FIFA World Cup 2018, Russia

It was my 1st time ever in Russia, and I have to say it was so different to what I expected! Movies, Western media, and posts on social media always portray Russia as a grey, violent, vodka infused city with bears and mobsters running around all the time, but when I stepped out of the Domodedovo airport in Moscow my perception was changed immediately. Moscow is one of the most colorful cities, with historical monuments, and architectural wonders spread throughout the city.

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THE BREATHTAKING SIGHTS

My 1st stop was the famous Red Square, which is considered as the center of Moscow. This area had come alive with all the football fans from around the world as the streets are filled with restaurants, bars, good music, and other activities organized by Fifa too. Bordering the Red Square are the Kremlin which is scarily enormous up close (that’s what you call a fortress!), and Saint Basil’s Cathedral which looks straight out of a cartoon with its vibrant colors, and that is why this is one of the best locations to visit during your stay.

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THINGS TO DO

If you ever find yourself in Moscow, don’t waste any time getting to Gorky Park. It’s brimming with life as thousands of people gather there every day to partake in the variety of activities available. You can rent a bike, skate to your hearts content, take line dancing lessons, or even just sit and listen to one of the many live musicians! Of course there were many football related activities going on all over the place as well, such as pick-up games, free-kick challenges, and even a penalty challenge to beat a robotic goalkeeper which seemed almost impossible for everyone who tried it.

From here I would advise getting yourself on a river cruise in order to see exactly how beautiful the city really is. As I said before, the architectural prowess is simply amazing in comparison to any other city I have seen, with each building being more beautiful than the last. There are a variety of river cruises that serve scrumptious meals on board so don’t miss out!

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THE FOOD

Truth be told, we ate Western food 90% of the time because that’s our preference. I had to try Jamie’s Italian restaurant so that I could learn new things for my own restaurant back home, and wow did I learn a lot. As for Russian cuisine, we tried Russia’s own fast food franchise Teremok. They make the most amazing dishes using a pancake known as Blini, which is made to choice with fillings such as Chicken Caesar Salad, Meatball Marinara, BBQ Pork, or even with chocolate and banana if you have a sweet tooth. I know it doesn’t sound extraordinary, but we ate from Teremok 4 times during our whole visit because it was that good!

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THE WORLD CUP

We were blessed to get really good tickets to watch the semi-final that took place in Moscow between England and Croatia. Getting to the Luzhniki stadium was easy as they had busses doing continuous trips from many parts of the city. When entering the premises we were stopped at security who were suspicious of our flag which we take for any big event (a lion holding a sword does raise some flags, pardon the pun :p), but once we explained to them it was the Sri Lankan flag we all had a good laugh and they let us through. The area surrounding the stadium was electric! Thousands of people had gathered to cheers their team on, and the organizers had done an amazing job with the planning so that everyone has a good time. Sadly I was supporting England that day, but was so happy for Croatia in the end (only because of Modric).