And so it was that "Essen" crept up on us and we suddenly realized we (ok, Monica) would have to get travel tickets and a hotel room. We actually ended up taking a plane over Essen to Frankfort and then taking a train back to Essen to save money, but we forgot how friggin' expensive German trains are! OK, so we didn't save there, but for the hotel we got a room at the Holiday Inn (normal) as the Holiday Inn Express was actually more expensive! When we later compared with other gamers we found we had the cheapest room and the largest room. HA! We're winning!
OK, so we've arrived in Essen, we've taken the metro and popped up at the stop closest to the Holiday Inn, but where is it exactly? Pulling our luggage behind me, I stick my head in the nearest Quicky-mart. Without a pause, the guy says "Looking for the Holiday Inn Express, right? Keep going down the street, take a right, then the next right, and you'll see it ahead on the left." Got it. We go straight, take a right, and hold on... here's the Holiday Inn right here! Dazed, we walk in and sure enough, they have a reservation for us. Wow, the room is huge! But, let's just drop the bags and head over to Ted's room. He's at the Holiday Inn Express and he just text'ed us saying they are about to start a long-ish game, how much longer are we going to be? Hmm, we need to find the metro route - but the front desk guy should know how to get there. "Holiday Inn Express? It's easy to get to," he says. "Just go down the road, take a right, and it's on your left." Monica and I look at each other - you mean we're within walking distance? Hey, the guy at the Quicky-mart DID give us correct directions, he just assumed we were going to the Holiday Inn Express! Now, why did he assume that? Do we LOOK like Holiday Inn Express people?? Humph!
Walking in to the H.I.*express* we spot Ted and some other guys sitting in the restaurant around a table with some games splayed across it. In fact, now that we look around... EVERY table in the restaurant has at least one game on it. The entire hotel is filled with game players! This is really weird. Introductions are quickly made and immediately some game pieces are pressed into our hands as the first of many games are launched. No games are repeated and the rules come rapid fire, but somehow we manage as dinner and conversation interweave with the games. Luggage space is the only thing keeping people from maxing out their credit cards. Since everyone bought at least a dozen games today, Monica and I realize these guys must have had to made some agonizing decisions about *which* games to play tonight. We'll only have time to play 4-5 games tonight. Unplayed games on your shelf at home is a definite sign of gamer mania. With the exception of us, everyone at the table admitted to having several dozen to several HUNDRED (!) unplayed games at home. And here they were buying more. A lot more!
The next day, Monica and I join Ted at his booth. Ted arranged free admission for us and best of all - we have bright green polo shirts with his company name emblazoned on it waiting for us. Monica can now officially be our booth babe!
However, diagonal from us is some tough competition: Miss Canada. She is the real Miss Canada (wearing her sash and crown even) who happens to be friends with someone in their booth. Jeremy, who is also helping in our booth, doesn't miss any chance to hang out with her even though he has a girlfriend back home. Although we all agree she isn't *all that* I figure this is an irresistable opportunity to make his girlfriend jealous. Just starting his sentences with "So, I was eating lunch with Miss Canada when..." or "Miss Canada asked if I could give her a ride back to the hotel from the show and on the way..." has got to make her turn red in the face. Nevermind what her real name is, it's more effective to just call her "Miss Canada" all the time. Ted decided the thing that threw him is that just talking to her you find that she is really intelligent and really nice and you just can't help liking her even if you didn't want to. Someone like that must violate some law of the universe. One girl wearing a very convincing white elf/enchantress costume came up to her and said "nice costume." "Well thank you, but it's not a costume," she replied, "but your's is very nice!" and even the ice witch was charmed. "Damn, she's good," whispered Ted.
During our breaks we got a chance to wander the halls and just soak in the atmosphere. As we go from one exhibition hall to another we're amazed at just how BIG the show is. It's a good thing our apartment is small and foreign - we're extremely reluctant to buy anything we'll eventually want to bring back to the US. Even though I am the game player, Monica gets more into shopping at these events. It must be the excitement of the crowd and the smell of new merchandise. The fever is contagious. She even started to plan next year's Essen trip!
Ted told us about his visit to Ludo, a giant German manufacturer who dashed off a couple thousand of his games. As he got into describing the massive machines, towering warehouses, and the smell of fresh cut cardboard and ink, we thought we'd need to splash some water on his face! Whoa there!
After a weekend of massive Essen crowds, noise, merchandise, and gaming sessions we were ready to return home. Monica had one last thought though - even though you would expect the crowd to be made up of the geekiest of the geeks - how many people want to travel to otherwise unremarkable Essen to see the new releases in board games - the crowd was mostly made up of families, with lots of women and kids in the mix. I guess the Germans really do love board games.
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