(Ed’s note – this account of a trip to the Olympiacos v Arsenal game was submitted for the printed issue. However, as we already had the trip covered, we are running it on the website instead)

Our journey started close to midnight on the 7th December, when all 48 of us got on the coach. It’s always a fun trip, because you get the chance to see people from all corners of Bulgaria and that doesn’t come very often. We arrived in Athens at noon, checked in the hotel and immediately took off to see the Acropolis. It’s a magical atmosphere up there and the weather was kind enough to give us the opportunity to do all the traditional stuff. After the long walk, it was impossible to avoid the restaurants at Monastiraki square, so we all sat down at a traditional tavern.

To be honest, Greek cuisine isn’t much different than Bulgarian, but it does look like it is made by a better chef. We decided on the traditional meals and had kebabs and Greek salad. The thing we liked the most, though, was the tzatziki - a salad made of strained yoghurt, cucumbers, olive oil, pepper and salt. We have a similar one in Bulgaria, called snezhanka, but we much prefer the Greek version now. After the good meal we decided to use the last remaining daylight hours to search for souvenirs. There were some very catchy T-shirts, but we preferred replicas of the historically significant sights.

When the moon stood high above us and the darkness thoroughly embraced the whole of the city, we set off to see the famous Lycabettus Hill view. It was quite a challenging hike, but it was well worth it. Despite the ongoing street protests, the chance to see the lit up city and Acropolis from up there was one of the most enjoyable experiences of the trip. After that we had a late dinner at a tavern near our hotel, where we got the chance to catch some of the action from the Olympique Marseille – Real Madrid game. The focus and discussions, though, were of course on our game. It was a very fulfilling day, but the main part was yet to come.

The next day we had breakfast and checked out of the hotel. Mrs. Jill Smith had organized a police escort to take us from the old Olympic stadium to the ground at 18:30, but before that we had the whole day to wander around other parts of the city. So we went down to Omonia Square, took some pictures and headed to the national garden, which is right next to the Greek Parliament. It turned out to be a great place to relax a bit and take our minds off the game. Beautiful palm and tangerine trees surrounded by amazingly well-shaped bushes and lots of green patches. We wished we could have stayed there all day.

On our way to the Olympic stadium we met a few Gooners we know from past trips. They were of course expecting us, given the relatively short distance from Sofia to Athens. It was soon time to get on the coach and head to Georgios Karaiskakis stadium. The police insisted on us being in the ground early so we can avoid trouble. Two hours before kick-off we had already hung our flags and taken our seats. At first we thought it will be a very agonizing wait, but soon some Gooner friends came and the singing started. Before we knew it, the game kicked off and we were at full voice. I have to say that we were expecting the famous Olympiacos fans from Gate 7 to put on a good display of colours, but they were simply magnificent.

We were trying our best out there, but we never looked like outsinging them. It is actually quite typical for the fans to be that passionate in Eastern Europe. In Bulgaria there are games where you can witness that, but it always leads to trouble, whereas the Greeks were in the ground for the sole purpose to support their team and nothing else. They turned out to be a very cultured bunch and we applauded each other after the game. It made a great impression on all of us.

We did have some of the early minutes of the match though, thanks to the brilliant display of our young guns. The experienced Olympiacos team looked like second best. I thought we were very lucky to be at that game and witness the youngest ever Champions’ League starting eleven and the likes of Thomas Cruise and Kyle Bartley making their debuts. It was really heart-warming to see not only Arsene giving these lads a chance, but them performing well on a big stage, too. It can only show that this club is going places and it made us very proud we were there to support it. We were unlucky on the night in the final third and didn’t deserve to lose, but there was a feeling that these boys are on their way and with Arsene’s guidance, would some day be genuine first team players. The game ended in a flash and soon we were on our coach, heading back to Sofia and still buzzing from the unforgettable experience.