Enjoying Republic Day in Baku
28th May 2019
The Metro Station we had used the day before was called "28 May" and today was the 28th May...Republic Day and a holiday in Azerbaijan.
And what a day it was.....
Despite a comfortable bed, aircon and a quiet room, I woke up after just 6 hours asleep and try as I might, I could not drift off for any more much needed Zzzzzzs.
So, breakfast time it was, a simple affair with lots of coffee...ordinary Nescafe, not my favourite, but it did the trick perking me up.
We had to check out of this hotel (the daily rate shot up from Tuesday) and move to our main accommodation for the rest of the trip. Trouble was, we could not get access to it until late afternoon, so we got a taxi to the hotel our friend was staying at so we could store our luggage in his room and go off to explore what Baku has to offer.
We had a wander around the old city (without a guide) and took in some of the key sights, including the impressive Maiden Tower.
More about the old city will be in a later entry.
We saw the UEFA Fan Festival across the road and decided to take a look. And so the fun began....
In the Fan Festival area, it really felt that there was genuine excitement in the air despite all the continuing negativity towards UEFA in the press. As soon as people realised we were English speaking Arsenal fans from the UK, we started to be asked to comment on camera about our feelings towards Baku. By this point, we had only positive things to say because the welcome we had been getting was so genuine and friendly.
We spotted the Arsenal booth and decided to get over to it to have my picture taken with my new flag.
As soon as the flag came out, the pandemonium began. So many people wanted their picture taken with it (and me!!!😂😂), the local Azerbaijani TV news crew wanted an interview with me. They spent ages trying to get a good segment which they wanted to end by me and a group of Arsenal fans from Guangzhou in China chanting something in Azerbaijani. The trouble was, we could not remember the phrase and messed it up! So it got filmed one last time, with us just chanting, "Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal" instead!!
More news crews wanted our attention. I cannot deny that the attention was not fun and Steve was enjoying the experience too...his Arsenal shirt and the flag were a powerful magnet.
I had an especially long interview with Ukranian TV news and while they were filming me at the Arsenal booth astride some canons, one of the guys from the Irish bar the night before shouted something that I sensed was derogatory towards me. After the interview, I went straight up to him and tackled him about why he had said what he had. He said he immediately regretted what he said and sincerely apologised. He went on to tell me that he and his friends had talked about the incident the night before and they realised what they had been chanting could be hurtful to some people. The guy that had been particularly offensive to me in particular was spoken to by his mates and apparently even he realised he had been wrong. Finally the guy said he was aware of our official banner at the Emirates and that he and his friends would look on it with far more respect than previously. So, all in all, a positive resolution and calling it out the night before had been the right thing to do, if a little scary.
A few more interviews later, we were media-ed out and needed to go get a beer, well, it was a hot day too! While I was putting away my `magnetic` flag a gentleman from a larger news crew from the BBC asked if they could interview us. My two friends seemed to perk up when they saw the interviewer, I just had a vague feeling I knew him but could not remember from where. This crew were quite particular about where to interview us and when it was then time to be interviewed by David Ornstein, I suddenly realised how I knew him! The interview seemed to go well and then it was Steve's turn and he was brilliant.
As we said goodbye to the BBC crew, we went and had our well earned beer just outside the entrance to the Fan Zone. After less than 10 minutes, the BBC guys left. Hmmmm, had they got enough good footage in such a short time?
After the beer, we decided it was high time for lunch, and so our fondness for kebabs grew!! To be honest, I was ravenous, all that media work had made me hungry! 😄
It was time to collect our bags and make our way to our accommodation for the next three nights....a top floor 2 bedroom apartment with a balcony overlooking the old city. We were looking forward to it. It was a dream that was about the begin to turn into a nightmare.......
The Metro Station we had used the day before was called "28 May" and today was the 28th May...Republic Day and a holiday in Azerbaijan.
And what a day it was.....
Despite a comfortable bed, aircon and a quiet room, I woke up after just 6 hours asleep and try as I might, I could not drift off for any more much needed Zzzzzzs.
So, breakfast time it was, a simple affair with lots of coffee...ordinary Nescafe, not my favourite, but it did the trick perking me up.
We had to check out of this hotel (the daily rate shot up from Tuesday) and move to our main accommodation for the rest of the trip. Trouble was, we could not get access to it until late afternoon, so we got a taxi to the hotel our friend was staying at so we could store our luggage in his room and go off to explore what Baku has to offer.
We had a wander around the old city (without a guide) and took in some of the key sights, including the impressive Maiden Tower.
More about the old city will be in a later entry.
We saw the UEFA Fan Festival across the road and decided to take a look. And so the fun began....
In the Fan Festival area, it really felt that there was genuine excitement in the air despite all the continuing negativity towards UEFA in the press. As soon as people realised we were English speaking Arsenal fans from the UK, we started to be asked to comment on camera about our feelings towards Baku. By this point, we had only positive things to say because the welcome we had been getting was so genuine and friendly.
We spotted the Arsenal booth and decided to get over to it to have my picture taken with my new flag.
As soon as the flag came out, the pandemonium began. So many people wanted their picture taken with it (and me!!!😂😂), the local Azerbaijani TV news crew wanted an interview with me. They spent ages trying to get a good segment which they wanted to end by me and a group of Arsenal fans from Guangzhou in China chanting something in Azerbaijani. The trouble was, we could not remember the phrase and messed it up! So it got filmed one last time, with us just chanting, "Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal" instead!!
More news crews wanted our attention. I cannot deny that the attention was not fun and Steve was enjoying the experience too...his Arsenal shirt and the flag were a powerful magnet.
I had an especially long interview with Ukranian TV news and while they were filming me at the Arsenal booth astride some canons, one of the guys from the Irish bar the night before shouted something that I sensed was derogatory towards me. After the interview, I went straight up to him and tackled him about why he had said what he had. He said he immediately regretted what he said and sincerely apologised. He went on to tell me that he and his friends had talked about the incident the night before and they realised what they had been chanting could be hurtful to some people. The guy that had been particularly offensive to me in particular was spoken to by his mates and apparently even he realised he had been wrong. Finally the guy said he was aware of our official banner at the Emirates and that he and his friends would look on it with far more respect than previously. So, all in all, a positive resolution and calling it out the night before had been the right thing to do, if a little scary.
A few more interviews later, we were media-ed out and needed to go get a beer, well, it was a hot day too! While I was putting away my `magnetic` flag a gentleman from a larger news crew from the BBC asked if they could interview us. My two friends seemed to perk up when they saw the interviewer, I just had a vague feeling I knew him but could not remember from where. This crew were quite particular about where to interview us and when it was then time to be interviewed by David Ornstein, I suddenly realised how I knew him! The interview seemed to go well and then it was Steve's turn and he was brilliant.
As we said goodbye to the BBC crew, we went and had our well earned beer just outside the entrance to the Fan Zone. After less than 10 minutes, the BBC guys left. Hmmmm, had they got enough good footage in such a short time?
After the beer, we decided it was high time for lunch, and so our fondness for kebabs grew!! To be honest, I was ravenous, all that media work had made me hungry! 😄
It was time to collect our bags and make our way to our accommodation for the next three nights....a top floor 2 bedroom apartment with a balcony overlooking the old city. We were looking forward to it. It was a dream that was about the begin to turn into a nightmare.......
Comments
Post a Comment