Chelsea v Liverpool

As I mentioned in the last blog, I headed down to Chelsea Stadium for the big game vs Liverpool.  If you head west a couple stations on the District line to Earl's Court and then head South to Fulham Broadway you will end up at the stadium.  However, this wasn't as easy as it seemed on Sunday.  I was one of 40,000 people doing the same thing.  It was packed to say the least.  It was a quite the experience just getting to the stadium.  We were not trying to get tickets by any means and we really weren't trying buy them when we found out the lowest price for a ticket on the streets was 200 Pounds or just over $300.  Anyways, when we got off the packed train, we started making our way towards the Stadium.  It was about 2 blocks to the front gates.  There were police lining either side of the street and it seemed like they were herding us.

This is the tube stop stairs.  Packed as ever, people would have trampled you if you fell.

This is the road as you get out of the Tube stop.  You can't see the police yet, but they lined the streets as thousands of people walked them.

And the cops were on horses.

Now the fun part.  We tried to find a good pub to go to watch the game.  Every pub we walked by that was within 2 blocks of the stadium was completely full and most were jumping up and down chanting songs and yelling as if they were going to war.  So, we continued to walk until we found a Pub about 4 blocks from the stadium that was packed, but you could at least breathe here.  Here is a picture of the pub we were in from the back wall towards the front about an hour or 45 min before the game.

As I got my first pint, I asked the bartender what it would be like for the game and he said just wait a while and it will all clear out.  So, I grabbed my pint and waited.  But, waiting without talking is boring.  So, I went over and started talking to 3 gents standing at a table.  One was from Liverpool(pronounced Liva Poo by the man) and the others Chelsea.  They were good friends and were heading to the game.  They were interested in American football even though they knew nothing about it.  They also noticed I was drinking an "Ale" pint and proceeded to talk to me about how bad American beer is awful.  They said you can drink them until the cows come home and not be "pissed"(drunk) at all. They loved there beer and continued to drink it was like water. Game time came around and they left and I went back over to some members of my group.  But, watching the game was boring, so I started talking with another man near us.  Long story short, his name was Tim.  He was an independent contractor that built houses for a living.  LOVED me and everything about America.  He was a great guy, talked with him for the entire game.  He too, made fun of American beer, telling me it tasted like horses piss.  He must of wanted me to drink European beer because he bought me and Libbie a couple rounds.  I tried to buy him one or two, but he refused and said come back in 10 years when I'm rich and buy him them.  He said he will be there, and I don't doubt that for a minute.  Ended up being a great guy and made a great friend that day.  A few pints later, the game ended, sadly.  Not for the fact the game was over, but because I had to leave.

We made our way back to the Tube and headed home.  Took a little cat nap before staying up for the Super Bowl.  Interesting point; it was Super Bowl Sunday here, and not one person could care, or even know where the teams were from.  After the nap and a skype session with the parents, we turned the "tele" on.  The game was, surprisingly, on.  The only problem was we didn't get to see the commercials, but instead we had British commentators try to explain what was going on in the game.  It was funny at first, but after a while we realized how just plain stupid these guys were.  Might be the reason why no one here knows about the sport. The game started at midnight our time and ended about 3:15 am, and yes, there were 5 guys that stayed up to watch the entire game.  Made for a long day of classes today. Tonight not much happened but tomorrow we head to the original "Hard Rock Cafe" where Clapton has donated a lot of his guitars (thats for Nick McQuillan)!

Off to bed early tonight after the lack of sleep last night.

Cheers

Jimmy