When we went in to injury time two nil up versus Sweden, my sister went online and sorted flights out to Moscow, the day before our semi with a “flexible” return coming back the Monday after the final.
Moscow was a truly amazing experience, arriving arriving mid-afternoon I managed to navigate the Express Train to the city and the subway a few stops arriving in the tourist district with the next task of trying to find my hotel… thank goodness for international sim cards and google maps. Walking to the hotel I had some concerns after bumping in to two English lads from my flight who told me they had already found their hotel checked in and then immediately checked out demanding a refund. I gingerly walked through a non-descript hole in the wall door and up the desolate staircase to my 4th floor hotel in a particularly uninviting building with no mention of there being a hotel inside. I was pleasantly surprised to find a very comfortable and clean hotel, which I had booked for the next two nights.
A brief walk down the leafy Gogolevsky Boulevard took me from the Arbat (tourist) district down towards the river past the beautiful Cathedral of Christ the Saviour across the footbridge and in to the Red October area of the river island. Here I headed to the outdoor theatre section of Strelka meeting up with some friends for the first semi-final, France vs. Belgium. An enjoyable game and nice atmosphere in the bar. My English flag was in high demand with the locals for photos and I would fully recommend the rooftop terrace in Strelka for afternoon, sunset and evening drinks (amazing sunset/views and a great atmosphere)!
I soon found out one drawback with Russian hotels seemed to be a lack of decent curtains… with the sun rising at around 3 am in summer and thin white cloth curtains made for a tricky night’s sleep!
On game day the fans started congregating early in the bars along Nikolskaya Street, flags were hanging from every conceivable point of attachment and the fans were in fine voice well-oiled from the vast quantities of local beer which were being poured. Once again I was accosted for several photos with my flag, mainly now from Wolves fans. I was also approached by a nice policeman who posed for some photos and chatted away for 10 minutes or so about Russia, the world cup and working in the police. It was great to chat to him and his colleagues, I should say that after a few beers I would be nervous chatting to an English policeman in London let alone in Russia. However, these guys were so welcoming and friendly. The atmosphere down Nikolskaya was amazing, songs were sung, flags were flown, beers were sank and all below the beautiful lighting that adorns the street year round! What could possibly go wrong today??
It was time to head to the ground with the plan of getting there as the gates opened to ensure my flag made it in ok (it was on the border of allowed sizes). As the subway train emerged from the tunnel and the stadium stood before us, my emotions got the better of me, my throat choked up and tears came to my eyes, I was so happy and proud to be seeing England play in a world cup semi-final and I just couldn’t control myself. I have followed England blindly all over the world with no expectation but with just hope, hope that we may win that game and move on to the next, and here I was in my 10th country following England away in the WC semi-final!
Wandering around the stadium, I bought a very expensive and tacky scarf souvenir and bumped in to Adrian Charles taking pleasure in showing him my Wolves flag, he didn’t find it amusing! Moving towards the stadium we were verbally attacked by Gary Linaker’s Argentinian equivalent who mistakenly accused us of interrupting his live broadcast… a bizarre moment even the producers couldn’t calm him down as he swore and threw air punches in or direction! Under the stand in the concourse hundreds of England fans had congregated and were belting out “Don’t Take Me Home”… 20 minutes later I peeled myself away and headed in for the game. The game was a blur… the first half was euphoria and the second was a frustrating inevitable wait for the Croatian equaliser and ultimate winner… it was a great roller coaster but wasn’t to be! I still haven’t watched the highlights, nor do I intend to any time soon.
With a broken heart, I tried to rearrange my flights home but unfortunately Montenegro Airways don’t really fly that much to Moscow, there was no availability until two weeks after the final… I was stuck in Russia (there are worse places to be stuck). I embraced the opportunity and made the most of my time there, I did a lot more sightseeing, had a date night with a beautiful local I had met on my first night in and also squeezed in St Petersburg.
The idea to go to St Petersburg seemed like a good one at the time, but it turned out to be a long day in the blazing sun watching England stumble to a 2-0 defeat in the most depressing overrated friendly in the world! It was nice to see some of the city although it was a bit of a rush running around the centre seeing the main sights before hurriedly making it to the game just in time for the anthems!
Back in Moscow for the final, I joined my friends in the fantastic Moscow FanFest. I feel everywhere new place you go to in Moscow you are met with yet more impressive grand buildings, and now it was time for the Moscow University campus that housed the FanFest overlooking the Luzhniki Stadium and a large portion of the city. With an amazing backdrop we were treated to a Croatia defeat (I kind of wanted them to win) followed by appearances by some of Russia’s most famous popstars topped off with an impressive DJ set from Benny Benassi! One highlight had to be a Russian rapper rapping about his friend Putin, this was kindly translated to us by a local who befriended us when he saw our England flags (I thought the English scaremongering media said the Russians hated the English?!).
Leaving the fan park near enough to 1am it looked like once again I would not be making it to bed before sunrise and would have about 2 hours in bed before my alarm for my last airport taxi ride… once again getting slightly ripped off on another Yandex journey. This taxi driver however was the next level, speaking no English he seemed to be very concerned about my comfort, asking many questions about the radio noise level, windows open/closed and the AC. During the hour ride to the airport, tiredness took its hold and I started to drift off… next thing I realised we had pulled over and stopped on the motorway as cars and trucks whizzed by! The driver leapt out and started rummaging in the boot returning with a pillow for me to sleep on! Despite the taxi driver’s concerns for my wellbeing, I was once again ripped off, I was too tired and hungover to care about the additional £10 equivalent.
Returning via Tivat in Montenegro I had the chance to leave the airport and venture in to town for breakfast by the seafront. I only had three or so hours to enjoy Tivat but from my short glimpse the centre and waterfront were beautiful, a quaint small seaside town with crystal-clear waters and several nice cafes lining the waterfront, perfect for a leisurely breakfast watching the world go by! Feeling somewhat refreshed and awakened from coffee and (a very rich) eggs royal I returned via taxi down the very narrow winding roads to the tiny bustling airport for the final leg of my journey home. I eventually made it home but alas football did not come home with me… it’s just not ready to come home yet.. until 2020!
Highlights
Best Drink: Bar Ess-Thetik’s specialty shot… an acquired taste, which is chased and soothed with a slice of apple… between two of us we had three trays!
Best Experience: Trippier’s goal in the semi-final… what could have been… and meeting so many nice Russians.
Afterword
When I went to Russia, there was significant tension between our respective governments, especially in light of what may have happened in Salisbury. One thing that soon became very apparent to me, was that the majority of the Russian people are exactly like us. I cannot say enough positive things about the many Russians I met during my time in Russia.
