Last Time I Saw the Sky That Color...

You know how some things are just bad omens? Some times mother nature tells you to leave. Bad things happen when you don't.

When I was really little, probably in the 8-10 range, my parents decided to take the whole family to a Jimmy Buffett concert. I don't really remember much of it (some of that might have to do with the atmosphere there), but I do know that a really bad storm rolled through and the sky turned a really weird orange color right before all hell broke loose. We were trapped under the stands for a long time, and I don't think Jimmy got to play too many songs.

Last night the sky over Vienna was that same orange color. It happened at about 8:40, five minutes before kickoff. I knew I probably shouldn't stick around, but I haven't been rational in a few days - mostly because I don't get much sleep here.

With two games left in the tournament, I was adamant that I wasn't going to miss any more games like I missed the Germany one, so I figured that I'd just wait it out in hopes that the storm would blow over like all the other Vienna storms had, and I could get on my merry way watching football.

That never happened. Instead, lightning started crashing down and the skies just opened up and what seemed to be the end of the world occurred. There were bits of hail and stuff was blowing everywhere.

But lucky me. I had a poncho. And a recently-purchased baseball cap.

As stubborn as I could be, I was determined not to miss this game like I had the previous nights, so I toughed it out. I wasn't alone either, which greatly surprised me. There were hundreds of other fans in the Fan Zone alongside me, getting soaked and wind-beaten and generally destroyed by this crazy storm. For some reason I felt less crazy because of that, when really these are football fans we're talking about - the craziest of the crazy.

And right as the final whistle blew, the rain started to let up. Because that's how things like that work. But I didn't have any problem sleeping last night.

Now my only pair of shorts are soaking wet (as is a t-shirt, but that's of less importance), which is kind of a problem, but I can wear gym shorts about town while I wait for them to dry.

It would have been great for my project, from multiple angles, if Russian had won the tournament. Even if they got to the finals it would have been good, seeing as there's incredible historical irony in Russians and Germans battling it out in Austria. Plus the most EU-ified country vs. the total outsider, that would have been pretty good too. Plus, only one Russian player plays in one of the continent's big five leagues. Plus they beat Holland, and secretly it would have been vindication if they had eventually won it. But, alas, my historical nerd's dream of such a final is not to come to fruition, and why should it? I only braved the most terrible storm in the history of Vienna, risking my life and limb, (okay, that might be exaggeration) to see it.