Fringe has no Edge to it!

... or summat... see what I did there? Not really that inspired by The Fringe or The Edge or The Side or whatever it is called... I'm sure there must be a wee gem tucked away there somewhere but nothing that jumps out... perhaps I am ignorant once more...

There seems to be some decent big names at the Festival, Bill Bailey being a highlight for me. Any recommend any serious chuckles?

Glastonbury came and went... perhaps because of Andy Murray it didn't get the usual hype? Elbow looked fantastic and Band of Horses proved to be the ultimate in red-neck rock... but is it all an act?

Euro 2008 #3

So Spain were worthy winners in the end. They were the only consistent team and fully deserved their victory. I had thought that Germany would grind out a victory in their own unique style but they too seemed to fall to the inability to string two good performances together syndrome that struck all other teams.

The only issue with Spain's victory was commentators jumping on the premiership player bandwagon, trying to make out that since they play in Ingerland, it's almost as if Ingerland have won it! Two of the most talked about, Torres and Ronaldo had surprisingly poor performances, neither being as bad Luca-please make the goals bigger-Toni. Fergie should get silly money for Ronaldo and invest in both German wide players, a striker and a decent right back! He'd probably still have change too...

Overall a decent tournament. None of the home nations were missed, as the commentators liked to imply. The stadium could have held another 10k, but realistically which Swiss or Austrian league side needs a 40,000 seater?

Now for July.... what to do? The Intertoto really isn't that interesting... when does the season start again?

Euro 2008 #2

Nice to see the teams who played the best football top their groups. The Dutch especially have been outstanding, with Croatia also superb. Italy and Germany have sneaked through and I have a suspicion that they might just keep going... hope not, but they tend to do that!

Wales and Scotland are looking at making sure they reach the finals - by hosting it! How good would that be... with Scotland even trying to steal the next lot of Ukraine/Poland, if they don't get round to being ready!

Euro 2008 #1

After the first round of matches, it seems that the big guns are firing on all cylinders... well most of them...

Germany, Netherlands and Spain all look good. It's great to see the teams who have attacked reap the rewards. Russia, like in 2004, looked totally out of their depth... Sweden and Portugal also played to their respective strengths... a decent championship so far...

Would like to see the stadium for a Sweden v Netherlands game... nice and bright.

Holland

Once again the match is not the highlight, or main draw, of the trip. A fair game, very end of season, friendly in the sun. Lethargy on the pitch and in the stands. Drinking in the park, just happened to be a game on at the same time! The Dutch fans are well up for it though. Never seen so much orange, head to toe, wigs, clogs, pants, face paint… a very friendly, hospitable, fun place. Lots of bars, lots of chat, laughter…

Rotterdam was actually a decent place. Well set up fan zones in the centre. Very much a business city, being the biggest port in the world, but some good sites and basically taken over by orange!

We decided to escape Little Britain, i.e. Amsterdam, for Haarlem. It is only 15 or so minutes away on the very efficient, punctual, frequent Dutch train; but it is also worlds away from Amsterdam. It is pretty quiet, small and picturesque. A town with quite a few bars round a central market square. There’s a distinct lack of stag parties, which was excellent, and the locals knew how to enjoy themselves…

Amsterdam is a great city too. It is beautiful. If you can avoid or remove the stag parties, it would be even better. Guess that what happens when you have a good place with the particular draws it has.

It is a bit like Groundhog Day though – walking over a canal bridge as a tour boat cruises beneath; a lamp shop on the corner of the street! Being flat, everyone cycles. At stations and in the centre there are fields of bikes, racked up. Probably more bikes than there are legs to peddle them.

Holland is a good place. I like it. Everything just seems to work, and work well. Like a Honda advert! Efficient and quality, just darn good.

Oh, the Dutch won 2-0, through a mistake by Brother Phils favourite player Carl Robinson and then what looked like a really soft free kick... Being as we had 5 or 6 first team players missing and the average of our team was 14, thought we did well...

footy...

Ah, end of season... but wait the BBC are here to cheer up our summer... chants of the year and the like can be read here... including such classics as:

"You should have banked with The Woolwich!"
Derby fans to Northern Rock-sponsored Newcastle.

if you want to make the Euros more interesting, enter my compo, leave me a message or email it to me. rich at olyott dot co dot uk.

Musical moans

*
I was at a not too busy Barrowlands on Friday night to watch the splendid Guillemots. Note I didn't say listen to! That's my moan here. This was probably the worst audience I have been part of ... can I call them fans? A crowd?

Glasgow gigs can be notoriously bad for people talking through the music, this was the worst ever. A combination of the venue and of the band crossing over from the uber cool undercover indie seen to the mainstream charts, drew a crowd of music lovers, fans and randoms...

As a band they were immense. Fyfe Dangerfield (the best name ever for a frontman) is a superb musician with an awesome voice. I became captivated (like most [males]) with Arista during her performance of the there's something strange about the way you say you're sorry over and over again... song!

I'm also trying to listen to the new Death Cab album. So far it's formed the backdrop to endless national assessment marking, but it seems to be very Death Cab with much more less single friendly sounds...

*(can i use your image lovely flickr person?)

Lviv or Lvov!

Lviv is totally different to Kiev. It has a different feel and a different look. I guess this shouldn't really be a surprise as it is much further West and has had many different rulers in the past. The Russians, Poles and Austro-Hungarians all had a say in its development!

This could be anywhere in central Europe. The terracotta roof tiles resembles most cities; cafe bars and street performers hint at Prague; the opera house hints at Vienna. Ukrainian is more dominant than Russian. There seem to be more tourists, but these are either from other parts of Ukraine or Russian groups.

We feasted on a great Georgian Banquet and sampled the local brew. Brewed since 1715, allegedly started up by a Brit called Robert Doms. The beer hall was next door to the local brewery which allegedly used to pipe the beer directly in. This was one of the only bars we found. Most locals tend to have a carry out on the street - cheaper and more sociable! The inevitable Irish bar wanted to sell your Dutch and Belgian stuff at five or six times the price of the local, tastier, brew!

There are a couple of great view points too. A central clock tower on the town hall, and a view point slightly more out of town, a bit of a trek up to an old fortification. The clock towers, well church towers are one of the give aways as to where you are. The golden domes giving a distinctly orthodox feel to the tradition. The insides of the churches were something else. An extreme demonstration of splendour! Not really a fan of that, but I guess in that tradition is it meant to point towards something more glorious? (Could the money be spent elsewhere?).

Kyiv (Kiev to you)

I've travelled a fair bit around Eastern Europe (yea, not as much as you Phil!), and I've really enjoyed seeing new places, new cultures, different currencies and languages. Places like Hungary, Poland and the Baltic States were quite accessible 5 years ago, even more so these days with the onset of the EU and dreaded Euro! But I found Kiev to be on another level. This country is very much in its infancy as a new country, in a way starting at 2004 rather than the same time as its other former Soviet colleagues. (Read the book mentioned below for more!).

The first thing you notice is the lack of spoken English. Now, fair enough, why would there be? Ukrainian and Russian being dominant. Other places have developed a tourist industry, so there are English signs, English speaking bar maids, shop keepers etc... You do have taxi drivers speaking a bit, to inform you of their special tourist rates!! With a country which has battled corruption for so long, I guess there is plenty to sort out with the locals before you worry about tourists...

It lacks tourist prices, which is great... your wee plastic metro tokens costing 5p, crazy buses taken you anywhere for 150 Hryvna. You get about 10 of them for your £1...

You notice that there are no drains. You notice the litter. You notice the crumbling soviet blocks of flats and the 4WD BMWs with tinted windows... You notice a people who are very private when in public - a hangover from those days of communism and corruption. A language which seems very abrupt even rude when used in shops, bars etc.

The influence of Russian culture is evident, especially with the fashions in Kiev. Black leather jackets for the men, knee high boots and heels for the women. You notice how beautiful the women are too! And how thin... which given the amount of root vegetables they eat is surprising!

The language is a huge barrier. Russian being hard to hear let alone read. But having said this the differences are what makes the place, any places. You hope that progress doesn't mean standardisation (with the history of communism were this was evident you really hope not). Westernisation doesn't necessarily mean better. Although there are the inevitable fast food outlets and Irish bars...

Eastern Reads...

When travelling I do like to read travel writing or something relevant to where I am... even better when it covers both aims and includes football!

Behind The Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football is not an almanac! In a way it isn't really a football book. Football is thread that pulls together politics, corruption, terrorism, wars and the collapse of communism amongst other things... It's a fascinating look at how football has been developed or more than likely hindered in former Eastern European countries... Just finished a chapter on Serbia, and most notably Arkan! That'll give you some indication of where the author is going... It also gives you a clearer understanding of how football and wider culture has had so many factors influence it since these countries have become "independent".


When in Ukraine - An Orange Revolution is a must read! It is amazing in this day and age of freedom of speech and democracy how blinkered/filtered/limited our media is, even in the free West! This book gives a detailed and interesting account of the history of Ukraine, with an in depth focus on the more recent years and the ongoing battle for true independence.

Ukraine

I've uploaded some photos of my time in Kyiv and Lviv.... there'll be more to follow
(photos and comment)!