Footie Ruski style

While Liz was resting I scouted out the metro. Had a somewhat fraught discussion with the only person on duty with any degree of English - he was most apologetic. Established what we needed to get to the match - he was most envious. He couldn't get his head round why I didn't get the tokens there & then. I on the other couldn't establish whether they would expire. Equally I couldn't remember how to say thank you & that stressed him out. 1 hour later we were buying our tokens & getting squashed into the metro, Tokyo style. There were other Zenit fans so we had someone to follow at the other end - unless they were heading for a punch up. Stadium & metro line all very new courtesy of FIFA. Once out of the train it was a very convoluted route to the stadium. Bit confused about where to go & even more confused when the steward tried to explain. Extreme warnings on the tickets - no flares, poison, knives etc, were matched with extreme security - airport style. Thankfully got through & had to tackle vast flights of stairs - so much so there were benches half way up. Escalators up to the 2nd tier & a great view of the match, the stadium but also the surrounding area - including the tallest building in Europe - Gazprom's head office from the Gazprom Arena. Makes you think - dodgy dealings maybe. The Zenit fans made a pretty good noise - their team not so much. Conceded a comical own goal. They got very excited when their new signing came on - not that he did too much. Got a last minute equaliser just after we left - had to beat the traffic. Stadium looked spot on at night - as per design, just like a UFO. No wonder it's the most expensive stadium in the world.Read more