World Cup fan zone: Three down, five to go!

Brazil is awesome and so far we’ve seen three games at the Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza and Spain v Chile at the Maracana in Rio.

Two weeks and five more games to go in Fortaleza, Brasilia and Salvador. We have recruited a lovely old local guy as our personal driver to and from the stadium here in Fortaleza, as hiring a car would be near on suicide! You can’t get closer than about one and a half kilometers to the stadium, so we jump on the back of one of the many local lads’ bicycles and they ride you up to the stadium for 10 reais. It’s a lot of fun, especially when you’ve had half a dozen Caipirinha’s!

There are plenty of police (Federal and Provincial) around, but not at all overwhelming and we feel as safe as houses. The FIFA Fan Fest zones are absolutely awesome with giant screens showing all the games and tons of activities, food and beverages.  It’s hot as balls here in Fortaleza and the weather is great... so far. 

We’re just off to the Fan Fest on Iracema Beach to watch the USA v Portugal game. We’ve met some awesome people from Chile, Costa Rica, Australia and Malaysia. 

No signs of any trouble whatsoever anywhere and all the locals seem to be loving the games and the thousands of tourists all contributing to the local economy. 

We feel very welcomed everywhere we go. Shame about England!

— Paul Fenwick, 48, Warwick