Thursday was the Eurovision 2nd Semi Final. Before we headed over we stopped for something to eat in the Globus Mall in Maidan Square by Hotel Ukraine where we were staying. We got a pizza and grilled vegetables for 150 UH ($7.50) each. Not the filling meal I would have chosen but one compromises with friends!. 

 
 

For Tuesday's first Semi Final I was getting texts and emails to be 2-3 hours early, not to bring bags, and to bring my passport. I left at 630pm on Tuesday, people had bags, and nobody checked for passports. 

 
 

Today I figured leave after 7pm to avoid waiting in lines. When we got to the venue we didnt have to wait long for them to let the crowd lines in thru security. Inside they kept us in the hot holding pen again until the opened the doors to let us into the venue. 

 
 


























 



 
 
A different set of fans arrive each semi final for their respective countries competing on each night. It was interesting to see the devotion from fans of each country. As not everyone comes for each semi its easier to buy tickets for these two shows compared to the Grand Final night.  
 
For today they were emailing and texting that all seats had been dropped to 500 UH ($25). There were lots of empty seats on Tuesday but more people arrive for Thursday to be closer to Saturday's Grand Final. 

 
 


They made us wait till 9pm before letting us into the seating area and it did seem to be more full today with the discounted ticket sales. The only people that could take advantage of that is locals. Foreign buyers are not going to suddenly book flights and be able to find hotels just because they dropped ticket prices one day before. 

 
 































 
At the front was a large group if Israeli women and one Israeli guy with them taking dozens of pictures of themselves before the show even begun. In front of us was a Gay American couple. The younger guy was delighted to be at his first Eurovision while his older friend seemed like he'd been dragged along. Beside them were two women from Austria. 

 
 

Because I attended Semi Final 1 myself I bought my own ticket. For Semi Final 2 with my friend he had bought two tickets so we were seated together as we were both having problems trying to buy online. He bought in the same area I sat last time. I would have liked to have sat in the other side of the venue had we planned it better beforehand. 

 
 
 
   





Visit My Page on Facebook : Departures1 - Global Adventures