When the Cheshire emerges...

With all the speculation of whether Brazil could pull off the World Cup in time, being in the thick of it suggests there is nothing to worry about. Perhaps it's just that the condition of the stadiums (among other things) are taking a backseat to the building vibe of the country's two biggest cities. But this very proud nation is anticipating the start of the world's biggest tournament with nothing but high expectations.






There have been stark messages still protesting against the World Cup, from simple graffiti on Rio De Janeiro bus stops defaming FIFA to union strikes in Sao Paulo too well timed that led to the suspension of their metro system for days.






Multiple tour guides, who make their livelihood from displaying the best of what their city has to offer, tell of the country's darker side. A country struggling to help its people with good health care, focusing on the wrong things and neglecting what's really needed. They agreed the World Cup would always be a good thing for the importance of football worldwide as well as the Brazilian economy (not to mention national pride), but understood the anger of those not as sports-minded.










It's even a case of uncertainty for many teams. Major injuries have ruled out players like Franck Ribery and Marco Reus, leaving the door open for any possibility throughout the tournament. Spectators will appreciate that more than teams and the tournament organisers.








So with all of that, the tourists are the winners - for now. In Rio De Janeiro, the visible influx of media, sponsor officials and spectators across a two-day period gave rise to a buzz unlike anything else, where high spirits were mixed with the kind found in a caipirinha. And now in Sao Paulo, host to the opening game where the world will closely watch Brazil's form, tourists are around for nothing else. Particularly males - for this writer, it is felt strongly in her budget accommodation of choice; a 'shared' dorm not hosting other females and struggling to spot a non-staff female in the building.






Whatever a tourist or local's circumstance, the feeling is electric. Knowing the world will stop in just a couple of days and being in the centre of it all can do nothing but raise emotion in the best way possible. It's a wonderful ability that sport has in bringing the world together.

I've only briefly mentioned on here that I will be at the World Cup next year, but with things moving quickly a lot has happened and my planned trip is really coming together.

With the help of my wonderful travel agent in Sydney, I first tried to figure out if the Fanatics option was cheapest/the best. After deciding yes and getting frantic about the Rio de Janiero start of the tour selling out, I still managed to get on the Sao Paulo start. I'm really happy about that now because there'll be less people to start with, and we're taking in the atmosphere of opening night in the host city.

So who else has been screwed over by the Aerolineas Argentinas pull-out? Was only told today my #Brazil2014 #WorldCup flight was cancelled.
— Katina V (@Katiinkaa) November 13, 2013

To get to Rio I had booked a G Adventures tour starting in Buenos Aires, and found some really cheap fares from Sydney there with Aerolineas Argentinas. Soon before moving from Dubbo I get a call telling me they were pulling out of all Australia flights effective April. So I had to rebook flights wtih another airline, stopping in Auckland and Santiago before Buenos Aires. On top of that, with the move to Darwin I now need a domestic connection and because of the bad flight time I cut a day of South America time to accommodate that. On the plus side, I'm now in Santiago for the last two days of my trip so I'm taking in four countries (Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Chile).

Aaaaaand so the waiting for tickets begins... #WorldCup #Brazil2014 #ihopeijustgetticketsalready pic.twitter.com/RCBVPcQkri
— Katina V (@Katiinkaa) November 11, 2013

Tickets to the games came to me much more successfully than I'd imagined, so for that I'm grateful. On visiting my agent in Sydney, I was told there was a first in, first served sale different to the major ballots. Finding myself in an internet cafe at 10.30pm, I'm surrounded by a ticket seller and his assistants who are struggling to get good tickets - for anything. After I realise the most effective way to refresh for any updates (a process in itself), a Category 1 3-game ticket comes up. Winning.

It's done. @Socceroos #WorldCup group stage tickets BOUGHT #Brazil2014 #excellent #bloodyexcited
— Katina V (@Katiinkaa) November 11, 2013

The next day I stupidly didn't buy a pair of hiking shoes that were probably worth forking out a bit for, and since then I've managed to book a two-week Peru tour and at least get cheap hiking pants. The real adventurer begins to come out...

After a rush to try and figure out whether internal flights to two of the Socceroos games were cheaper to DIY I just went with the Fanatics package (although their flights were crazy for being chartered, they weren't all that much dearer, and at least they're direct). It then comes to today and the reason I wanted to write on this.

I received notice that an updated itinerary for the Fanatics World Cup 2014 trip has been put on their website. I knew from the beginning I would be in Brazil as one of those crazies in the green and gold. But on reading the itinerary, I got goosebumps. And watery in the eyes.

Seriously. I didn't think I'd be so emotional about it. But it's only five months away...



Maybe I can be that girl in Brazil somewhere... Photo: smh.com.au

How GOOD was last night's game?!

Courtesy brisbanetimes.com.au





Courtesy The Age


It was a great display by the boys, and honestly the biggest relief. Just to know we're that much closer to gaining World Cup qualification.

I've planned for some time to attempt a trip to Brazil during the 2014 World Cup. Though the last week has raised questions as to whether I would go regardless of the result. It would be heartbreaking to not have my home country there, but the spectacle of Brazil can not be underestimated/ignored.

Either way, Tuesday night in Sydney is going to be the big one.

And I'll be there.

I've said I'll be the loudest at Stadium Australia should we qualify with a result like last night's, and I intend to keep my word. After all, I have five hours in the car and a day in the city to psych myself up for chants and training my vocals to deal with a bit of strain.

***


3.30am(ish) Macca's fix in Berlin. Super.


In other news, I've decided to launch a spin-off blog of my mega McDonald's post.

For those who don't know, I began a quest to try the McDonald's of different cultures on overseas travels in 2010, which will continue indefinitely.

You will be able to revisit past experiences and be invited to new ones as I continue this lifelong quest to try as many different McDonald's menu items as possible.

Have a look at McDonald's: an odyssey as I'm rolling out old posts - reminisce, have your say, share and subscribe!

***
How do you get world peace? You get world peace through inner peace. If you've got a world full of people who have inner peace, then you have a peaceful world.

Making a conscious effort to make the most of a #roadtrip from now on... #language #Greek twitter.com/Katiinkaa/stat…
— Katina V (@Katiinkaa) March 31, 2013

Oh deary me.

After watching the Olympics and reading about my friend Luke's amazing two-week sporting extravaganza over there, I was excited. Excited about really wanting to get out somewhere for ages again. Doing something on a big scale like seeing sporting events day in, day out for ages.

Sporting events...

BRAZIL 2014.

I mentioned this briefly at the end of the Games, and this week I decided to do my research for the next World Cup.

Unfortunately, in the words of a travel agent, I was just a little too keen.

Not much has been revealed in terms of tours (I did discover the Fanatics are taking interest already for theirs though, that would be fun), and flights and accommodation for that time aren't released until next year.

That didn't stop the agent from telling me all about possible tours I could do around South America before or after the event. After all, there's so much to see - I wouldn't just go for the soccer, right?

The pictures in the Intrepid catalogue alone transported me to another world, the intense colour in every shot just drew me in. They really pop, so beautiful. And they do Antartica!

***

Slight tangent: a few weeks ago my mother tells me the household's latest revelation.

My dad apparently wants to go to Antartica in two years time.

He watched this series of videos about people who had toured and apparently it's something he wants to do. Now, whether this is still the case in a year is up for debate... but 2014 is in two years time as well. So it makes total sense for me to want to go to the World Cup so then I can get down to Argentina and get the departure with Dad to Antartica. Making sense? Gosh, how wild would that be if I managed to pull it off?

***

If I do commit to saving up for the World Cup, that means any overseas trip next year is a no-go (although, maybe somewhere in south-east Asia could stick if I really had an itch). This particularly affects my pre-Olympic idea which I got rather excited about; while I was home, I was thinking of the USA because Topdeck had just announced their first itineraries there in 20 years...



...and while I'm sad because this is 99.9 per cent on the backburner, I got the agent to pass me a brochure over anyway. Since she was there and all.

Oh deary me.

Dear Diary,

Things have been rather hectic these past few days - organising a party will do that to you. And not to mention muddling your memory; can't remember what games I actually tried to watch four nights ago, that's deplorable.

So night 18: This is the hazy one... think I watched the beginning of Netherlands vs Slovakia and vaguely remember Dad waking me up saying 'You're missing the soccer, the soccer!!!' I remember brushing him off and somehow stumbling to bed, not knowing what time it was or even caring that I was missing out. Missed Brazil vs Chile completely and didn't know the score until a while later. Hours of sleep: something like 8, 8.5. That's the most I'd had in weeks. God knows I needed it.


Night 19: I was starting to prepare for my party here, so getting photos off an infected computer in a room whose TV doesn't get SBS made it hard for me to watch Paraguay vs Japan properly. Ended up being a tense game though (enough to make me sit down for the last bit of ET and the penalties), a shame Japan couldn't further Asia's aspirations. Was really keen on getting up for Spain vs Portugal so I did. Confident that Spain would win, and they did... don't remember too much of it again (wow, I'm really sounding like a broken record by now aren't I?). Hours of sleep: between games 2.5, after another 2 I think? So about 4.5.

Night 20: No matches! And I didn't even realise until later because there was so much I had to do anyway. Hours of sleep: 3.5. And THAT'S because photo collages don't magically create themselves.

Night 21: No matches here either I think (it's frying my brain so I'm giving up on trying to figure it out. Because I know I had to finish the collages and so still had a late night). Hours of sleep: 6.5.

Night 22: My party! And Brazil vs Netherlands was on! I was at the bar watching it on the screen above amidst the festivities and saw Brazil's goal early on. I had hoped the DJ would play 'Cup of Life' as I'd requested (hey, it's the World Cup and that's the best theme for it ever) but alas he did not. Total shame. Can't believe Brazil lost! That's so crazy! Maybe it was because they were wearing their blue and they're not used to wearing a duller colour. Maybe they passed to the Oranjes by mistake a bit because they got confused. Either way, the Cup's provided some really interesting upsets after an average start. Almost had another one with Ghana vs Uruguay too - Dad excitedly telling me in detail how the Ghanaian hit the crossbar with his penalty and then lost in the shootout. It's like with Japan but for Africa - but they should be so proud to have gotten so far, an awesome effort.


Hours of sleep: about 10.5. I KNOW, RIGHT? But when you're intoxicated you can't help it, and then find yourself getting to the duties of the day at 4 in the afternoon. Oops. Going to be out for Germany vs Argentina tonight, hopefully there's a screen where we're going. Or I'll tape it. OR I CAN WATCH IT ON MY PHONE! After all, I did pay for access, sweeeeet. Geez I'm smart sometimes. And Paraguay vs Spain should be good too, I can watch that at home.

Dear Diary,

I've found my groove again. Small sacrifices are necessary for the bigger picture. But I still don't have the best knack of choosing the best game of the three to focus on watching, which is frustrating. Take last night: out of Paraguay vs Slovakia, Italy vs New Zealand and Brazil vs Ivory Coast I picked the latter. I thought it was a no-brainer - six-time champs against a top African team led by Chelsea's Didier Drogba... but my doubts got to me when I awoke from my slumber at 4am, finding two texts from Penny mentioning how awesome it was that Italy and NZ drew. I couldn't fathom this at 4am. I still can't fathom it now. THEY DREW??? 1-ALL?? Wow, so New Zealand are the surprise packet of the tournament so far, holding the reigning champions and a decent European side to draws. It's astounding - THEY'RE DOING BETTER THAN AUSTRALIA. There, I said it. And I'm actually annoyed that I haven't really seen them play properly. Therefore making the game vs Paraguay my must watch.

So the Brazil-Ivory Coast game was still good. Great plays by the Brazilians, especially leading to that first goal by Luis Fabiano. Genius. But Drogba didn't go unheard of, which is a relief for I.C. I'm sure. Loved that the Brazilian defenders missed him completely and couldn't do anything but stand there gaping. It's funny to watch.

I also discovered I love saying Cote d'Ivoire. If I was a commentator I'd always say that in a put-on husky voice with my newly learned French accent: 'Cote d'Ivoooooire...' Very intriguing.

Hours of sleep: 5. Had brekky before it ended and got ready for work just after it finished. Didn't fall asleep - because I left the heater off. Small sacrifices = bigger picture.