Each time we left the port area, our tour guides would point out their new stadium. It was quite a distance away, but you could still see what they were talking about. Actually, you couldn't miss it - once they called it "the spaceship" (which is what everyone calls it).Here's a pic of it from the internet - and it really is impressive.
Krestovsky Stadium is home of the Zenit (Russia's football team). As of May 2017, its construction was 578% late and 548% over budget. It's considered one of the most expensive stadiums ever built - at the cost of $1.1 billion US dollars at current exchange rates. Yikes. Russians were getting fairly fed up with the delays apparently, and the joke was that "construction lasted longer than the construction of the Roman Colosseum" - which is actually true.
Stadium capacity is 67,000 people in general, 68,134 seats for football and 80,000 seat capacity for concerts and show performances. It has 240 parking lots. (Luckily I'd never be in the position to look for my car there!)
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| Achilles |
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| Poster from Denmark |
I don't mind following it a bit, but I'm not like Achilles the official animal oracle....
"A deaf, white-furred Hermitage male cat Achilles is soon to begin his work as Russia's official soothsayer for the World Cup, following in the tentacle-prints of Paul the Octopus who became a star in 2010." business-standard.comAchilles will be moved to the Cat Republic cafe during his commitment. You all remember Paul hey? Ya - what a cutie, and he apparently had a success rate of 85%. Although Nelly the Elephant was a star at 90%. Shaheen the camel only reached a 66% successful prediction rate. Flopsy the kangaroo was just all over the place, and China's pandas were pulled out of the running in 2014 after Paul the Octopus received death threats.
