I was lucky to visit Donetsk on the 19th of June. I went to a Euro 2012 football match between the Ukrainian and the English national football teams. I went to the match with Kyrylo (namesake), a friend of mine.
Day 1. The match
The train journey from Kharkiv to Donetsk takes about three and a half hours. We
took a modern train officially called HRCS2, but everyone calls it the
“Hyundai.”
Donetsk didn’t impress me at first. The first thing you see when you exit the railway station is an ugly market.
What caught my attention was the prevalence of Russian-language banners, which
was quite a contrast to my city, where most signs are in Ukrainian.
We found a hostel to rent for the night. It was an old, run-down building with a strange smell inside.
Here’s the view from the backyard.
The good news? The “luxurious” room, complete with a broken TV and a fly flying around, cost us only 5 euros.
While waiting for the receptionist to bring the keys, we entertained ourselves
by watching a soap opera.
Got the keys. Kyrylo is trying to fix the TV (for some reason—it’s not like we
were going to watch it).
After settling in, we decided to head over to the Donbas Arena to check it out. We picked up a couple of maps at the Euro 2012 help booth.
We decided the tram was the best way to get there.
On the way, we passed through the miners’ land. Donetsk felt like a giant village. The streets were gloomy, the atmosphere was depressing, and there weren’t many buildings—just grass and trees.
But when we reached the stadium, everything changed. The lawn was perfectly
manicured, the flowers were in full bloom, and the fountains were sparkling with
water.
I had a hunch that Shakhtar’s Brazilian players live in those blue containers.
Why not? They’re not far from the stadium.
The Donetsk Copacabana.
With 10 hours to kill before the match, we decided to grab a bite. We found a great restaurant with delicious food. After breakfast, we made our way to the so-called “fan zone.” Since we had football tickets, all public transport was free. We took a bus, and the fan zone was just a couple of kilometers away.
This bridge connects the park to the rest of the city.
It was scorching hot, and I didn’t have a cap, so I had to find a way to cool my
head down.
The fan zone was large, but honestly, it was a bit dull. The only fun part was taking photos.
We posed with some folks promoting Carlsberg.
Took a picture with some fans.
And with some Englishmen.
The English were super popular that day. Everyone wanted a photo with them, so there was a bit of a queue. The English were happy to oblige, but I couldn’t understand the fascination. Why take photos with random strangers?
On the other hand, nobody seemed interested in taking photos with us.
Out of nowhere, a guy approached us asking to take a picture of me and Kyrylo and send it to my email. Not sure why, but he never did.
Some people began dancing on stage.
We ran into a few more Englishmen, some of whom were pretty drunk.
One of them claimed that the English fans would be louder than the entire Ukrainian crowd. I thought it was nonsense, but… he wasn’t lying. They were louder.
The fan zone was fun, but we were running late for the match, so we had to
leave. A quick stop at the bathroom before heading to the stadium.
Finally, we arrived at the stadium. Donbas Arena is breathtaking. We managed to
get there just in time.
I was blown away by the atmosphere. There were many empty seats, though. Sadly,
the tickets were expensive, and not everyone could afford them.
It was Andriy Shevchenko’s
final game—our best footballer. At the stadium, we
felt like we were incredibly loud, but when I watched the game on TV later, it
seemed much quieter. The illusion of sound.
Ukraine lost, and we didn’t qualify for the next round, so everyone was disappointed. We initially planned to return to the fan zone after the match, but we decided to head back to the hostel to rest instead.
Day 2. Aftermatch
The next day, our train was at 19:00, so we woke up around 11:00, giving us plenty of time to explore the city. It was nearly lunchtime, and we were hungry enough to eat a whole elephant. I suggested we visit the same restaurant from the day before, but Kyrylo wanted McDonald’s. I wasn’t too keen on that, so I ate first, and then we’d go to McD’s. While I ate, Kyrylo ventured out to explore more of the city.
Donetsk is known for its mafia, and we joked about it constantly. But honestly, it probably does exist. When I finished my meal and stepped outside to wait for Kyrylo, I inadvertently got caught up in a conflict. Apparently, a guy tried to kill another “big guy” with a screwdriver. I doubt that’s entirely true, but you can read about it here (in Russian).
Afterlunch
We decided to explore the city center. It turned out the area around Donbas Arena isn’t really the center at all, but there was a McDonald’s where Kyrylo had his meal.
Donetsk has a cool boulevard, which was specifically built for Euro 2012. We
wandered down it and found a beautiful, expansive park. However, there were tons
of McDonald’s ads everywhere, which was a little disappointing.
Kyrylo, trying not to cry over our team’s defeat (though it was probably more of
a hangover situation).
Time to head to the train station. We took a bus with a crazy driver who seemed to be in a rush to get home and turn off his iron.
The good news was, we were on time. Goodbye, Donetsk.
The city center of Donetsk is definitely better than Kharkiv’s, but overall, I still prefer my own city. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed Donetsk, but I can’t say I didn’t either.
I’m just glad I had the chance to be part of Euro 2012.