Rick B
10 Aug 2006, 09:55 PM
Well where do I start? As is tradition now after European away games here are some photo's of the two stadiums and games. I started off as I finished funnily enough.........with a delayed plane. I knew I'd be pushing it for the Alkmaar game with a flight that was due to land in Amsterdam at 3.25pm CET, and when I was still on the runway at Heathrow at 3.30pm CET I knew I'd be pushed to make the game. Thankfully I was picked up from the airport and we got there with an hour to spare. The stadium is nice, not very big but with plenty of expansion potential if they need it in the future.
The game was attended by about 70 Arsenal fans, actually more than I thought would go - but I guess it isn't too far. After the game I went straight back to Amsterdam where I caught a tram to Sarabella's place and went for drinks and food with her and bluedaddy. We watched the Ajax game on the TV in the bar, thanks to them for their hospitality. Saturday am found me on a plane to Berlin where I went to a Birthday party. Sunday was spent relaxing in Berlin. Early Monday morning I got a flight to Vienna, had lunch there and then got on a train which went through Austria and Slovenia and ended in Zagreb. It was a weird way to get there, but it was very pleasant. I was very kindly picked up from the train station by Sleeper and his brother. Went for a few drinks with The Grimster and the usual suspects in the city centre on a road, surprisingly enough, called bar street........:rolleyes:
We ended up in a casino until the early hours as it was the only place left open serving drinks. Tuesday we met up with santana who took us after we had all collected our tickets from the Arsenal hotel, to a lovely restaurant where we enjoyed a fantastic fish lunch. Onto the game itself - santana had very kindly got me 4 tickets in the Croatian end in the West Stand. A much better view than where the Arsenal fans were although we had to check ourselves when the goals went in!!! But the Croatian fans were fantastic, really loud and sang throughout. Their players responded by at the end spending time thanking the players. Im sure Arsenal's players had an excuse not too.........:rolleyes: After the game we went to a lake where we sat and had a couple of drinks before going back to the casino in the main square.
Wednesday was spent relaxing and sightseeing before flying back today after waking up and hearing the newsd of the attempted terrorist plot. It was a good 7 days though the pre-season and the Alkmaar games have taken their toll on the usual travellers to the extent that only 11 people have so far gone to every game this season (6 games). It really does make me think that we need to start thinking seriously over having a smaller Premiership.......
Photo's of the past two games (http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=2b1yg0gp.87aqqra1&x=0&y=y7a0s6)
Video of fans before Zagreb game (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmQEtG-DuQA)
The game was attended by about 70 Arsenal fans, actually more than I thought would go - but I guess it isn't too far. After the game I went straight back to Amsterdam where I caught a tram to Sarabella's place and went for drinks and food with her and bluedaddy. We watched the Ajax game on the TV in the bar, thanks to them for their hospitality. Saturday am found me on a plane to Berlin where I went to a Birthday party. Sunday was spent relaxing in Berlin. Early Monday morning I got a flight to Vienna, had lunch there and then got on a train which went through Austria and Slovenia and ended in Zagreb. It was a weird way to get there, but it was very pleasant. I was very kindly picked up from the train station by Sleeper and his brother. Went for a few drinks with The Grimster and the usual suspects in the city centre on a road, surprisingly enough, called bar street........:rolleyes:
We ended up in a casino until the early hours as it was the only place left open serving drinks. Tuesday we met up with santana who took us after we had all collected our tickets from the Arsenal hotel, to a lovely restaurant where we enjoyed a fantastic fish lunch. Onto the game itself - santana had very kindly got me 4 tickets in the Croatian end in the West Stand. A much better view than where the Arsenal fans were although we had to check ourselves when the goals went in!!! But the Croatian fans were fantastic, really loud and sang throughout. Their players responded by at the end spending time thanking the players. Im sure Arsenal's players had an excuse not too.........:rolleyes: After the game we went to a lake where we sat and had a couple of drinks before going back to the casino in the main square.
Wednesday was spent relaxing and sightseeing before flying back today after waking up and hearing the newsd of the attempted terrorist plot. It was a good 7 days though the pre-season and the Alkmaar games have taken their toll on the usual travellers to the extent that only 11 people have so far gone to every game this season (6 games). It really does make me think that we need to start thinking seriously over having a smaller Premiership.......
Photo's of the past two games (http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=2b1yg0gp.87aqqra1&x=0&y=y7a0s6)
Video of fans before Zagreb game (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmQEtG-DuQA)