Jonesing
Couple days ago I was really feeling the urge to play some hockey and I’ve got my gear here with me in Qatar so what does someone like myself do for fun ? If you know me you know I’m gonna strap on the pads and do something …. So I got my gear on and walked around the fan village and got some photos . It was early so not too many fans out but the ones that did see me got photos with me . Funny enough a couple guys from the Malaysian federation took photos with me and we have a couple mutual friends and had a good chat while I was absolutely sweating buckets . I stopped to have a coffee at Starbucks and even had a couple kicking soccer balls at me in my gear and I got a shutout hahaha . It was fun and probably was the only chance until Bahrain to get my gear nice and sweaty .
Of course it’s time to hit the shower and then head out to see some of the local sites . We didn’t plan any excursions or tourist activities since they price gouged everyone and for that reason I hope they all were not busy . I don’t care if it’s the World Cup ! This price gouging is disgusting and just greedy . What better way to show the world you’re a piece of shit then to cancel bookings and then put them on sale for 4 times the price and as a traveller I’m not having that so if you run a tour company in Qatar I really hope you sat there bored with no customers . But I’m reality there is a sucker born every minute so :(
We went down to the Corniche to wander and it was hot but nobody was on the streets so it was good . Found our way to a shop that had World Cup posters and grabbed a couple to frame and hang up when we get home . Then we had the thirst for a pint so we called the closest bar which was an Irish pub called the Irish Harp and they wanted 400 rials per person and they had tables available . That’s $150 each to go have a pint , sorry but no ! Your tables can sit empty and jog off wankers . We then tried to get into Champions bar and they said they had tables open so we took an Uber there and they didn’t have tables open and there was a line full of pissed off people waiting for pints so the only other option and the best one is to go to Street 22 bar which is a bit of a dive bar but we have been there and liked the fact we could get a table and drinks were cheaper 175 rial gets you 6 bottles and a pizza , that’s $65 so very reasonable!
The rest of the gang showed up and we had a good time drinking there then headed out to the England vs. Wales match which was at Ahmed bin Ali stadium which is beside the fan village we are at . That game was excellent with a lot of good banter going on in the stands between the Welsh and English supporters . I heard there were some sparks in other areas but we were lucky not to see any of that . England played fantastic and totally dominated the Welsh who were outclassed in every area of the pitch . At half time all the Voyageurs I know met up to say hello and chat before going back to our seats as we were all kinda close to each other . Got to finally see Alex Ho who we haven’t seen since Costa Rica and he is such a great guy . We chatted about our plans to go to Curaçao and hopefully everyone will be able to make it ! That will be a good trip .
Second half kicked off and the English just kept kicking butt and I am glad to say I got to see this game as the last English match was a total snoozer vs USA . At the end the English won 3-0 and the Welsh were eliminated. After the game madness to get to the metro but we all opted to meet in the mall for some late night McDonald’s which was not as painful as fighting your way into a train . Gave the gang time to let the crowds disperse and we continued chatting about Curacao trip . Kathleen found us a table and a discontent person wanted a chair and threw a bit of a hissy fit when I said the seats are taken so I called him a wanker and he sat down next to us and watched as everyone showed up to eat with us one at a time . There were other tables open but people are lazy and don’t want to walk 10 feet to an open table . Our planet is filled with stupid selfish people unfortunately. One of the guys that joined us is a Villa supporter named Reece from Dubai (?) we chatted about the Villa and he’s going to the friendlies there in a couple weeks and I was a bit jealous but it is what it is …
After gorging ourselves with dirty burgers we called it a night and went our separate ways . We just had to walk but the others had a bit of a trek to get back to their places . When we arrived we crashed hard on our rock hard bed which still sucks but only a few more days until I get to sleep in a nice bed in a nice hotel and get to play some hockey . I’m not going to miss our accommodations but the location was pretty spot on for what we needed .
