Lost in the Wilds of UK Sport: Night #1
There I was hugging and kissing Nicole good-bye at London Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Nicole was flying back to Chicago after our weekend in London and four weeks in Spain. I was staying in England for over two weeks in order to attend as many sporting events as possible within that time frame. I had booked this additional part of the trip back in July when I booked our plane tickets for Spain and England. Originally it was only supposed to be one extra week, but when Nicole needed to get back for school a week earlier it ended up being two weeks.
As Nicole went through security, I received an email from British Mick stating where to meet Big Chris – The Young Vic on a street called “The Cut” by Waterloo Station. The day before British Mick emailed me stating I could stay with Big Chris by Waterloo station rather than a hostel as I had planned.
I left Heathrow Terminal 5 at 4:45 pm. By the time I took the tube back to Central London, picked up my bags from the hotel, made it to Waterloo Station and found the Young Vic it was 7:00 pm – the time I was supposed to meet Big Chris.
Big Chris was 15 minutes late which gave me time to peruse a couple of newspapers at the bar. Remember, I always like to look at the local paper in the city I am visiting in order to learn about events I would not normally think of attending. My current plan for the week was to attend:
1) The Arsenal Carling Cup match versus West Brom Tuesday night.
2) The Chelsea Carling Cup match versus QPR Wednesday night.
3) Take the train to Newcastle Thursday afternoon for the Guinness Premiership rugby match between Newcastle Falcons and Harlequins.
Thus, I had some free time Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon, all day Thursday and Friday afternoon.
The best paper that listed out all of the UK fixtures for the week was The Independent. It was perfect. I began to determine what else I could attend during my few minutes of free time. The first event I noticed was the Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros. The Vivendi Trophy is similar to the Ryder Cup but is played between players representing Great Britian & Ireland versus Continental Europe. The event started on Thursday meaning I would need to take a train from London to Paris Thursday morning and still get to Newcastle in time for the Rugby match Friday night.
As Big Chris showed up, I noticed that County Cricket was taking place in England during the week as well. The four day matches started on Wednesday and went through Saturday (starting at 10:30 am each day) allowing time for the NatWest Pro40 League to take place on Sundays.
The closest cricket match on Wednesday was Surrey hosting Glamorgan at The Brit Oval. Even though it was 2nd division County Cricket, the Oval was only a 20 minute walk from Big Chris’ house and where I attended The Ashes in August.
I then asked Big Chris where the best match to attend Thursday morning would be. He said since I was taking the train to Newcastle anyway I should stop in Leeds for the Yorkshire match versus Hampshire at Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground – one of the test match grounds in England. My events for the rest of the week were now set:
1) The Arsenal Carling Cup match versus West Brom Tuesday night.
2) Second Division County Cricket at The Oval: Surrey versus Glamorgan on Wednesday afternoon.
3) The Chelsea Carling Cup match versus QPR Wednesday night.
4) First Division County Cricket at Headingley: Yorkshire versus Hampshire on Thursday afternoon.
5) Guinness Premiership rugby match between Newcastle Falcons and Harlequins.
After one drink at the Young Vic, Big Chris and I went back to his place to drop off my bags. We then went out to dinner at Kennington Tandoori – an Indian restaurant. After dinner Big Chris took me on a pub crawl of his area – first up was the Prince of Wales located at 48 Cleaver Square and second was The Doghouse located at 293 Kennington Rd.
As Nicole went through security, I received an email from British Mick stating where to meet Big Chris – The Young Vic on a street called “The Cut” by Waterloo Station. The day before British Mick emailed me stating I could stay with Big Chris by Waterloo station rather than a hostel as I had planned.
I left Heathrow Terminal 5 at 4:45 pm. By the time I took the tube back to Central London, picked up my bags from the hotel, made it to Waterloo Station and found the Young Vic it was 7:00 pm – the time I was supposed to meet Big Chris.
Big Chris was 15 minutes late which gave me time to peruse a couple of newspapers at the bar. Remember, I always like to look at the local paper in the city I am visiting in order to learn about events I would not normally think of attending. My current plan for the week was to attend:
1) The Arsenal Carling Cup match versus West Brom Tuesday night.
2) The Chelsea Carling Cup match versus QPR Wednesday night.
3) Take the train to Newcastle Thursday afternoon for the Guinness Premiership rugby match between Newcastle Falcons and Harlequins.
Thus, I had some free time Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon, all day Thursday and Friday afternoon.
The best paper that listed out all of the UK fixtures for the week was The Independent. It was perfect. I began to determine what else I could attend during my few minutes of free time. The first event I noticed was the Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros. The Vivendi Trophy is similar to the Ryder Cup but is played between players representing Great Britian & Ireland versus Continental Europe. The event started on Thursday meaning I would need to take a train from London to Paris Thursday morning and still get to Newcastle in time for the Rugby match Friday night.
As Big Chris showed up, I noticed that County Cricket was taking place in England during the week as well. The four day matches started on Wednesday and went through Saturday (starting at 10:30 am each day) allowing time for the NatWest Pro40 League to take place on Sundays.
The closest cricket match on Wednesday was Surrey hosting Glamorgan at The Brit Oval. Even though it was 2nd division County Cricket, the Oval was only a 20 minute walk from Big Chris’ house and where I attended The Ashes in August.
I then asked Big Chris where the best match to attend Thursday morning would be. He said since I was taking the train to Newcastle anyway I should stop in Leeds for the Yorkshire match versus Hampshire at Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground – one of the test match grounds in England. My events for the rest of the week were now set:
1) The Arsenal Carling Cup match versus West Brom Tuesday night.
2) Second Division County Cricket at The Oval: Surrey versus Glamorgan on Wednesday afternoon.
3) The Chelsea Carling Cup match versus QPR Wednesday night.
4) First Division County Cricket at Headingley: Yorkshire versus Hampshire on Thursday afternoon.
5) Guinness Premiership rugby match between Newcastle Falcons and Harlequins.
After one drink at the Young Vic, Big Chris and I went back to his place to drop off my bags. We then went out to dinner at Kennington Tandoori – an Indian restaurant. After dinner Big Chris took me on a pub crawl of his area – first up was the Prince of Wales located at 48 Cleaver Square and second was The Doghouse located at 293 Kennington Rd.
Labels: London, Scheduling
posted by Ultimate Sports Fan, Andrew @ 2:58 AM
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