2 Weeks in Moscow: From High to Low and Back Again

Moscow is a furnace. The distinctive European heat builds up across the plains from mild warmth first thing in the morning, through to a stifling humid blanket during the middle of the day, then strengthening blasts of hot wind kick-in during the afternoon until the thunderstorms of early evening, and even then there is little release from the humidity that stokes the embers of the dying day and makes the night sticky and uncomfortable. This has been constant for the past week or so, sucking the energy

from us and even despite our best efforts, has sent us scurrying back to the apartment for mid-afternoon naps, or into bars to wait out the storms, and whilst we have started to acclimatise to it, we are nowhere near being as used to it as the local Muscovites are. I had forgotten what a central European summer was like....

After the euphoria of the England win over Columbia we need to prepare ourselves for the upcoming Quarterfinals game with Sweden, and we decided to head to the Moscow Fan Fest to enjoy the experience. We got there in the sunshine and rode out the inevitable rain and bag ourselves a prime spot with a table close to

one of the giant screens with high hopes and fingers crossed.. We needn’t have worried, England cruised past the Swedes with ease and before we knew it we were celebrating England making it to a World Cup Semi-final for the first time in 28 years, more time that both Yates & I had been doing these World Cup trips, and to cap it off, we had tickets to the game.

At this point in the competition, we had a couple of days with no matches so we plotted out our sightseeing schedule to fill in the gaps. We spent an afternoon doing a self-guided tour of the Moscow underground which is quite rightly described as ‘the most beautiful underground in the World’, which is no idle boast with some of the stations and platforms are genuine works-of-art. We also had the chance to once again celebrate my birthday on this

trip as we invariably do every four years, this time clocking over to 57 years young and what better way to celebrate such an auspicious occasion than by visiting a Soviet Cold War era bunker situated 65m below the streets of Moscow. It was an impressive complex, with 18 flights of stairs to get down to 4 massive underground tunnels converted into a cold war command centre, 2 of which are still

accessible, 1 being a museum and a recreation of

how the bunker would be used, and the other into a bar & nightclub. Suffice to say, we spent a couple of hours in a bar before heading down to Bunker-42, and then a couple of hours drinking White Russians in the bar after the tour. Just to round of the day, there was a cake, with candles, waiting for me when we returned to the apartment and several vodka shots, most of which got snorted through my nose.... Don’t ask...

We were soon back into Football mode with the Quarterfinals kicking off, and our hardest decision was where we were going to watch them, lucky there are plenty of bars and restaurants within a few minutes of our Lomomovsky Prospect apartment. The day of the England semi-final was spent walking around Gorky Park, (a far cry from what is depicted in most films), eating at a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant and then a slow and leisurely walk along the Moscow River towards Sparrow Hills and the Luzhniki Stadium.  There was a good buzz around the area and we found a Russin place for the pre-match dinner where we shared the garden patio with fans from England, Croatia and a heap of others besides. 

We arrived early at the stadium, gathered some beers and marched up the 6 levels of stairs to our seats in the Gods. I was a lot calmer about this game than I had been the Columbia game, and this sense of calm soon turned into an air of expectancy when Tripper scored in the 5^th minute of the game, regardless of the little voice in my head say “they score too early”. We played well in the first half and had chances to

increase our lead, but as the half wore on, Croatia got a bigger foothold in the game. The Second half was terrible, England spent far too much time back-passing to the keeper and sitting back and inviting pressure upon themselves that it was kind of inevitable that the Croatian pressure would bear fruit and they drew in the 61^st minute. England clung on for the last half an hour and the game went to extra time, and I could tell that they had run out of imagination as the Croats got stronger and stronger. Then in the 2^nd half of Extra time came the 2^nd Croatian goal and from that point on it was all over for England, they just didn’t have the creativity or imagination needed to prise open the Croatian defense. Well Done Croatia, and hard luck England. Even though they lost we stayed to celebrate their hearty display and when all is said and done, England did far better than most people expected and I for one was proud of their effort.

The next day was a write-off, we were all so very tired and drained from both the exertion of the previous day, the emotional highs & lows of the football, and the stifling heat & humidity, I don’t think we left the apartment until 5pm to search out some food. Feeling exceedingly slovenly and repentant, we resolved to go and see something the following day, regardless of the heat or the effort. We ended

up visiting a park called VDNKh, or Vystavka Dostizheniy Narodnogo Khozyaystva to give it it’s full name, mainly because I wanted to ride on the Monorail that they there. Once that slightly underwhelming achievement was done we wandered into VDNKh took in the spectacular buildings and displays and retreated to a shady bar for a solid 2 hours of ‘people-watching’ and the occasional beer.

The following day was the 3^rd/4^th play-off game between England & Belgium, and even though I can’t remember ever having watched this dead-rubber of a game in all my time watching World Cup football, I decided as it was England’s last chance to salvage a 3^rd place medal I thought we should give it a watch.

Before the Kick-off, Yates was off to the Moscow State Circus which is alarmingly close to the apartment, while Fiona & I went to Victory Park, created to celebrate what the Russians call the’1941-1945 Great Patriotic War’. We met up in our local bar to watch the game and were not too disheartened by the lackluster result; at least we had a couple of beers to cheer us up. We decided to go to the same place to watch the final, all firmly supporting Croatia, and help to create a great atmosphere in the bar as we watched the closing ceremony and the kick-off. The game had a bit of everything in it, from a dodgy free kick, and VAR penalty, a howler from the French keeper,  (he plays for Tottenham you know...?), and

a couple of stunning goals from the French to seal the deal. Overall the French probably deserved it, and the Croatians finally ran out of energy, and apart from the massive thunderstorm during the presentations, that was it for another World Cup. In my mind, this had been the best World Cup ever, both from the perspective of the quality of the Football, but also for the excellent organisation and the first class venues, and the warmth and friendliness of the Russian people. Russia should be very proud of what they have done in the last month.

The last couple of days have been back into the hardcore sightseeing, trying to get to see all those things that you thought you had ages to get to, only to realise that there was only 3 days left to cram them all in, plus pack and get ready for the slow return to New Zealand for us, and back to Colorado for Yates.  Yesterday we rode the Metro back to Gorky park for another slap-up lunch at the Vietnamese restaurant we had found last week on our travels, and we also went to a ‘Banksy’ exhibition at Moscow’s central  art centre just along the river, which Fiona & I really

enjoyed, and I think Yates liked too. Today we braved the excessive heat and the crush of the Metro to go back to the centre of the city to visit the Kremlin and to walk in the spectacular grounds and visit the stunning buildings in Cathedral Square. Moscow has an awful lot to offer its visitors, and like St. Petersburg before it, Moscow has blown us away with its beauty, its heritage, and its friendly openness. So to paraphrase the words of the great philosopher, Ferris Bueller, “It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it”.