First of all let me apologize for not posting anything earlier. Our hotel this time does not have free internet access the way our one last summer does, and the computer is really blooming slow. This is the first time I have managed to get to the internet cafe down the street and the machines are faster and cheaper.
So far the weather has been quite a mixed bag from wet to cold to beautiful today. The grass is green and the dafodils are blooming however so I'm still not complaining.
We arrived Sunday morning at 7.00 am after a very comfortable (and on time ?????!!!!!) Air Canada flight from Calgary through Toronto. It was raining as we walked from the Tube station to our hotel where we left our bags in the hotel office, got cleaned up in a bathroom, and took off immediately to St. Paul's Cathedral for Easter morning services. The service was beautiful once again with the church packed. The music was glorious of course. Say what you like about the Church of England, no one does liturgy quite like they do.
After that we had lunch in the Cafe in the Crypt before heading off to Hyde Park and Speakers' Corner. It was not nearly as busy or interesting as last summer. Too cold for the Muslims.
It was at this point that Jenn and Rebecca left for Madame Tussaud's and Grant and I took the Underground to Fulham Broadway station and joined the mass of humanity heading down the street for Stamford Bridge Stadium, home of the Chelsea Blues of the English Premier League.
Not having tickets, we really didn't expect to be able to see the game anywhere but a pub with TV as Chelsea were playing Arsenal. Team 1 versus team 3 in the top league in the country had sold out weeks back. I have never seen so many police in my life! Police in cars, on foot, on horseback. It was incredible.
We spoke to a number of different people gathering information on how to purchase tickets from certain sources that are, shall we say, not completely sanctioned. After turning down offers and gathering enough info we managed to hook up with a middle-aged bloke who had a kid living and working in Canada. He sold us two tickets at nearly 3x the price but less than what the going rate from the established resale ticket outlets were advertising. It was also more than a few of the other "sellers" were offering. One always has to be careful not to get scammed. As a guarentee he walked us to our gate until we got in. I couldn't believe it! I have always wanted to watch a live football (soccer) game in Europe and have never been there during the season until now.
It was the most incredible sporting experience in my life. The deep throated singing of 10's of thousands of fans rumbled through the streets of Chelsea as we walked to our gate and, once inside, rose to a deafening roar as we made it just in time for the opening kickoff. Our seats were pretty high up in the Bridge, but we had an unimpeded view of the pitch and also of the Shed where visitor club fans have only been allowed to sit for decades. The energy in the building was indescribable and it only got more so as the game wore on with Chelsea down 1-nil until about the 70th minute when Didier Drogba scored to tie it. The noise was deafening until only 9 minutes later when he scored again as Chelsea took the lead 2-1. The game ended that way as well. I sang, chanted, ridiculed Arsenal fans down below with all the locals. It was a birthday I will not forget for quite some time.
I told Jenn over dinner she doesn't need to buy me a birthday present for several years now as a) nothing can top this one, and b) after what I paid for a ticket, we can't afford it.
We will most likely be adding more tomorrow, hopefully with some pictures. We shall see. Time is flying and we have a pretty full day again tomorrow. I have worn a pedometer the last three days and on Tuesday we walked 14.91 km, 13.45 on Wednesday, and so far today have clocked 13.47 km more. Maybe Jenn will write tomorrow as well. Until then, I am going to sleep.
