Football Weekend in Amsterdam

I have been send for the final 2010 FIFA World Cup weekend to Amsterdam to cover how the Dutch celebrate their team ahead, during and after the final match against Spain in Johannesburg, South Africa. A football weekend in Amsterdam which I really look forward to...

I am really curious to see if the Dutch celebrate like what I have seen from the Germans over the last few weeks or if it is somehow different. The first impression of Amsterdam after my arrival is that there aren't too many flags hanging out of building and houses plus the Dutch don't really sport their blue-white-red flag or Oranje colours on their cars like the Germans do with the black-red-gold. But you see loads of people in Orange T-Shirts across town.

On going across to the main public viewing area, the Museum Plein, where over 70,000 people are expected to watch the game one wouldn't believe that so many people would be there to watch football tomorrow evening. The Museum Plein is normally a public park and it was looking like one today. People playing sports, people sun bathing, some reading books and others just sitting under the shade of the trees; while work on the public viewing area is going on in the background.

I had hopes that the weather wouldn't be as warm as it was in Remscheid and it is a couple of degrees cooler, but 32°/33°C is just too hot for central Europe. And you realise that it is too hot as the city is full of tourists with few locals around and all looking for options under the shade. Especially the Cafés along the water front are full of people enjoying the weather with an ice or cold drink.