It was during the cricket game against Abbots Langley that myself, Pete
Fincham and Don Fraser decided we would follow the 'Orns on their
pre-season trip to Lithuania. With only five working days to get things
sorted we had to move fast. Investigations revealed that you don't need
a visa to go there. Result! However, after phoning Lithuanian airways on
the Friday to inquire about flights, I found that there was only one
flight out of Heathrow a day and, for the Friday we intended to go,
there were only 4 seats available. After some frantic phone calls and
arranging the time off with our respective bosses, we booked the flights
and found ourselves £290 lighter.
We were flying out at 4:15 on the Friday. Pete called the club and
discovered that the players were booked on the same flight. However,
they were to return on the Monday whilst we had to stay around a day
longer. We had all decided that we would leave sorting out accommodation
until we arrived. We didn't even know how we were going to get from
Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, to Kaunas where the tournament was
held - a journey of over 100km.
Friday came soon enough, but started badly. I had been in work until
midnight on the Thursday. I then had to take my car in for an MOT, pick
up the currency, pack my bags, and collect Pete and Don before driving
to Heathrow and arriving with enough time to check in and peruse the
duty free shops. After grabbing a bite to eat we were making our way to
the departure lounge when Pete suddenly zoomed off, pushing Don in front
of him. He had spotted Tommy Mooney and a couple of the other players
and was intent on having a good chat. Later on in the departure lounge,
I came back from looking for a pair of sunglasses to find him and Don
talking to Graham Taylor himself.
Our flight was called and we made our way to the gate with Mr. Taylor.
One of the amusing parts of the weekend for me was the way in which Pete
and Don addressed GT. Pete always used Graham whilst Don steadfastly
stuck to Mr. Taylor. Although we did get him to slip up a couple of
times. Anyway, as we waited in front of the gate, GT went to sit on some
chair on the left. We deliberately went to the right, but he then came
over and sat with us!
The flight took two and a half hours and was fairly uneventful, apart from the
food which consisted of a salad of raw bacon. Towards the end, we got
the video camera out and Pete, who had failed to join the Mile High
Club, interviewed GT. Once we had cleared passport control and reclaimed
our baggage, as well as rebuilding Don's wheelchair, it was 9:30pm. GT
had asked us how we were planning to get to Kaunas and when he found out
we had no plans he offered us a lift on the team coach which we
gratefully accepted. During the journey the coach driver told us that
our first game was against Alania Vladikavkaz. This was greeted less
than enthusiastically by the players as the Russian team were in the
middle of their season and had also played in the Champions league.
We arrived at the players hotel at about 11pm. On inquiring about a room
we were told that one double was available at £50 but they would not
allow three of us to stay in it. We therefore decided to chance our arm
and wandered into the city. We tried a couple of places and had no luck.
Everybody saw three foreigners at a very late hour and decided they
could take us for a ride. We found a taxi driver (who spoke no English)
and managed to get him to take us to some more hotels. To cut a long
story short, he managed to communicate to us that we could sleep on his
floor for $10. An offer which we thought was fair enough, but we were a
little dubious when he drove us out of town. Our apprehension turned to
fear as we pulled into a typically run-down Soviet style tenement area
and were greeted by a very large (thankfully muzzled) dog. Thoughts
began to creep into our head that perhaps he had taken us to meet his
mates or something. However, they proved unfounded as he took us into
his apartment and even gave up his bed and his bottle of Vodka. The
price however turned into $10 each, although we were in no position to
argue.
Awaking in the morning, we were anxious to get back to the city as soon
as possible. Unfortunately communicating this to our host was not so
easy and he had already begun phoning his English speaking friends who
tried to sell us guided tours and other places to stay. Eventually we
got back to the players' hotel where we dumped our bags and set off with
the number one priority of finding somewhere to stay for the night.
As luck would have it the first place we tried had a triple room
available for 140 litu (about £20.) Sorted. Happy that we were at no
risk for the night ahead our thoughts turned to the game, due to kick off
at 4pm. Leaving Don on the street outside the hotel, Pete and I dumped
the bags off and cleaned up. When we returned outside Don informed us
that a child had come up to him and given him some money. We soon
discovered why as walking down the main shopping avenue we attracted a
lot of stares. It seems that the sight of a wheelchair is very rare in
Lithuania.
With a few hours to kill we settled down outside one of the
proliferation of cafes and grabbed a couple of beers. One of the major
plus points of the trip was the cost of accommodation, food and beer.
Three pizzas and a beer each would come to a couple of quid. However,
from talking to British people working out there, we soon realised that
the average wage is about £40 per month.
The stadium was about a kilometer from the players' hotel, up a steep
hill. We managed again to get a lift with the players and even got into
the stadium through the players' entrance. We got out onto the pitch
through the tunnel and decided that we would stay on the running track
surrounding the pitch. The local police, who were out in force, didn't
seem to mind this and only got a bit shirty when we got some beers in.
Looking for somewhere to sit we decided on what must have been the
directors' box. The other people in there must have got a bit of a shock
when we started the first of many recitals of "You are my Watford..." We
had also managed to convince the officials that we were press and they
said they would allow one of us to stay pitchside during the game. Pete
and myself took turns with the video camera. Pete even captured a half
time interview with GT, and a shot of the players emerging from the
dressing room.
After the game, and an endless speech from the President of the host
club, we made our way back down the hill towards the town, getting
caught in a tremendous downpour on the way. However, spirits were lifted
after a few beers and we then headed down to a pizza restaurant we had
discovered earlier on. Whilst eating, we were joined by about ten of the
players who had decided to pass on the food in the hotel. During our
scouting around earlier we had also discovered a good bar with live
music that would be our home for the night. Pete, determined to pull
during the weekend, actually came quite close with a local girl who was
the spitting image of Mariella Frostrup.
Sunday arrived with a heavy head. Watford were due to play the losers of
yesterday's other game, FC Gas Bardejov of Slovakia, in a play off for
third place in the afternoon. Pete had arranged to meet his new found
love at midday and so it was panic stations as we awoke at 11am. He
rushed off whilst Don and I took our time. We met him at the bar where
we discovered he had been blown out. We consoled him by going for
another pizza where we sat and watched the streams of gorgeous women
passing by. Whoever started the rumour the Eastern European women are
invariably similar to Russian shotputters should visit Kaunas and
prepare to be amazed.
We made our way to the game after chilling out at another street-side
cafe which had a live jazz band playing. Although we didn't arrive with
the players this time, we were given the same treatment. Due to the fact
that the video camera batteries had run out we decided that we would
just take our place in the directors' box and watch the whole game with
a view to discovering the talents of the new players. However, before,
and during the half time interval, Pete and myself wandered onto the
pitch to have a kickabout with the ballboys. We also gave an impromptu
performance when the tannoy played Whigfield's Saturday Night. Don says
our dancing got a few laughs from the players, as well as the local
police.
In the evening we knew the players were being allowed out and figured
they would head for the nearest bar to their hotel, a supposedly Irish
bar. In fact its only claim to Irishness was the fact it served Guinness
and Kilkenny. After a couple of pints, we decided to go onto the
spirits, mainly due to the fact that the bar served cocktails. After a
Fuzzy Navel or two, we got the Tequilas in. A few British truckers, whom
we had met the night before turned up and chatted to us for a while but
there was no sign of the team. We thought about heading down to the bar
we had been in the previous night but we were informed by the truckers
that it was closed. A few more Tequilas followed and when the bar shut
we thought we would head towards the players's hotel to get some more
drinks. After purchasing a bottle of wine we sat at a table outside.
After about five minutes we were joined by GT himself and we chatted with
him for the next hour and a half. The players had been told that as long
as they were on the coach back to the airport at 11am the next morning
they could do what they wanted.
After returning to the hotel Pete and I decided to take a walk. We
staggered down towards the main bridge, just off the centre of the main
avenue, where we attempted to climb it. Heading back we decided to have
a race towards the fountain in the middle of the avenue. We raced along,
ripping our tops of and jumped in. Well, Pete did. I managed to stop to
remove my boots. Pete, splashing around, suddenly froze as two policemen
headed towards us. Then from out of the darkness came the shout of
"Fincham! Get out of the bloody fountain" and Darren Bazeley, Alec
Chamberlain, and Darren Ward appeared. The police decided that five
versus two was not good odds and lost interest. Talking to the players
as we walked back to the hotel with them we discovered that they had all
spent the evening at the bar we were at on the Saturday. The one which
the truckers had informed us was closed!
Our plan for the Monday and Tuesday was to head towards the capital,
Vilnius. We made it to the train station and bought our £1.50
tickets. Getting Don on and off the train turned out to be problematical
as the concept of platforms had not been fully understood.
Once we arrived in Vilnius, the first sight as we left the train station
was the golden arches of McDonalds. Vilnius turned out to be a
disappointment compared to Kaunas although we did not really have enough
time there. We spent the Monday Evening in the company of a Glaswegian
student called Nicky who showed us around, as well as explaining what a
Tequila body shot is (but sadly not demonstrating) and telling us what
she uses her right hand for. For the night we had checked into a hotel
which even had an English speaking news channel and Eurosport.
The plan for the morning was to visit the KGB museum. However, that
required a walk into the city centre, and then back up the big hill to
the hotel. We settled for having a quick scout round for souvenirs.
Then we made the discovery of possibly Lithuania's only snooker club
underneath our hotel so our last hours were spent over the baize.
Arriving at the airport in plenty of time for our 2:15 flight home we
discovered possibly the most unfriendly environment for disabled people
you could imagine. Apart from the check-in desks all the facilities were
up two flights of stairs with no lifts or escalators. When checking in,
Don was told that he would have to wait by the desk for an hour so that
he could be driven out to the plane. It was only after a lot of arguing
that they allowed him to go through to the departure lounge and duty
free area. The flight home proved to be better than the flight out and
the food was actually quite nice. Not that Pete noticed. He was suffering
the effects of eating some local food the night before.
And with touchdown at Heathrow so ended our five day Lithuanian
adventure, and what proved to be the best time I have had for a long
while. Okay, so we came fourth in a four team tournament but to be honest
the actual football came second to the overall experience of being
there, meeting and talking with the playing and management staff of the
club, and looking at all those gorgeous women.