Coventry City supporter and long standing England fan Lloyd Powell is in the Ukraine to follow England during the European Championship.
Here is the second edition from his blog from the tournament.
So the first full day in Ukraine and the sun shone as the temps hit the mid 30's and an ever increasing number of England fans began to descend on Donetsk.
There was never gonna be the numbers that had invaded Germany six years ago but reports back home that hardly anyone was travelling are way off the mark.
There's loads here. Saw Chris Kamara and Stevie Claridge in a bar earlier. Top fellas, had a laugh with them, they were loving drinking with the England fans. Many of whom have been struggling with the language barrier and the fact hardly anyone speaks a word of the queens!
Taxis are a bit of a problem, not that they are trying to rip you off. They're cheap as chips, Its Just that they can't understand you or where you wanna go or even find where you are staying, everyone seems to have the same problem.
Went to the fan zone to watch the Spain V Italy game, nice evening, ace atmosphere, was struggling a bit having been drinking all day in the sun, but i soon got a second wind! I honestly didn't expect it to be this good.
We are staying in a hostel about 15 mins from the city centre and it's a bit of mission. The hostel is very basic but the willingness to help and do anything for you is rather heartwarming.
Took about an hour to get the hot water working at first but it kicked in eventually. Although we're in the middle of nowhere there's a little grocery store just down the road where you can get your provisions, earlier the hostel staff went and brought beer and wines and distributed them up to the rooms of english guests! Lovely touch that.
Anyway game day today. Can't wait.
More tomorrow.