Taxi for Kiev

Steve Deponeo

Description

Taxi for Kiev: The Story of Six Strangers, Crossing Six Borders, Over Six Days is the true and uncensored story of six lads from very different backgrounds who had never met before but found kinship in a common goal: to get to Kiev for the 2019 Champions League Final between Liverpool and Real Madrid. They embarked on a 3,500-mile taxi trip that took them to many places - physically, mentally and emotionally. Deprived of basic comforts for six days, this was never going to be an easy journey especially among strangers. You'd be surprised what you can learn about a man living in such close quarters. Lack of sleep, space and sanctuary just compounded the issue. Add to this a severe lack of hygiene, and this trip looked like a recipe for disaster. Not only did the lads survive and get on well but, surprisingly, they formed lasting bonds. Taxi for Kiev is one man's account of that unforgettable six-day adventure - a candid tale that touches on the good, the bad and the ugly in human nature. It has shocks, tears and laughs aplenty.

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 10 janvier 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781801502108
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2022
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Steve Deponeo, 2022
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright.
Any oversight will be rectified in future editions at the earliest opportunity by the publisher.
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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 9781801501132
eBook ISBN 9781801502108
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Contents
Introduction
1. The Planning
2. Indigenous Reds
3. The Money Men
4. Technophobe
5. The Travelling Companions
6. The Artful Dodgers
7. Scouse Connections
8. The Leaving of Liverpool
9. Leave With Ease
10. Sunnier Climes
11. This Ain t The F*****g N rburgring
12. Hotel Walton
13. Memories Of Old Kyiv
14. Bristol Beauts
15. Don t Buy The S*n
16. The Greatest Man I Ever Met
17. 200 Yards In Five Hours
18. Welcome To Ukraine
19. Shevchenko Park
20. The Park Paraffin
21. This Is What We Came For
22. D akuju Kyiv
23. Walking The Cow
24. Return To Wroc aw (Where the f**k is Jamie?)
25. Indecent Proposal
26. Toilet Slaughterhouse
27. Deathbahns
28. Handtwerp
29. Homeward-Bound
30. Merseyside United
Acknowledgements
Photos
For Barb
The saying goes, Don t regret what you do in life, only regret what you don t.
My big regret in writing this book is that I didn t do it sooner, when Barb was still with us. Mum loved to read.
RIP DEAR MOTHER
Introduction
ONE OF the reasons I have written this book is simply because people close to me for many years have suggested that I put pen to paper. On more than one occasion I have had the material, but it s just been a case of never actually getting around to writing it down. Never regret what you do in life, only regret what you don t, as the saying goes. Therefore, I thought, after so many trips I d finally give it a go. Primarily this book is about a unique and truly amazing adventure of six boys, all strangers, who met up at a local boozer and then embarked on a trip of a lifetime into the great unknown.
There will be times in this book where I will digress slightly and go off on small tangents. You see, it was inevitable that certain episodes from this mystery tour would unlock memories from bygone trips. If I can open doors hidden deep away in my memory bank as I progress with my writing, remembering experiences that are linked, then I feel I owe it to myself to put them on paper, for my own benefit really but if you enjoy your perusal then all the better.
Another reason to try and record the experiences from this trip is the fact that, having had the great fortune to have been on so many excursions over the years, unfortunately most of them are now a blur. Time does things like that to your memory; at least now I will have something to look back on.
Stories of real adventures, of previous escapades in bygone days in far-off lands, running around Europe with the boys. Life back in the late 1970s and into the 80s really was one long adventure; it was for me anyway. Those days are now distant memories, albeit blurred, that I will take to my grave.
I know for a fact that there are hundreds if not thousands of boys and girls who have travelled more often and much further afield than I have over the decades, following our beloved Liverpool Football Club around.
People have had far greater and more dramatic times than I could ever imagine, but to date I have been on more than 50 European away trips.
I could never claim to be the biggest or best Liverpool supporter ever to have lived but I truly do count my blessings on my score. How many can say they have had even one experience under their belt? At the risk of boring you, I will list the places I ve visited. As I mentioned earlier it s more for my sake than yours, so feel free to skip.
This is my perfect opportunity to log some of my great adventures. This list is of European away fixtures only, presented in no particular order:
Olympic Stadium: Athens, Greece
Emirates Stadium: London, England
Amsterdam Arena: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Camp Nou: Barcelona, Spain
St Jacob-Park: Basel, Switzerland
Stadion Balgarska Armia: Sofia, Bulgaria
Parkhead: Glasgow, Scotland
Westfalenstadion: Dortmund, Germany
Philips Stadion: Eindhoven, Holland
Heysel Stadium: Brussels, Belgium
Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex: Kyiv, Ukraine
Stadion Miejski im. Henryka Reymana: Krak w, Poland
Stadion u Nisy: Liberec, Czech Rep
Stade Louis II: Monaco, France
Stade V lodrome: Marseille, France
Olympic Stadium: Munich, Germany
Allianz Arena: Munich, Germany
Santiago Bernab u Stadium: Madrid, Spain
Stadio San Paolo: Naples, Italy
Est dio das Antas: Porto, Portugal
Parc des Princes: Paris, France
Stadio Olimpico: Roma, Italy
Estadio Benito Villamar n: Betis, Spain
San Siro: Milan, Italy
Wembley: London, England
Wanda Metropolitano: Madrid, Spain
Vodafone Stadium: Istanbul, Turkey
I have been to some of these stadia on more than one occasion, so I am quite proud of that little stat. It s not the highest count of all but I m chuffed to bits, proud and honoured. It has been an absolute privilege to have had so many experiences you couldn t possibly buy. You may have noticed one serious omission from my list: Istanbul. This little event in ours club s wonderful history was, can you believe, missed by yours truly.
My wife Donna and I were building a business together over on the east coast of England by May 2005 and were very close to opening our establishment. We overshot our rebuild budget slightly and in fact had to sell the family car in order to get open in time for the May bank holidays. We even had tickets for the Champions League Final but unfortunately needs must and we had no option but to get our priorities in order.
The pain of missing out on that wonderful night in Turkey will never leave us, but I can justifiably say that the sacrifice paid off in as much as our business was a huge success. Donna and I enjoyed a quality way of life, running a very successful business for almost eight years. We enjoyed our stay in Lincolnshire very much but decided we had reached a time in our lives where we needed to return home. The main reason was because our little troop of grandchildren was starting to appear at a rapid rate. We both hated the thought of missing out on watching them grow up. Donna will tell you that I beat myself up far too much when I say I am eager to make up for lost time with them. At the time of writing we have eight, with another one on the way. It sounds a lot but with five children the chances were always in favour of reaching double figures.
Another reason for returning home was that although we did manage to get to a few European away trips while living on the east coast, being away from our place of worship was starting to weigh heavy!
I have been so lucky in life to have experienced many book-worthy trips but have never managed to write them all down before, although I have often contemplated it. This is my account of just one trip - a momentous road trip across western Europe, far behind the old Iron Curtain, in an eight-seater taxi.
* * *
In this book I make reference to Scousers this and Scousers that! In saying this from time to time, I am making only a regional reference. Okay, Scousers are a different breed and have certain traits others don t possess but in the main, these boys and girls can be found in any city across England and beyond. In reality, underneath it all, the main difference is the accent.
1
The Planning
THE WEEK building up to the 2018 final of the greatest competition in European club football was one of real mixed emotions for Donna and I, plus thousands and thousands of other Redmen. The want and the need to be there in Kyiv was at times overwhelming. There were stories aplenty of family, friends and colleagues booking trips left, right and centre and this only served to make the quest to be there even more desperate.
We had spent countless hours on many different websites trying to find a reasonably priced excursion to the Ukrainian capital. Hopes were raised and then dashed on numerous occasions; one minute excited that we could get there and the next disappointed because of places being filled up at an alarmingly rapid pace and also because of the spiralling costs involved. We had stayed up into the wee small hours of the Wednesday morning prior to the game, researching avenues that could possibly get us on the move to yet another European Cup Final. The event is better known as the Champions League Final these days, although locally this enormous cup is known as Old Big Ears . It always has been and always will be.
Our planning may have been a little late and a bit too close to the day of the game itself to expect flights to still be available, but as the big day drew closer and closer the desire to be there in Kyiv was becoming all-consuming. The fact that two of the city s most collectable items had landed at our feet had made our research even more desperate. A source that will forever remain anonymous had offered me two tickets for the final, all above board I must add and at face value, absolutely no touting involved here. Just an amazing act of thoughtfulness that will be appreciated forever. Sir, I owe you a debt of gratitude! The value of the two tick