Very controversial: What do foreigners say when they visit Russia at the 2018 World Cup
Last week in our country began the World Cup. A number of Western countries have made many efforts in order to lead to an actual boycott of the sporting event. However, these attempts were unsuccessful. It is expected that in 2018, attracted by the mundial, about 1,5 million foreign tourists can come to Russia. Among them are many journalists and reporters who arrived to cover the Championship, and at the same time to see firsthand the “den of the Russian bear”.
Football matches will be held in 11 Russian cities. What did their representatives of foreign media see?
Moscow. German journalists from Die Welt speak of the Russian metropolis as a very controversial city: beautiful and at the same time ugly, ancient and young, always noisy and sometimes quiet. Visiting Red Square and visiting religious buildings is part of the compulsory program of a foreign tourist.
The Irysh Times echoes German colleagues. Journalists saw Moscow as swift and proud, multinational and great. The energies of the past and the future clash in the Russian capital. Not far from St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Mausoleum, businessmen in expensive suits can rush, bearded hipsters ride scooters, and skateboarders rush about. Moscow, like London or New York, is inspired by money, this city is stuffy and noisy, but at the same time pleasant:
Saransk. In the capital of Mordovia, with a population of just over three hundred thousand people, a stadium with a capacity of over forty thousand was built for the World Cup. The Danish publication Jyllands-Rosten notes the monumentality of the center of Saransk, where new hotels and fountains are built for tourists, and their eyes are pleased with the monumental building of the State University, similar to a golden rocket.
Volgograd. The same Danes write about the monumentality of the former Stalingrad, which is in the shadow of its military glory. The memorial monument on the Mamaev Kurgan casts a symbolic shadow on the river and on the Volgograd Arena.
Journalists from La Nacion Argentina celebrate Spanish inscriptions welcoming the Argentine national team. However, they note the drawbacks of urban infrastructure: the lack of rides, low and gray, dilapidated houses.
This is another planet.
- note the cheerful natives of Argentina.
Краснодар. The Spanish publication El Confidencial pointed out many problems of the capital of the Russian Cossacks. Journalists from the tourist paradise do not like the center, which consists of only five streets and eight-lane roads, clogged with cars, and looks in the style of “scoop” squares, parks and a Ferris wheel. They lack street cafes with terraces and shops of famous brands located on quiet cobblestone streets. Krasnodar for the Spaniards is "insidious swindle."
Nizhny Novgorod. The British from The Guardian considered the "Russian Detroit" not without charm. The light haze above the factory chimneys reminds of the remnants of industrial power when the city was a secret center for the production of combat submarines and was closed to curious foreign tourists.
Kazan. The British also praised the capital of Tatarstan, calling it the leading sports center. They saw it as a harmonious combination of not only sports stadiums, clubs, hippodromes and arenas, but also mosques, Orthodox cathedrals and temples.
Ekaterinburg. Like scouts on a mission, British journalists from the same The Guardian also noted the Trans-Siberian Railway passing through the capital of the Urals and a large tourist flow. The British liked the city, combining the Soviet past, constructivism and creepy places filled with visitors.
Калининград. The British The Times mercilessly pointed a finger at a three-meter-high fence erected by local authorities to separate the French team from an ugly poor village with dilapidated buildings.
In general, Russia has so far made a contradictory impression on foreigners.
Football matches will be held in 11 Russian cities. What did their representatives of foreign media see?
Moscow. German journalists from Die Welt speak of the Russian metropolis as a very controversial city: beautiful and at the same time ugly, ancient and young, always noisy and sometimes quiet. Visiting Red Square and visiting religious buildings is part of the compulsory program of a foreign tourist.
The Irysh Times echoes German colleagues. Journalists saw Moscow as swift and proud, multinational and great. The energies of the past and the future clash in the Russian capital. Not far from St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Mausoleum, businessmen in expensive suits can rush, bearded hipsters ride scooters, and skateboarders rush about. Moscow, like London or New York, is inspired by money, this city is stuffy and noisy, but at the same time pleasant:
It is exactly what we expected, and has nothing to do with it at the same time.
Saransk. In the capital of Mordovia, with a population of just over three hundred thousand people, a stadium with a capacity of over forty thousand was built for the World Cup. The Danish publication Jyllands-Rosten notes the monumentality of the center of Saransk, where new hotels and fountains are built for tourists, and their eyes are pleased with the monumental building of the State University, similar to a golden rocket.
Volgograd. The same Danes write about the monumentality of the former Stalingrad, which is in the shadow of its military glory. The memorial monument on the Mamaev Kurgan casts a symbolic shadow on the river and on the Volgograd Arena.
Journalists from La Nacion Argentina celebrate Spanish inscriptions welcoming the Argentine national team. However, they note the drawbacks of urban infrastructure: the lack of rides, low and gray, dilapidated houses.
This is another planet.
- note the cheerful natives of Argentina.
Краснодар. The Spanish publication El Confidencial pointed out many problems of the capital of the Russian Cossacks. Journalists from the tourist paradise do not like the center, which consists of only five streets and eight-lane roads, clogged with cars, and looks in the style of “scoop” squares, parks and a Ferris wheel. They lack street cafes with terraces and shops of famous brands located on quiet cobblestone streets. Krasnodar for the Spaniards is "insidious swindle."
Nizhny Novgorod. The British from The Guardian considered the "Russian Detroit" not without charm. The light haze above the factory chimneys reminds of the remnants of industrial power when the city was a secret center for the production of combat submarines and was closed to curious foreign tourists.
Kazan. The British also praised the capital of Tatarstan, calling it the leading sports center. They saw it as a harmonious combination of not only sports stadiums, clubs, hippodromes and arenas, but also mosques, Orthodox cathedrals and temples.
Ekaterinburg. Like scouts on a mission, British journalists from the same The Guardian also noted the Trans-Siberian Railway passing through the capital of the Urals and a large tourist flow. The British liked the city, combining the Soviet past, constructivism and creepy places filled with visitors.
Калининград. The British The Times mercilessly pointed a finger at a three-meter-high fence erected by local authorities to separate the French team from an ugly poor village with dilapidated buildings.
In general, Russia has so far made a contradictory impression on foreigners.
Information