saw more super tourist sites today. the parks around buckingham palace were nice and the gates were pretty, but the palace itself was pretty weak. i don't know, but it looks and feels way bigger on tv. also, i didn't see the brittish bulldog from the WWF anywhere and was instantly dissapointed. the whole place turned to chaos 20 minutes before the changing of the guard, so we bailed quickly to avoid the crowd of probably 10,000 + people that gathered to watch a security shift change. the rest of our day was far more exciting.
....and then it happened, the most exciting sporting event of my life. i don't think anything will ever compare to the atmosphere at our first football match of the trip. just absolutely apeshit crazy. imagine a yankees vs. red sox game, on roids, times ten. just total sports insanity before, during, and after the match.
the match was fulham vs. birminham with the winner lifting themselves out of the relegation zone and the loser likely dropping out of the premiership next year. a huge match for both teams, but they're not even regular rivals and it felt like the whole thing was fight to the death (for the players and fans).
we ended up running around too late to stop in for drinks at a pub beforehand, but that worked out in our favor, as the pub we wanted to drink at was blocked off by cops on horses as some sort of fight must have broken out.
when we entered the stadium we were astonished to discover that we had all been completely misinformed about booze in the stadium. as long as you didn't take it to your seat, you could drink carlsberg all day long right on the river. brilliant!
and then we got to our seats.....
it felt like we had snuck backstage at a concert, as we sat down in the second row directly on the field. the atmosphere was abso-fucking-lutely crazy. the loudest, most passionate fans i have ever encountered. and that was before the game even started. check out everyone's reaction when fulham scored the first goal of the match in the second half (that cam and i somehow miraculously both caught on film) .
seriously, i'm still high from the game. so amazingly exciting, and it made every american sporting event i've ever attended seem completely flacid by comparison.
we finished off the day at Albert's pub with some fish and chips and that was pretty much it for london until next weekend.
off to barcelona in the morning.
....and then it happened, the most exciting sporting event of my life. i don't think anything will ever compare to the atmosphere at our first football match of the trip. just absolutely apeshit crazy. imagine a yankees vs. red sox game, on roids, times ten. just total sports insanity before, during, and after the match.
the match was fulham vs. birminham with the winner lifting themselves out of the relegation zone and the loser likely dropping out of the premiership next year. a huge match for both teams, but they're not even regular rivals and it felt like the whole thing was fight to the death (for the players and fans).
we ended up running around too late to stop in for drinks at a pub beforehand, but that worked out in our favor, as the pub we wanted to drink at was blocked off by cops on horses as some sort of fight must have broken out.
when we entered the stadium we were astonished to discover that we had all been completely misinformed about booze in the stadium. as long as you didn't take it to your seat, you could drink carlsberg all day long right on the river. brilliant!
and then we got to our seats.....
it felt like we had snuck backstage at a concert, as we sat down in the second row directly on the field. the atmosphere was abso-fucking-lutely crazy. the loudest, most passionate fans i have ever encountered. and that was before the game even started. check out everyone's reaction when fulham scored the first goal of the match in the second half (that cam and i somehow miraculously both caught on film) .
seriously, i'm still high from the game. so amazingly exciting, and it made every american sporting event i've ever attended seem completely flacid by comparison.
we finished off the day at Albert's pub with some fish and chips and that was pretty much it for london until next weekend.
off to barcelona in the morning.
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