Have You been ?

[NottinghamWhite]

Here’s an interesting question whilst moored up at Cape Horn we were virtually within touching distance of Chile plus we were in Chilean waters. So the $64,000 question is have I been to Chile ?

Got the same issue with US States as slowly been ticking them off (its around 30ish now). The only time I've been in Florida is a couple of hours at Miami airport on the way back from New Orleans. Should it be counted ?

I’ve done the same in the UAE & Qatar but I think the rules that airports are international as opposed to local. I’ve never counted Chile though but so frustrating to be so near yet so far

[Selby White]

Have visited 18 of these cities so far - and have attended at least one match in 16, with Paris and Reykjavik the exceptions.

Have seen football (or icehockey) in London, Rome, Berlin, Moscow, Madrid, Prague, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Mexico City, Helsinki, Stockholm, Dublin, Barcelona, Zurich and Krakow.

Many matches, but lots of culture as well. And thousands of miles walked in cities, towns, villages and countysides. Most of them in Britain.

Good list that not too many actual matches but I always try visit stadiums especially the famous ones when visiting a country.

Have seen Footie in London, Paris , Madrid & Copenhagen of those on the list so far.

And my only ever visit to a Ice Hockey game was Chicago Blackhawks versus Vancouver Cannucks at the United Centre in Chicago, enjoyed it.
They gave all the spectators presents on the way in, still haven't worked out why you need a Blackhawks Umbrella for an indoor sports event

Bet you've a few stories from those games Janecky ?

[NottinghamWhite]

I meant to say in Delhi we were told by Jet Airways to make our way to their desk at Dubai airport where we would be issued with vouchers to cover a meal at the airport. We were told the desk would remain open until we collected the vouchers. We made our way to the desk to find it closed, he’s literary just left said the guy cleaning the area. As I say back then you couldn’t claim against an airline based in India. Several emails by us & the company we had booked with remain unanswered to this day.

[Selby White]

Munich
Yep, been there. Don't remember much about it other than walking through the beer garden.

Irkutsk and Ulan Bator are both on the Trans-Mongolian railway so I technically visited them. I remember nothing of Irkutsk so may not have even got off the train but we had an hour or so in Ulan Bator so I definitely did. I remember there were a few local blokes wearing big fur hats and the intensely coloured silk-looking coats. Its weird when you think of traditional dress you imagine it would have been replaced by something more modern, but these guys were just hanging around chatting or buying train tickets. They just happened to be wearing a stunning sky-blue or bright red ankle length coats.

Wasn't aware exactly where Irkutsk was so looked it up and a few online images, looks beautiful.

[janecky]

Seen some top class matches in these cities.
World Cup Finals in Rome and Mexixo (also that Argentina v England with two unforgettable goals by Maradona).
FA Cup Final 1989, Pool v Everton, Gerry Marsden singing on the pitch before the game. I remember showing my ticket to a steward and being told ”sorry, there’s no seat”. After Hillsboro they had reduced the capacity of Wembley. Happily they finally found a place for us.
In Amsterdam I saw Ajax win the Dutch League. It was like a Cup final because they played runners-up Twente on the final day. Ajax won and Amsterdam went crazy. It meant us missing the chance to see Finland beating Sweden in icehockey Worlds Final. The police stopped us walking to the city centre as it was ”too full”.
In Madrid and Prague I have seen two matches on the same day, with museums, flamenco etc thrown in as well.

Nottingham was not on the list, but I once watched icehockey (one period) with Forest legend John McGovern. My local team Lukko beat Panthers in Champions Hockey League.

[NottinghamWhite]

Nottingham was not on the list, but I once watched icehockey (one period) with Forest legend John McGovern

I was invited to the Forest v Leeds game ( the first game after Gary Speeds death ) & as we were invited into the boardroom I decided to take my copy of Where Are They Now as you never know who’ll be in there. We arrived at the ground to be met by our friends, he’s a Forest director to be told that unfortunately the boardroom/directors box was full but handed me tickets for the corporate bar. To my surprise the guest speaker was Duncan McKenzie ( result ) after the game, well about an hour to let the fans leave, much to my wife’s annoyance I said before I phone a taxi I’m having a smoke. Low & behold out comes John McGovern who somewhat reluctantly added his signature to the book. He then said John OHare is coming out soon, we waited 40 minutes & he never appeared. I’m still not certain if it wasn’t a rue by Mr McGovern.

[mapperleywhite]

Here are 10 more -
51. Saint Louis (Senegal)
52. Munich

Several visits. At one point I was secretary of a pan-European group developing perfromance standards for tractor lubricants - oh the high life.... We convened every six months with the autumn meeting being held in Munich to conincide with 'Starkbierfest' - the strong beer festival. Note: this wasn't the secretary's doing. I enjoyed the whole Oktoberfest thing where everyone sits on huge long tressle tables. Can't say I've seen a whole lot of the city but I recall a lot of it is modern as it has become a popular place to live in Germany and expanded a lot.

53. Zurich

Passed through several times on the way to and from the airport. Lovely setting on the lake and the Limatt river with some eyecatching architecture and a huge train station. Gateway to one of my favourite places in Europe, Lucerne. Breathtakingly expensive.

54. Chicago

Again several visits. My bestie from Uni went to make a life there and stayed with him a number of times. I like it more than NYC and loved being on the beach by Lake Michigan with a backdrop of skyscrapers.

55. San Francisco

Perhaps three or four visits. Far and away my favourite US city - most of them tend to be flat boring grids with all the familiar institutions that Americans must have starting with McDonalds. The setting of SF around the bay and the bridge is truly magnificent and, in places, has a very European feel to it....reminded me of Stuttgart or even Paris.

56. Montreal
57. Irkutsk (Russia)
58. Ulan Bator (Mongolia)
59. Macao
60. Krakow

I'm thinking perhaps eight visits. Outstandingly beautiful central square, reasonable prices.

My story would be that my colleague Willem and I were doing a training session for our newly appointed distributor's salesmen who descended upon the city from all corners of Poland. The night before there was a trip up into the Tatra mountains for a rustic BBQ. I had developed a cold so didn't go - it had nothing to do with England playing a qualifier that night, of course. Willem reported to me that the BBQ consisted of bits of pig turning on a spit over a bonfire and bottles of vodka; ten people per table ten bottles of vodka. Apparently some tables had a further batch of ten bottles delivered.

As we assembled for the first morning training session Willem said to me 'If you walk around the room for goodness sake don't light a match' - the stench of alcohol was overpowering.

Would like to see some other cities in Poland, Baltic coast especially.

[NottinghamWhite]

Got the same issue with US States as slowly been ticking them off (its around 30ish now). The only time I've been in Florida is a couple of hours at Miami airport on the way back from New Orleans. Should it be counted ?

Got me thinking how many states we’ve visited.

Arizona
Nevada
California
Maine
Washington
New York
New Jersey
Massachusetts
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
New Hampshire
Delaware
Maryland
Vermont
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Virginia
Texas
New Mexico

Think that’s all ? This is a revised list as I’ve gone through a couple of itineraries & had forgotten we spent the night in Houston after our connecting flight from Costa Rica was cancelled.

[Sniffer]

Here’s an interesting question whilst moored up at Cape Horn we were virtually within touching distance of Chile plus we were in Chilean waters. So the $64,000 question is have I been to Chile ?

I was in a plane that flew through Burmese air space. I could have jumped in to Burma. Have I been to Burma?

[NottinghamWhite]

Here’s an interesting question whilst moored up at Cape Horn we were virtually within touching distance of Chile plus we were in Chilean waters. So the $64,000 question is have I been to Chile ?

I was in a plane that flew through Burmese air space. I could have jumped in to Burma. Have I been to Burma?

Let’s see what today’s 10 cities are