So it came down to this very day, a rather sad one I must say. It’s our last day in Europe, and if history is of any indication, we won’t be coming back for another ten years of so. Perhaps I’ll get the opportunity to once I enter university, but it won’t be with my family.

Our last day to enjoy perfect weather and temperature - a breezy 15′C to 20′C. It’s the kind of environment which allows you to walk on and on for hours without sweating or turning numb.

Our last day to eat European food, which portions are as large as the price figure.

Our last day to enjoy over sixteen hours of daylight, which somehow allows more productive work to be done in a day.

And our last day to enjoy Euro football at perfect timings, since much of Western Europe is GMT+1 and the host countries are in Western Europe themselves.

It’s not just that. Euro, being Euro, is available on non-paying TV channels throughout Europe. It’s like all the matches are broadcasted live, for free, on their normal channels like what Channel 5 is to Singapore.

Of course the downside is that the commentary is in German/Czech/French/whatever the national language of the country you’re in. It’s still okay and fully watchable.

You haven’t experienced football until you go to Europe during one of the important matches, or during a tournament. And I’ve been able to draw out some links between the residents of European countries and which countries they support at Euro 2008. While it’s common sense to say that, for example, the Swiss supports Switzerland, that’s only the half truth.

I can tell you that the locals of Switzerland are rooting for both their country and and Portugal, generally. I have no idea why, but it’s just like that. Outside their apartments they’d hang both the Swiss and Portugese flags.

So at first I thought that maybe the Swiss didn’t have faith in their national team to make it very far in the tournament, so it’s better to pick up another team to root for. After all, Switzerland became the first country out of the tournament a few days ago after losing both of their first two matches.

But then for Germany, they’re up for their home country and Turkey. No idea why once again, but majority of the supporters are rooting for Turkey as well. Germany isn’t exactly going to be knocked out anytime soon, but the supporters here are multitasking both teams.

That may explain how Switzerland managed to beat world-class Portugal during their match just now. Perhaps the Swiss decided to take sides now that they’re forced to, and the number of Portugese supporters suddenly dropped.

I hope for a Germany vs Turkey.

Turkey just made an amazing comeback again Czech Republic, turning a 0-2 struggle into a 3-2 win. Granted, they were really lucky, but at least I know that my flight tomorrow would be safe from Turkish rioters and depression in the country.

And when you’re talking about supporting football in Europe, you’re talking about this:

Believe me, that’s the norm. The entire city was filled with cars driving around with supporters sticking themselves out, flying the Turkey flag and honking at anything and everything. The police are not doing anything to stop them; they’re fine with it as long as they’re no violence.

Right now, as I’m typing this, it’s more than 45 minutes since the match concluded and ever since the final whistle was blown, cars can be heard honking at the city centre two train stations away. It’s 11.40pm here and I don’t expect myself to be sleeping soon with the amount of noise. This city has gone crazy.

Of course it’d be ridiculous to simply talk about Euro 2008 without mentioning my final day experience in Europe.

Frankfurt am Main. It’s the financial capital of Germany, and just about the only city in Europe (that I’ve seen so far) that’s trying to build up and has a skyline of skyscrapers.

When reading up internet guides about Frankfurt, I had this creepy thought — Frankfurt is just like Singapore.

Much of Frankfurt, like Berlin and Munich and other German cities, was destroyed in World War II and what you seen today are recontructions and restorations. Hence, there are few historical buildings in Frankfurt — much like Singapore.

The tourist attractions are kinda lame, as their only historical buildings are cathedrals and churches. The skyscrapers are the next best landmarks. Sounds like Singapore, doesn’t it?

If you compare…

Skyline of Frankfurt I took just now:

Skyline of Singapore I took two years ago, dug up from my archives:

I made do with that fact that while Frankfurt has an uncomfortable resemblance to Singapore, I had to explore around and sightsee anyway. The temperature was perfect, so why not?

We first took the train to the city centre, and went to places like St Paul’s Church, Roemer and St Bartholomeus Cathedral which is quite possibly the most historical building in the whole of Frankfurt. The Cathedral was constructed sometime in the 14th and 15th centuries and since the 14th century, the kings of the Holy Roman Empire were elected and crowned here.

After that, we walked along the River Main for some panoramic scenery of the skyline.

And finally we went up to Maintower where there’s an observation platform 200m high at the top to view the entire city.

That’s pretty much all about Frankfurt, and Europe in fact. It’s been a wonderful three weeks 10,000 km from home but Shanghai beckons.

Shanghai. Not again.