I was 24 in 1966 and travelling as a pillion rider with my mate Derek motor-biking through Europe on holiday. We journeyed through Belgium ,France and then Germany with not much money and a weedy tent in which to camp.
Arriving after a few days in Heidelberg where we camped in the forest on the north bank of the river Neckar we walked into the main old town over the Old Bridge and looked for a bar for a beer and some food.
We came across a small bar called Der Rote Ochse, it's still there, and entered to discover that a TV was behind the bar with quite a few Germans watching and waiting for the start of the match.
We both could speak reasonable German and so after having ordered our beer and grub I still believe that no one in the bar twigged that we were English. After the first German goal and lots of German jubilation, England of course then scored; Derek and I jumped up and celebrated noisily and only then did the locals realise we were English.
From there on in we were made so welcome and German hospitality flowed. We were fed and watered for the rest of the evening and congratulated continually by the kindly clientele.
There is the inevitable hit at the end of the night when we were offered a plate of select Bavarian cheeses.
We stumbled back to the forest and amazingly found our tent. We talked for some time about the evening and both of us were unable to sleep. Was it the excitement of winning the World Cup or that Bavarian cheese which was dished out so lovingly!
Denis Girling
Memory added on May 31, 2016
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