Our taste of Russia
A Magnificent Seven members of Perth’s Jailer Tours Tartan Army returned unscathed and undaunted at the weekend from their latest foreign sojourn to Russia.
And after some much-needed catchup on sleep - and a brief detox - they joined a busload of around 50 die-hard fans for the match against San Marino at Hampden on Sunday.
The super seven who made the 3000-mile round trip to the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, were organiser Craig Mailer, pipers Stewart McBain and his apprentice Jimmy Wardlaw, entertainments convener Ronnie Hutcheson, Bryan Wallace, Danny Gardiner and Kenny Pratt.
They were based in the Metamockba Hotel for their three-night endurance test, which included the Thursday night match. There was to be no repeat of Scotland’s glory night in the same stadium where sprinter Alan Wells scooped gold in the 1980 summer Olympics - as the 2020 Euro qualifier ended in a 4-0 nightmare for the Dark Blues.
But that was just an unfortunate distraction as the intrepid travellers sampled Russian beer, mind-blowing, rocket fuel spirits, cocktails from different parts of the world and, most of all, made friends with the Muscovites around the city.
“During our flight change in Frankfurt - and everywhere we went in Moscow there were throngs of tourists and locals desperate to get selfies of the bagpipe players in particular,” said Ronnie yesterday.
Piper Stewart McBain added: “The reception was amazing. And Bryan Wallace and I were each given small Russian medals by a fan inside the ground as a marvellous memento of our visit.”
Always in pursuit of some culture - and a welcome pint - a popular watering hole for the thirsty travellers was the John Donne Pub, named after the 16th and 17th century English poet and cleric.
His literary contributions are apparently noted for their “strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons.”
An esoteric discussion of his life and works somehow eluded the Tartan Army footsoldiers, but they did deliver an upbeat verdict on the liquid refreshments available: “The beer was good.”
And they certainly had plenty time to sample a range of ales - the hostelry opened at noon and closed at 6am the following morning.
Two eager ‘culture vultures’ - Danny Gardiner and Bryan Wallace, always ready to extend their knowledge of the arts - made it to the impressive Bolshoi Ballet theatre building in Bolshaya Dmitrovka, not far from their hotel.
Time was limited so taking in a performance was sadly out of the question but the pair did manage some nifty ballet steps outside, with Bryan displaying a fetching pair of pink socks.
Also popular with Jailer Tours was the Razvedka Bar, below street level on Novaya Ploshchad, not far from the Lubyanka building, former headquarters of the KGB.
The attraction may have been the huge list of half-price cocktails on offer but its walls were also covered with wartime memorabilia, ranging from gas masks and rocket launchers to secret listening devices and espionage equipment.
“I felt a bit uneasy when I went to the toilet and there were several surveillance cameras at strategic points on the ceiling,” admitted Jimmy Wardlaw.
“Obviously they were just for show, weren’t they? But Stewart wasn’t so convinced.”
Fans travel more in hope than expectation to Scotland matches these days - and that was typified by the Russian rout which ended the nation’s hopes of automatic qualification for the competition.
A 3am departure from Russia on Friday morning gave the weary travellers just enough time to regroup for the next match on Sunday.
But pride was restored after a moraleboosting 6-0 rout of lowly San Marino on a rain-sodden pitch.
Fans were in high spirits on the return bus journey, with Ronnie Hutcheson’s dulcet tones just pipping previous singing competition winner Andy English, interrupting his holiday in Lanzarote, to take top prize in Jailer Tours first live Euro link-up.
All eyes are now on their next away fixture against Cyprus on Saturday, November 16. It’s sure to be another memorable trip.