Europa feels a funny word to use out here in Kazan. We're just as close to Baghdad and Kabul as we are to London. It's a long way to come for an awkward away game in a competition Spurs are not taking too seriously yet. Adebayor, Van der Vaart, Bale, Modric, Lennon, Parker, Friedel, Assou-Ekotto - there is quite a list of players left behind in London. They're not missing too much.
Kazan is pretty grey and very cold. It can get down to -20 degrees C in November though is, fortunately, a slightly more comfortable zero at the moment. Still, best to take a coat.
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The area near the 37,000-seater Cristalni stadium is probably the nicest. The impressive Kremlin with its bright turquoise roof overlooks it but the rest of the city is not somewhere for a mini-break.
The main street is developing. That's a nice way of saying there are bricks scattered all over the place, no-one seemingly actually doing any construction work and quite a lot of disused buildings.
It's not overly inspiring from the retail side either though, refreshingly, we couldn't find a Tsarbucks (no, that's not a typo - just a really funny joke) or Costa - just a McDonald's and a high-end fashion outlet called Colin's.
The pedestrianised promenade has small stalls selling gloves and the obligatory Russian dolls and, weirdly, music blaring out across a Tannoy.
On Wednesday we were treated to some Ronan Keating and the theme tune to The World Is Not Enough. It had to be James Bond in Russia.
Steven Pienaar said in his press conference on Wednesday night that he was looking forward to a walk around the city to see how beautiful it is.
All smiles: Spirits are high in the Tottenham camp despite missing several first team players in Russia
He will probably come away thinking that, despite incredibly friendly people, this city has a long way to go before being in a fit state to be a host city for the 2018 World Cup.
? By then the stadium will have been completely redeveloped too. At the moment there is only covering on one side but by 2018 it will hold47,000 and be brought up to scratch. Tonight, Spurs' players will find it tough in very windy conditions.
But for all the rigmarole of the five-and-a-half hour flight out here, tonight will be valuable for some of Spurs' players. William Gallas and Pienaar will get their first bits of game time this season after injuries and the experience can only benefit young players such as the excellent Tom Carroll as well as Ryan Fredericks, Andros Townsend and Jake Livermore.
On the ball: Tottenham's youngsters will get another chance to impress in the Europa League
For Jermain Defoe, there is another chance to show Harry Redknapp - watching from TV after his heart procedure - that he deserves to start more games in the Premier League. Life is becoming increasingly frustrating for the England man.
Gallas and Pienaar, you expect, will play large parts in Tottenham's season and the South African came across well in front of the media last night. He said the right things, did it with a smile and looks understandably delighted to be back playing. The Russians wanted to know why he had turned Rubin down some time again and he sensibly wasn't getting drawn into that.
After a couple of days here, I think I might know the answer.
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Source: Daily Mail
Source: Daily Mail