Sunday
Still living on the fumes of a breathless end to the Netherlands’ victory over Turkey, I use the afternoon to take myself out of the football bubble for the first time this summer. You could almost term it a “day off”: I visit Berlin’s Mauerpark flea market; I walk around Schlachtensee, one of the closest lakes to the city centre; I sit in a beer garden next to a suburban football pitch; I eat hip but slightly underwhelming Georgian food. To crown it all I see a man wearing the cream and black Ipswich Town away kit of 1996-97. This city never disappoints; like the rest of Germany, it has gladly opened its doors to Euro 2024 revelry while never feeling entirely consumed by it.
