World Cup diary, day 17: Tourist day and (another) flying Moscow visit

The only aspect to an otherwise fantastic World Cup trip for me so far has been the logistical problems that Russia can offer up, with Kaliningrad the most baffling of all.

Over a day’s train ride from Moscow, the only way in or out to Kaliningrad is by plane, and with limited airlines servicing the route, when the flights are booked, there’s no way out.

Nobody else remained in Kaliningrad, apart from a handful of disorganised journalists. The final damp squib of a group game had driven everyone out of town, just as the Red Army had done to the Germans in the city in 1945.

With fewer games than I have been used to, and none at all until 4pm in the afternoon – go figure – it was time for a history lesson.

THE WORLD CUP’S BEST FAN COSTUMES: CLICK BELOW FOR SLIDESHOW

We headed for the Kaliningrad Bunker – where the Germans signed Konisberg over to the Soviets at the end of World War II, and learned about the sheer destruction that occurred in the city, which was never evacuated throughout the war, despite the devastation.

Then, we visited the medieval cathedral and the tomb of Immanuel Kant, who is still probably trying to figure out England’s game plan against Belgium from beyond the grave.

The football-less day did not last much longer, though, as we made for the Fan Zone in the centre of town.

On the whole, Fan Zones have, in fact, been a little disappointing. They are simply too big, stifling the atmosphere in there, with nothing like the number of visitors they’d obviously projected.

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Also, as I have mentioned before, the pre-match entertainment is absolutely dire. The over-enthusiastic MC tries to get everyone going, in Russian, and gets just a handful of responses. There is no need to start shouting country names at half time, just give everyone peace and let them mingle, which is what they are supposed to be all about.

Randomly, though, I was accosted by an Australian magician, who wowed me with some card tricks. As a natural sceptic, I normally do not fall was such “nonsense”, but this was truly mind-blowing stuff.

Locals flocked from all angles to get a bit of the action, with excited youngsters charging around shouting “focus”, Russian for magic. He truly had us all baffled.

The football, as it turned out, was worth the wait, and the few Argentinians who were in attendance in Kaliningrad suffered for the final time in Russia.

Then, once again, it was off to Moscow, for less than 24 hours. As always, with Russia, you have to go via Moscow. This time, as Nizhny Novgorod is only a “short” four hours train ride away, I checked into a hotel near the train station, before an early rise to return to Nizhny.

Croatia-Denmark will be my first game of the knockout round, more or less Luka Modric v Christian Eriksen, before England in two days time back in Moscow. News of James Rodriguez’s injury was expected as I drifted off – it’s coming home.