Yesterday's highly anticipated match between Euro giants Spain and Germany brought out the best crowds in downtown Halifax I have seen so far for the World Cup.
It was a crowd worthy of the biggest game of the tournament. It was considered a 'final' in a sense due to the sheer magnitude of the teams playing. The best team in the World on paper in Spain, and the best team of the tournament - up to that point - Germany. It was a rematch of the Euro 2008 Final when Spain beat Germany 1-0. The Germans wanted revenge; especially German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger who felt pretty crappy during his post-game interview after the Euro final.
But enough about the match. I just wanted to say how proud I was of Halifax yesterday. The city was filled with Spain and Germany flags and jerseys. Fans were singing, dancing, cheering, honking their horns, and I can't count on both hands how many flags I saw on people's cars driving up and down Spring Garden (best street in Atlantic Canada hands down).
Here's a little run-down of the 'places to be' for the World Cup final on Sunday:
Niche on Barrington was packed yesterday. Even fans who wanted to go a couple hours early to watch the game wouldn't have been able to find a good seat. Their patio tent and outdoor big screen makes it a hot spot to watch the game.
Just up the street on Spring Garden, you have quite a few choices. The huge basement in Oasis provides a cool underground atmosphere, and they are equipped with a couple big screens. Quite literally a couple shops down from Oasis, you'll find Gatsbys, which is another great place to watch the game. If you go here though, I advise you to go early and set up camp in the back room where they have the big-screen set up.
Accross the street, you'll find one of my favorite spots in Hali: Bubba Rays. They always have a guaranteed great atmosphere. It's a huge place equipped with 38 HD TV's. But you should still go early. Here's some of Bubba Ray's atmosphere from yesterday's game:
If you live in the North End, you definitely don't have to travel downtown to enjoy the atmosphere. Lion's Head Tavernon Young street. shows all the World Cup games in HD, and it will be bumpin on Sunday too. And if you don't want to wait until Sunday to get into the World Cup spirit, you should check out Halifax's newest Gelato shop Humani-T Cafe just up the street from Lion's Head on the corner of Young and Agricola. They won't be showing the game, but they're making 'Orange Dutch Chocolate Gelato' and 'Spanish Saffron Gelato' in honor of the World Cup finalists. They'll have it available on Saturday morning and I know that their 'Maple Gelato' for Canada day was quite popular.
Worth checking out!
Go Halifax!
