World of football, the greatest show on earth #best of 2018

The trip started off with the dream to watch World Cup Football live. Applied for the tickets a good nine months before the start of the World Cup in the month of September. My joys knew no bounds when I got the confirmation in the month of October about my successful application. Luckily I got the tickets for the group match between Brazil and Costa Rica. Knowing that I will be able to watch Neymer live was really a dream come true.  The match was scheduled to be held at St. Petersburg, but a visit to Russia without Moscow is just not possible. So I started planning for a visit to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Booked direct flight from Delhi.  Aeroflot offers the best option for a trip to Moscow from Delhi. There are daily 2 flights one at midnight and the other in the morning, I opted for the morning flight which is at 0530, but the midnight flight is better as anyways for a flight at 0530 one needs to report at around 0230 for hassle free airport activities. For accommodation at Moscow I booked an apartment through AirBnB and it turned out that the owner is an Indian and he went out of the way to make my trip as comfortable and memorable as possible. Moscow is not just Red Square and it's surrounding which includes the famous Saint Basil's Cathedral. The memorial museum of Cosmonautics takes one on a trip to the space and for me the picture of then SqLdr Rakesh Sharma in space holds a great significance. After spending four days at Moscow, I travelled to St. Petersburg. Here I need to mention that intercity transfers were all taken care off by the World Cup organising committee. Once I reached St. Petersburg I came to know why it is known as the Cultural capital of Russia. No words can actually describe this beautiful city. Spent 8 days and felt I needed at least another 15 days to savor this beautiful city. In fact for a while I forgot that I was there to watch live World Cup Football. But once the day of the match came closer the excitement started increasing and truly it was a day that I won't forget in my life. As I look back to the trip, I can surely say it was a trip of my life. Truly #bestof2018