Euro 2024 Adventure
John McFadzean headed to the 2024 Euros with high hopes to follow his beloved Scottish football team all the way to the finals! Luckily he had a back up plan and at least scored some incredible SUP sessions in some of Germany’s pristine lakes.
Words and Photos: John McFadzean
Opportunity Knocks
It’s not often you get to indulge in seven of your favourite pastimes on one trip, but June 2024 provided me with that very opportunity: ten days of international travel, football (watching, not playing at my age!), camping, stand-up paddleboarding, music and sampling German beer and wine. The chance to go to Germany for the Euro 2024 tournament and to do those other things was too good to miss. In my sixtieth year, it was the first time that I had the opportunity to follow my beloved Scotland national football team to an overseas tournament. I had high hopes of success for my country, but having been Scottish for so many years, perhaps I should have known better…
I recalled Campingplatz Utting, ideally situated on the western shore of Ammersee in Bavaria, from a previous visit in 2022. At €20 per night, the campsite was considerably cheaper than the €200 plus required for city-centre hotel accommodation during a major international sporting event, while I also happen to enjoy camping. I don’t know why this happens, but the worries and stresses of everyday life that swirl relentlessly through my head seem to vanish when I live outdoors. It was an easy decision to base myself there for the Euros. I flew into Munich on the morning of the first game and checked into a hotel for that first night.
Woeful Start
Match one: Germany 5 – Scotland 1. Not the best of starts. My excitement at visiting the spectacular Allianz Arena and attending the tournament’s opening game quickly faded to disappointment as my nation was soundly beaten by the hosts.
Ammersee
The next day, Saturday, after checking into the campsite, my SUP board and I were keen to get on the water. At nearly 50 square kilometres, Ammersee is the sixth-largest lake in Germany and a haven for watersports, although the weather here can be highly variable. On a previous visit, I had experienced the best of conditions and possibly some of the worst. Memorably, I sheltered in a public toilet until a vicious storm had passed. I must confess I was a touch nervous setting off, as troublesome health problems had kept me grounded for most of 2024. But the conditions were perfect. Flat water, no wind and a tiny suspicion of sunshine hiding behind the white clouds as I set off from the beach at Utting, heading along the shoreline to Schondorf, the next town north. Going ashore, I grabbed a beer at the local ale house. Perhaps inevitably, the wind picked up while I was enjoying my drink, making the return journey challenging. Eventually, I sank to my knees and pushed directly into the powerful headwind until Utting was in sight.
Nena
If you are of my generation, or maybe of any generation, then you must know the massive 1993 hit song ’99 Red Balloons’ by the German singer Gabriele Kerner, a.k.a. Nena. A song that was an anthem of my youth. I randomly discovered that the band were playing in the small German town of Bamburg during my time in the country. I simply had to go. Reaching Bamburg by mid-afternoon, I enjoyed a few local beers in the picture postcard town square before heading to the outdoor venue. Of course, the concert was entirely in German. ‘Ninety-nine Red Balloons’ turned out to be ‘Neunundneunzig Luftballoons’, but I got it anyway. Everyone enjoys the nostalgia of a trip down memory lane, and it was a cracking interlude to my football and paddling adventures. The following morning I returned to Munich for more football.
Game On
Match two: Romania 3 – Ukraine 0. I managed to pick up a spare ticket for this game at face value. It was a joy to experience the Allianz again, but the best part of those 90 minutes was that they didn’t involve Scotland being beaten. Later, I stopped off at the Munich Fanzone to watch Belgium lose to Slovakia on the big screen before returning to Campingplatz Utting.
Eibsee
The following day, I returned to my favourite lake in all of Germany, the spectacularly clear, emerald-green waters of Eibsee, situated under the watchful gaze of that country’s highest mountain, Zugspitze. This lovely Bavarian beauty spot is an outdoor playground with walking routes around the stunning waters and many kayakers, paddleboarders and outdoor swimmers enjoying the bays and inlets. The area close to the hotel and car park was packed with people, but you didn’t have to walk or SUP very far to find quiet. I didn’t take on the entire length of the lake as the wind was blowing behind me, and sure enough, as I turned, I had to deal with another pesky headwind. My only disappointment was that the cable car to the top of Zugspitze wasn’t running. My planned ride to the roof of Germany would have to wait for another visit.
Score Draw
Match three: Scotland 1 – Switzerland 1. On Wednesday, I took a five-hour train journey to the historic city of Cologne. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric, particularly when my country took a first-half lead, but the highlight was undoubtedly the organised fan walk to the stadium before kick-off. Thousands of Scottish fans were welcomed by locals. Cologne residents came out of their homes to sing along, to shout and cheer, to offer a handshake and a beer.
While planning this visit, I considered a 20-kilometre SUP route through central Cologne on the Rhine, but ultimately, I decided against it. I’ve made many longer expeditions in the past, but my health and stamina weren’t up to the job this time. I didn’t even take my board as far as Cologne. I was happy to enjoy a walk through the city and along the riverbank instead. Perhaps I will return to Cologne one day for a paddling adventure.
Train Woes
Many people believe that German trains are efficient and always punctual. Well, that news certainly hasn’t reached Deutsche Bahn, the national operator. Of the four intercity rail trips I took during my visit, only two were problem-free. My journey back to Utting from Cologne via Augsburg was particularly troublesome. Initially we were told that the Augsburg train was running 30 minutes late, then 60, then 90 and so on. The train appeared eventually, more than two hours late and, disastrously for me, it would terminate at Stuttgart. It was the last train, and I now had no way of reaching Utting. I must have looked worn down by the experience as two German girls, who were getting off at the next stop, donated a third of a bottle of champagne to the cheer-up John fund. I was forced to find a hotel in Stuttgart for the night and continue my journey in the morning.
I wanted to go out on Ammersee again, but when I arrived back at the campsite, an electrical storm was overhead, and rain was lashing down. Finding shelter under a canopy at the local restaurant, I enjoyed a currywurst and a couple of glasses of Riesling as spectacular flashes of lightning lit up the lake and thunder growled to the east. It rained most of the night, but the following day was lovely, which was good news as I was headed for another alpine adventure.
Walchensee
Two gems of the Bavarian Lake District are the next-door neighbours Walchensee and Kochelsee. I could have paddled on both if I had set off an hour or two earlier. But laziness had prevailed, and I ended up driving past Kochelsee, stopping only to take a few photos and to add this beauty to my to-do list before taking the mountainside, hairpin road to Walchensee. Parking near the top of the lake, I set off south, surrounded by mountains on all sides. Like Eibsee, the water was an almost unnatural green colour and ever so clear. I spotted a dozen windsurfers plying their trade as I approached the far end, yet I felt only a gentle breeze. I turned back while my luck still held and gratefully found a water’s edge bar to grab a mid-paddle refreshment. On my return to Utting, I took a 15-minute walk into the town centre for an Indian meal, followed by an early night. The next morning, I would break camp, pack up, and head to Stuttgart for the final match.
Over and Out
Match four: Scotland 0 – Hungary 1. This was the big one. We needed to win to progress to the next round, but my countrymen could not find the net. Hungary scored very late to send Scotland home, bottom of the group, with an embarrassingly low single point.
SUP Birthday
The final day of my trip, Monday, 24 June 2024, was an auspicious one for me, for it was my tenth birthday. OK, it wasn’t my actual birthday. I’m slightly older than that, but it was my SUP birthday. It was exactly ten years to the day since I took those tentative first few paddle strokes on my local lake in Southport, all Bambi legs, tense muscles and terrified of falling in. It was a thrill to celebrate by spending a few hours just north of Stuttgart on the Neckar, one of Germany’s loveliest rivers, in the company of one of the country’s top stand-up paddleboarders, Duncan Houlton.
Best known as a long-distance river paddler, Duncan has several extraordinary exploits under his belt, including a one-day, 100-kilometre journey on the Rhine and a six-day, 200-kilometre odyssey on the Neckar (including 27 portages and in 35°C heat). He was also the perfect host, choosing the route for our paddle and handling the logistics. We have known each other online for a few years, but this was our first real-life meeting. Duncan, who is known as ‘Flussmensch’ (Translation: ‘Riverman’), is originally from England, but he moved away more than 30 years ago after meeting and falling in love with a German woman who was to become his wife.
Even on the best days, I’m not the fastest in the world, but my health issues, ten days of partying and a general lack of practice took their toll, knocking a few kilometres per hour off my speed. My paddling buddy had to drop his pace to allow me to keep up. I found the 13-kilometre journey tough, even though we were going downstream and had only a mild wind to contend with. I kept moving, but occasionally, I dropped to my knees as if the effort of standing was too great. We sailed past rows and terraces of riverside vineyards layered on the steep bank — next year’s wine.
End of Voyage
I was relieved to end our voyage at a beach bar and grab lunch and a bottle of refreshing real lemonade shandy. Duncan shared his plans for the future, including his dream to SUP the entire navigable length of the Rhine, from the southern tip of Germany at Bodensee (Lake Constance) to the North Sea at Rotterdam, a journey of more than 1,000 kilometres. My SUP friend has been planning this adventure for three years and describes it as his own personal Yukon after the ultra-long distance paddling race of that name. Duncan has the Rhine challenge in his calendar for 2024. You can follow his adventures @ www.facebook.com/duncanhoulton
Duncan dropped me back at my hire car, and that was it: four football matches, four paddleboarding adventures on spectacular German waters, one music gig, five nights in various hotels and five nights in a tent, hours of camaraderie with fellow football fans from around Europe, a few German beers and a glass of wine or two — my Euro 2024 trip was over.
John McFadzean is on a lifetime quest to stand-up paddle in every country in the world. You can follow his adventures here:
www.suptheworld.com
www.facebook.com/suptheworld
Instagram: @sup_the_world_
