stadium adventures

I have been to half of the stadiums here in South Africa: both Johannesburg stadiums, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. Of course, I will work backwards just like I love to do.

The Durban stadium is very pretty as shown in the bottom right corner. That arch above the stadium is one that you can actually walk on! Unfortunately when we went, it was closed but I would've definitely gone up there. Even close-up the outside is pretty! It is literally across the street from the old rugby stadium which unfortunately looks very rundown in comparison.

The Cape Town stadium looms over the city but not in an imposing fashion (and yes I know that's what loom actually means but I like the way it sounds.) Seeing it from my sister's apartment is absolutely amazing. It's so bright, shiny and grand especially against the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean. Even though my experience is a little marred by the fact that North Korea got slaughtered by Portugal 7-0, Greenpoint Stadium (name of the Cape Town stadium) still stood out to me as being the prettiest. I got a little behind the scenes look from my Twitter friend, TJ and I have to say, it's better than Soccer City.

The Pretoria stadium is not as pretty as the previous two and is weirdly constructed to me. There really isn't space to walk except right in front of the seats at the bottom right by the pitch. Just like the Ellis Park one. Not much to say about this one except for the fact that the game here was electric because we watched Bafana Bafana... lose. Haha sad. It was actually really sad and unfortunate because that was the controversial red card. OH and I rode in my first commercial Hummer (H3). Haha. My first commercial Hummer ride was in South Africa, not the States.

Ellis Park. Ugly. Haha. Sorry I had to say it. To me, poorly constructed, the outside isn't pleasant at all and it's completely awkward! There's really no room to walk all the way around the stadium except between the pitch and the seats. I know that all they did to prepare was to touch it up, but goodness me, it still looks pretty worn down. The only cool thing is that the volunteer centre is a gym like thing and is spacious and actually cutely decorated.

Last but certainly not least, my home away from home away from home.... Soccer City. It's GINORMOUS. It is the only stadium to host an International Broadcast Centre and a big Media Centre. Unfortunately it takes ~12 minutes to walk from the stadium to the volunteer centre and ~17 to the media centre. More than ever I want to wear a pedometer to see how much I walk everyday. It has over 80,000 seats including the media tribune and a spectacular VIP and VVIP (very VERY important people) viewing area. How do I know this? I of course have been inside it all. I actually watched the Mexico v. Argentina game inside the VIP area and ate their food and drank their wine. Delicious. The outside is modeled after the traditional gourd that holds African beer. I walked around the ESPN US studio and no one blinked. My accreditation pretty much allows me to go anywhere which is nice.

Yes. That's it. I may be going to the Port Elizabeth/Nelson Mandela Bay stadium this weekend. We'll see. If I do... another post! But I still have much more to update on besides the stadiums. I'll try and think of more fun stories besides just the stadiums.