Well, I was there for the footy.  Why else?  But after being there, I would say there would be a couple of reasons.  It is a beautiful city, nestling gently beside Father Rhine.  The Altstadt (Old Town) is a maze of cobbled streets, filled with irish bars and european chain stores.  Smart, clean and tidy though.

The city is peaceful.  Perhaps it is because of its close proximity to the river, with the Rhine bringing a tranquil feel?  Sweeping away the day, bringing all things new?  Everything seems conducted in hushed tones.  Even in the busy streets at night, it is toned down!

That is until there is an invasion by several hundred Welshfolk!  It was quite surreal to watch the under 21s in an irish bar in germany surrounded by police vans!  Still, it was all good hearted and the standing ovation at the end of the game brought a smile from the locals.

This seems to be Germany’s fashion capital, with loads of designer shops set in a beautiful location:

There was a random moat set alongside the main galleries.  This made a great landmark for finding your way home at night, but also brought a relaxing feel to the busy streets.  I didn’t have my proper camera, but more photos can be found on my flickr set.

Germany seems to be like the Ronseal of countries (other tinned products are available, like beans and spam).  Everything just works.  Sometimes it is not particularly fancy, but it works.  Trains are reasonably priced and on time.  Cafes and bars are open at decent times and serve what you are after.  The programme was free as is match day public transport.  Nice.  The only downside was the traffic bottleneck getting to the ground.  A lovely stadium, newly built, but the streets were just jammed.  Surely if you build something from scratch out of town, you anticipate plenty of traffic, so build multiple access points to the locality.