Soccer and Sambuca

Well you cant say that we arent having fun. Saturday 14th , there were two very imporant soccer, ( sorry Gordon, football matches), World Cup qualifiers, for a few of my collegues. Russia verses Slovenia and Ukraine verses Greece. Not being much of a fan of soccer, I wasnt really supporting anyone, but I figured there would be very few Greece supporters in the room full of Ukrainians, so I quietly (very quietly) was hoping Greece would pull one out of the bag on the night. Kafritsas I hope you like my loyalty to your homeland? We booked a table at a local pub and a we also had a new friend join us. One of the girls at work (Anya), has a sister (Marcia) who spent some time in the USA and is always keen to practice her English, so we invited her along. Apart from that, my blog and Michals blog are filled with the same faces drinking and eating so its nice to have a new face to publish, so meet Marcia

Marcia & Sasha pulling a face as always

Anyway, we rock up to the venue and this pub brews its own beer, so of course, we had to sample the local drop. Quite nice actually, light and dark beer. We soon forgot about the beer as all the big screens came alive with the sound of the national anthem of Russia, as Sasha proudly stood and sang.

Little bit of History for mum...

The State Anthem of the Russian Federation (Russian: Государственный гимн Российской Федерации, Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the national anthem of Russia.

It is an adaptation of the anthem of the Soviet Union of 1944, with music originally composed by Alexander Alexandrov. The lyrics were revised for the anthem of the Russian Federation by Sergey Mikhalkov, who had supplied lyrics for versions of the Soviet anthem in 1943 and 1977. The revision removes any mention of Vladimir Lenin's ideas and the "unbreakable union" of the Soviet state, instead focusing on a country that is vast in area and rich in resources that will be entrusted to future generations.

The hymn was adopted in late 2000 by President Vladimir Putin and replaced The Patriotic Song, which had been the official anthem from 1990. See Mum, I can be cultural (wait for the Ballet and Opera stories that are ahead :-) Maybe! )

Soccor Result. See below.........and Sasha is happy...... as he always is :-)

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Ukraine verses Greece. la de da de da..... Now the crowd starts to get excited

Mine says "Go Greece" and Sasha's says "Greece got to hell"

Half time and the venue provides entertainment (drinking games) for the patrons. I notice Sahsa and Dima talking, next thing, Dima vanashes and we find him on the stage ready to partake in these games. Michal becomes the official photographer for the night and can be seen snapping shots of guys drinking and partially removing their shirts..... Nothing spectacular to report girls..... but Dima did have great moves!!!

Michal being official photographer

Anyway, the prizes are ...”Fosters” caps.....

Soccer Results

Nill all draw !! So I walk out of the pub alive and everyone is happy because apratently both teams have to replay the matches this Wednesday night 18th November. Why? No idea, ask a soccer (sorry Gordon), Footbal expert, although I do beleive Australia & England have made it through, NZ has to beat Bahrain to get through, Poland are out of it (sorry Michal), South Africa (for Parker) and Switzerland (Pierre Andre') have also made it through to play in South Africa in 2010. And that folks is my knowledge of the World cup ! I'm sure somone will correct me if I have got and of these stats incorrect.

Anyway, back to us having fun. Its still reasonably early ..... 10.30 or so, so after a shot of Vodka (it was cold outside), we agree that the night is young and we need to play some more. Back to Michal’s we go and we decide that we require some beverages to polish off the night. Sahsa and Marcia vanish to find suitable refreshments and come back with a bottle of Sambuca. Now those of you who know me, know me as a Chardy girl, so this spirit stuff is new to me and I had no idea what a “flaming sambuca” was, ( I have led a sheltered life). I now know what they are and vow not to have them after beer and vodka again..... Sweety Darling Sweety...... This is, I'm sure something Pats and Eddie would do!!!!!!

Marcia was the expert at making these warm cocktails, but we all helped!

Sasha did the usual Sasha thing

And that my firiends is the end of the Sambuca !!!!

I think Dima and I left Michal’s at 2am, Sasha stayed the night and again on Monday, we were all very tired.

Monday 16th.

A new play mate arrived today. Christina from Germany is our new team member on the project. Welcome Christina and we hope you join us in our adventures in Ukraine. Team dinner at "Pushka's" tomorrow night where I hand over my Aussie flag to the staff to display in the restaurant.

Now one last thing. As we sit down at this pub to watch the soccer, Sasha announces that he has something special for me. He has been out wandering the streets (as you do sometimes here) and has found "POSTCARDS"................... Yes postcards! So, N and GOM, all I have to do now is find a post office ( havent seen one since I have been here), buy a stamp and post these things! Dont hold your breath, this could take another two months !!!!!

Thank you Alexander...... from SAM.
xx


xm