This short piece on the stunning city of St Petersburg is scheduled to be printed in Football Weekends at the end of the month as part of the guide to Euro 2020/1. Unfortunately few, if any fans from Belgium, Finland or Denmark will be able to visit, but it has been decided to go ahead with the edition as if fans can visit, with a view to leaving the chat out there for a possible visit once this pandemic blows through. The Champions League Final is scheduled to be in the Zenit Arena in 2022, so people will likely be headed to St Petersburg in larger numbers then for hopefully Zenit v Inter Milan final, chance would be a fine thing!
Three years on from the best organised World Cup ever, Russia has the opportunity to shine a spotlight on itself once more this summer as part of UEFA’s European Championship fiftieth anniversary jamboree with games spread far and wide from Baku to Bilbao. The nominated Russian city is the jewel in the crown, the incredible city of St Petersburg.
With Russia playing two of their group matches here, opportunities for visiting fans to obtain tickets won’t be as bountiful while the continued feel good factor of the Russian public continues on the wave of the nation’s unexpectedly successful route to the Quarter Finals, where only a penalty shoot out prevented further progression. While European fans did not flock to Russia two years ago, South, Central and Latin Americans were present in their droves, including a fine collection of El Salvadoreans who were there to cheer Costa Rica! That said, with St Petersburg’s near neighbours in Finland enjoying their first ever finals tournament, a blue and white Scandinavian invasion can be expected.
The 2018 World Cup was a wonderful event. It may have surprised a lot of onlookers, but those who ventured to the largest country on the planet returned home with glowing testimony. The cynical still refused to accept that Russia could so wonderfully organise the event, endeavouring to pour scorn on the positives with suggestions it was merely an elaborate stunt! I was successful in getting match tickets for the tournament, leaving the only angst to travel issues and trouble securing my return fast train ticket from St Petersburg to Helsinki despite having bought the ticket at considerable expense six months before the trip from Russian Trains, a situation that took too long to resolve. This train is going to be in high demand this summer with Finland playing across the border!
I was bowled over by the city and it’s beauty upon arrival at Finlandskaya Railway Station. The International train arrives, and departs from a rather unattractive side gate, away from the lavish facaded main building reserved for internal travel. A line of soldiers keep the locals awaiting their loved ones out on the pavement. I was one of the lucky recipients of such a warm local embrace, always a special feeling. I had booked Hotel St Petersburg which was just a short walk along the Neva river, and Tania enjoyed a holiday in her own city! The hotel was right on an apex of the river, and the room afforded the most incredible views of the city across the Neva, complete with the Aurora, the famous old naval vessel where the revolution was signalled all those years ago. It does have the busiest dual carriageway between the hotel entrance and the river, and while the view is stunning, if you are a light sleeper, don’t book a river view room, or indeed maybe not the ideal hotel for you as we amusingly referred to it as the “airport hotel” such was the relentless traffic throughout the night!
That said, I never tired of the stunning hotel vista with floor to roof windows that ran the length of the room. The changing colours on the buildings across the water altered by the changing light were a marvel, culminating in the room being the perfect location for a Saturday night extravaganza of fireworks. St Petersburg was celebrating the graduation of another year of students with a concert in the square by the beautiful Hermitage, complete with the sailing of a majestic red sailed clipper on the Neva. It went through the gap caused by the visually arresting sight of the road bridge lifted skyward, with a flotilla of boats in proximity to enjoy the fireworks from the water. Those in St Petersburg for the tournament might just happen on this event this year, a Saturday night event in or around the longest day!
I have visited a number of beautiful cities; Venezia, Paris, Prague and Buenos Aires to name merely a few, but none of them can compare to Peter the Great’s vision for a city, St Petersburg is simply stunning. It is a very large city, built on many different islands and you are never far from water wherever you go. The main tourist attractions are all within a certain walkable radius, albeit a significant radius and it would be impossible to enjoy it all in a day. The Peter and Paul fortress is built on the entirety of the small Hare Island in the Neva near the centre of the city, with it’s stunning high gold gilded spires of the Cathedral which are a feature of the city skyline. Across the Neva, you can climb halfway up St Isaac’s Cathedral from where the views across the relatively flat city are wonderful. In the park in front of this church is the statue of the main man Peter the Great. On the Neva near this statue you have the option of taking a river boat cruise through the intricate canal system that gives St Petersburg the feel of a more lavish Amsterdam. The most stunning of the churches in the city is The Saviour on the Spilled Blood Cathedral, the most Russian Orthodox of them all with its iconic colourful domes and incredible paintings. The fanzone for the World Cup was in the vicinity of this church, affording a fantastic backdrop of those magnificent domes to the party atmosphere of the collectively gathered fans from all around the world, and if it is resurrected for Euro 2020 you are in for a treat. The Hermitage is the main event in the city, a colossal museum capturing the most incredible artefacts of yesteryear Russia. Be warned however that cruise ships arrive daily as well as a huge number of non football tourism in the city and the queues to get into the Hermitage might take hours and patience!
The new St Petersburg Stadium is a little way from the centre of the city on its own island, Krestovsky in the corner of a magnificent park. It is well served by two Metro lines (M3-Novokrestovsky station and M5-Krestovsky Island) that will bring you to either side of the magnificent stadium. The M5 option brings you to the far end of the park, but it is a wonderful tree lined boulevard-esque, pedestrian only walk through the park to the “spaceship” like, the futuristic new home of Zenit. In the park but near the M5 metro station are a couple of fabulous bars/restaurants, excellent establishments for sustenance and libation ahead of the leisurely stroll to the stadium. Once inside, the view will be magnificent from wherever you have a seat, it is a fabulous atmospheric modern arena.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 