"I wouldn't want to fight with him on Majorca over a sun lounger!" remarked German sportscaster Florian König during RTL Television's broadcast of today's World Cup match between England and Ecuador (England won, 1-0, by the way). He was referring to pug-faced English striker Wayne Rooney -- "that pit bull" -- after Rooney tried to bull his way through two Ecuadoreans to get to the ball.

What does that short sentence tell you, Sherlock? Firstly, that Germans love to vacation on Majorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean. And secondly, that Germans often have disputes over sun loungers.

Due to a quirk of evolution that's never been fully explained (at least to me), Germans habitually lay claim to public sun loungers with their beach towels, thinking this gives them the right to frolic in the surf for as long as they like and then return to reserved seats. It doesn't matter how crowded the beach is. As Germans tend to be early risers, this means that the best loungers are often taken by the time tourists from other nations arrive. Not everyone smiles indulgently at such possessive behavior. The English -- God love 'em -- are particularly apt to remove the offending towels, sit down, and face the wrath of Teutons unlounged.