It's a bar. It's dark, lit only by candles in a huge iron candelabra, and it’s unusually decorated. You can get uproariously drunk in very friendly and entertaining company. Age/sex/nationality irrelevant. Be careful of the mulled vodka.

ul. Estery 5, Pl.Nowy, Kazimierz

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I hope the person sitting in seat 2, row 7, block 26 in the Arena enjoys the game, that's my season ticket seat!

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Everybody has been to Kathmandu, Bali and Prague these days so perhaps visiting Gelsenkirchen will give you some kind of status in travellers' circles. It is not exactly the cultural capital of the world, but Essen, which is about two miles away, will be in 2010. The Folkwang museum there has an excellent collection of expressionist paintings, and the Villa Hügel, ex-residence of the Krupp family, regularly has world-class exhibitions. Also next door in Bochum, is an interesting mining museum, well worth a visit.

Folkwang Museum: Goethestrasse 41, Essen;
www.museum-folkwang.de/

Villa Hugel: Essen;
Tel: 0201 61 6290;
www.villahuegel.de/english

Deutsches Bergbaumuseum: Am Bergbaumuseum 28, Bochum;
tel: 0180 5877 234;
www.bergbaumuseum.de

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Don't be disappointed if your beer comes in a small glass; this is not Bavaria. It just means you can drink more of them doesn't it? You will also have to be patient as it takes a few minutes to pull a perfect Pils, experts say 20 minutes, so order your next one well in advance! For every beer you drink , the barman will put a pencil mark on your beer mat and you pay before you go.

Try the many different sorts of Pils. Any bar will serve you a decent beer.

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This is a grilled sausage, cut into small pieces and smothered in spicy ketchup. Sounds horrible but it is actually delicious. Eating a Bratwurst before the game is a serious tradition here. If you don't fancy the curry version, eat a plain grilled wurst tucked into a bread roll and garnished with German mustard. Costs about 1.80 euros

There are numerous 'Imbiss Buden'' in Gelsenkirchen. The best place to get your pre-match snack is on the way to the Veltins Arena at an open-air stand. Wash it down with a half litre of Pils to get yourself into the right mood.

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This is a suburb of Gelsenkirchen (which is hosting several World Cup games) and it is much prettier, with a pleasant shopping street and lots of cafes and restaurants like Kronski, Zutz and La Scala, all within walking distance of each other. There are quite a few pubs with beer gardens too. As Gelsenkircheners are enthusiastic football fans, they will most probably give visiting fans a friendly welcome. They're a bit like Northerners - direct and straightforward. Take a guided tour of the Arena as well if you get the chance, it's fascinating to go behind the scenes of this huge stadium.

You can take a bus or tram from Gelsenkirchen to Buer, it only takes about ten minutes or you could even walk there from the Veltins Arena;
www.aufschalke2006.de/ge_stadtportrait_en.php

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It's a very old established all night pizza place where a slice of the most delicious pizza will cost you 1 euro. There's one standard topping - salami/cheese/tomato, but you can order different ones at a small extra charge. You can sit outside on wooden benches, and the beer or wine isn't bad either. Good for late-homecoming revellers.

Bleibtreustrasse, off Ku, damm.

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