relief to know that we weren't the only ones nursing a bit of a hangover. 

We made our way along the waterfront through the madness of crazy fans to the incredible stadium. I will refrain from repeating just how lucky I think I am. It's starting to get annoying I'm sure, so I think I'll let my photos do the talking on this.


I should mention the vuvuzelas though...since that's the very first thing any one asks me about my trip. They weren't annoying and loud at all...no earplugs required. It definitely sounds worse on TV.

After the game we all met up back at our hotel at a fantastic Indian resto that I had seen recommended several times. The food didn't disappoint and we had a great time making bets amongst the table which culminated in a tie-breaker of "How many people at this table are wearing white underwear?". The answer: 1. The winner: Me! (The White Underwear: NOT Me!)


With all of us falling prey to our hangovers, we called it a night and bid farewell to our new friends.