My experience watching the world cup in Croatia

Experience watching the world cup in Split, Croatia

I'm not a big football fan. The only games I watched were the Iran games in the World Cup and that was just to show support for my country and also to crush over the boys. I mean after all there was an entire article on them saying how they look more like models than football players. I also don’t know anything about football; I barely even understand what offside is or what corner is. I had to google them every time someone mentioned it. So yea that’s my background on football but my trip to Croatia changed how I view football forever. That day is forever burnt in my memory and engraved in my heart.

So it began like this. Before travelling to Croatia, I knew that Croatia had a game with Russia and even though I supported Russia, part of me wanted Croatia to win so we’d get to watch the semi-finals in the country. And it happened!! They won against Russia and their semi-final game was against England on a Wednesday.

On that day we came back from the beach, showered and decided to head to a bar so we could watch the game. Little did we know that literally everywhere would be taken. People had reserved tables from days before so they could watch the game. Everywhere was full, we were convinced that we wouldn’t find a place and we’d end up watching the game from the outside of a restaurant but as we were walking along the Promenade we saw that there was this event going on; we approached and saw that they had put up a large screen and were having some sort of pre- game events. People were gathering around the screen, some of them were reserving a place and we decided to sit down there as well.

(Out of every 10 people, 6 were wearing Modric's jersey. The heck with it even I wanted to buy one) 

I'm not going to describe how the game was. For those who watched it, they know how intense the whole thing was. I was holding my breath half the time and my palms were sweating. The moment the game ended that was when the whole city was on fire. I had never seen anything like it, people were out in the streets, partying like madmen. It was so fun to be there and maybe slightly scary too.

All the streets were blocked and people were dancing in the streets, chanting their country’s songs and constantly hugging each other. The warmth of the people reminded me of back home in Iran, Iranians also tend to get a little crazy when it comes to celebrations.

(Unity, friendship and hopefulness)

The images are all courtesy of my amazing friend and photographer,Sara . Follow @diariesofwanderers on Instagram for more awesome pictures!!

People were out in the streets partying until god knows when, I don't know exactly till when because we got tired and left.Don't get me wrong, it was glorious, entertaining and lively but we were afraid that people might get too drunk and things could get outta control. That did not happen thankfully; But I could hear the cars honking until at least 3 am and after that I must have passed out.

This was definitely an experience to remember for life. It was so unique and I felt so good to be a part of their celebrations. Genuinely grateful to have been here and thankful to the people of Croatia for their undenying hospitality. On our way back we purchased a fridge magnet of the croatian jersey; as a momento of that day. :)

Hope you enjoy this short piece!

Cheers 

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