Euro 2008

Vienna

I felt a little guilty on Wednesday morning as I waited for my plane to leave Heathrow's Terminal 5. It was though I'd been invited to a party no-one else in the UK had been invited to. There certainly didn't seem to be any other revellers bound for Vienna, ready for the big kick-off this Saturday.

Everyone else on the flight looked very business-like, except for a couple of miniature American ladies I was sat next to - and they certainly didn't seem the type to have any interest in Euro 2008.

The only contest they seemed concerned about was taking place a few thousand miles away, back in their homeland. They weren't bothered if Fabio Cannavaro's absence would fatally undermine Italy's bid to add the European title to their World Cup crown or whether Austria coach Josef Hickersberger would load his side with defenders in a bid to avoid the kind of humiliation many of his countrymen fear is inevitable.

No, what mattered to them was if Hillary Clinton was still pursuing her fading American Dream or that, faced with the increasingly obvious, she had finally admitted defeat to Barack Obama in the race to become the Democratic nominee for president.

I was musing, too. With just four days to the start of Euro 2008, I wondered if Vienna, despite all the pessimism about Austria's chances, had been bitten by the football bug. I truly did not know what to expect.

And now that I've been here for half a day, I still don't know. I've spent most of my time getting accredited and ensuring my computer works, although I took a few seconds out to have my photo taken with the Henri Delaunay Trophy. I've been promised a copy sometime tomorrow.

What little interaction I've had with the Austrian public came back at the airport. Asked at passport control what the purpose of my journey was - was it to catch a connecting flight? - I surprised the questioner with my answer.

He certainly seemed a little taken aback when I told him I was here to cover the football, though he soon recovered his composure and beamed a happy smile as I wandered through to collect my luggage. Is his reaction typical? I hope to find out.