You probably wondered when this topic would arise. Well it’s official, the time has come. The world cup starts in a few days…in the week to be exact. Kazan being one of the host cities, tourists are already here and the center already has information domes set up on some locations. There is even a countdown calendar and a world cup mascot figure where people can take their photos with. Souvenir shops have special world cup souvenirs and even the local grocery shops. Some malls even have special decorations like it’s a soccer Christmas! 😀
The firsts match in Kazan is Saturday (16th) between Australia and France.
On Friday, I was in the center and saw a special world cup camera crew taking footage of tourist posing at the mascot figure, people taking photos of the city and then they also came into the same souvenir shop I was in. They wanted to take video of how people shop for souvenirs. They were three men dressed in their blue world cup jackets with the world cup logo and their big camera’s. Only one was Russian speaking and the other two were English. I can’t really remember if they had accents so I won’t be able to say where they were from.
Needless to say, the city is getting busier and busier. The hop on hop off tourist busses are coming and going more frequently and you see more people walking around with their cameras hanging around their necks. It’s very festive and if this is before the games has even started, I can just imagen the loads of people and festivities once it’s kick off time, not to mention when they play in Kazan! That of coarse also means that “security” has been tightened up. Police have been stationed in pairs almost on every second block and they are everywhere. If you don’t do anything wrong…your fine! 😀 They’re there for your safety anyways so it’s actually good to see.
I’m personally not really a soccer fan but I would also like to attend a world cup match. But not alone….with a friend or family member. It’s so ironic that I’m actually in the same country that it’s being held and not going. All I have to do is get a ticket. (On a student’s budget…yah right!) I don’t even need to fly out to another country or city. Okay I know, I could have said the same thing in 2010 when it was held in South Africa, but in my defense, I was 15 years old! How on earth would I have afforded it more than I can now? Oh well, we can’t always get everything we want. I’m just enjoying the pre-game atmosphere! 😀 It’s making my last few weeks here very “festive”.
I guess that’s it for my little rant this week. I’m preparing for my last exam(s) and slowly starting with preparations to come home. Really excited!!!
Anyways, I hope everyone had an awesome week. May everyone have a wonderful Sunday and a blessed week ahead!
Talk soon.
To Live is To Dane
xoxo
