Being a Greek American and a soccer fan, I knew that my home country (U.S.A.) had a small shot in this year’s tournament. Given the circumstance, I went all in with the country where my family is from…Greece. Game 1 was against Colombia and what better place to watch this than Queens?! The melting pot of cultures and big Greek and Colombian populations made it an easy destination. We chose to go to the old beer garden aka the Bohemian Hall located at 29-19 24th Avenue in Astoria. The word on the street is that the other beer garden (Studio Square) was charging a $30 cover to watch network television…seriously?!
The venue opened at 11:45AM and had a line around the block by 11AM. We waited and waited…Surrounded by the Colombian fan base in a sea of yellow. We finally made it inside and were clearly outnumbered. Everyone was extremely passionate and friendly. The Greek fans somehow were in the middle of the beautiful garden while the Colombian fans lined the perimeter. The yellow team outscored the blue team 3-0 but the vibe was wonderful, the goulash was outstanding, and the pierogies were delicious. We washed it all down with two pitchers of Blue Point and humbly watched our team get smoked. The next Greece game is on Thursday against Japan and we can’t wait! In the meantime, the city is rocking with events and the diversity of New York shines!