Advertisement
2 Mins till Kickoff
2 Mins till Kickoff
West Ham vs Bolton
The lap of honour Hi,
Saturday 5th of May saw Tyson and I have our 2nd ever day off together. We did have to request it but never the less we were off together. Oh my god!!! As previously mentioned Tyson did manage to get tickets to a football game (West ham vs. Bolton) and Saturday was the day.
So we headed off to London by train again. Fortunately this time it was a lot less expensive due to not being peak hour. Anyways after a train into London we caught the tube to Upton Park (Westham's home ground) It seems that the area isnt' exactly the lovliest area in all of London with a lot of rubbish lieing around and some not so nice buildings.
Getting off the tube we met our first stall selling game programmes and within 20 metres had been offered tickets by 2 seperate scalpers. They sort of walk along in the crowd and subtly say. “Need tickets? Tickets for the game” It was quite funny really. Fortunately we already had some tickets so we kept going.
The streets as you walk down to the stadium were filled with West ham jersey's it's completely different
Crowd
Crowd to at home where you would see both home and away fans. Here there is no way that you would see an away fan just wandering around proudly in their colours. The passion is expressed in a different way over here which is apparently sometimes violent. The streets were also filled with food vans and stalls selling West Ham merchandise.
So after checking them all out, I was first to purchase some team merchandise, in the form of a scarf. Mainly because I was cold and needed a scarf but never mind it was only 6 quid. Tyson was keen to buy an official team shirt so we went to the official store next to have a look around. Apparently everyone else was thinking the same thing and since it was the last home game everything was discounted by up to 75%. This then meant that everything was sold out. So Tyson missed out on a jersey. I managed to find a ladies shirt for 30 quid but thought that was a little expensive still for something I wouldn't wear that much. Anyways another rack had them to 10 quid only differnce being they were kids shirts. The 16
Crowd filling up
Crowd filling up in kids fit quite nicely so I grabbed on of those. Tyson ended up with a training jumper for 12 quid and then got another scarf and a shirt from a street stall.
Now officially decked out in our West Ham gear we headed up to a pub for a pregame drink. It was quite packed and after finding our way to the bar and waiting 10 or so minutes to be served we stood back pint in hand to take it all in. It was quite an amazing atmosphere with all the West Ham supporters singing the team song and other chants. Very loud! Very awesome!
So after our quick drink we headed up to the stadium to find our seats. The stadium filled up very quickly and it became evident that the seats we were in were usually reserved for regulars. Tyson was seated next a lady we like to call 'Freaky woman'. For the first 10 minutes after she sat next him she stared at us as if to say 'what are you doing in these seats.' Definitiely a little scary. If looks could kill........ Anyways throughout the game they seemed to make friends and
Sammy all decked out
Sammy all decked out she talked to Tyson throughout the game. (Tyson was enthralled with the conversation although a little scared)
So the atmosphere in the stadium was quite awesome. It was so loud and just did not stop. Within the first 15 minutes West Ham was 2-0 up which was quite exciting. And yes I did jump up and cheer when they scored - it's apparently the thing to do. Tyson went a bit further and continued to jump up and down. I thought that the guy next to me wanted to hug me. And I think freaky lady definitely wanted to hug Tyson. She would sit down last of all of us in our row and before doing so scream “come on West Ham”. It was a little extreme.
Anyways by the end of the first half we had almost learnt the whole team song. It's about bubbles and really has nothing to do with football but was quite cool. Turn's out that West Ham was acually the team that Green Street Hooligans is sort of based around. (watch the movie it's pretty interesting) Fortunately we didn't see any of the gang viloence like in the film but it does
Upton Park
Upton Park happen. Check out the photo we took of all the security sitting where the home and away fans are seperated. It's pretty extreme but obviosuly necessary. It increased as it got closer to half time.
So the second half wasn't nearly as exciitng as the first. (plus I have a short attention span) There was only one goal scored by Bolton. So West Ham won 3-1. Yay for us!!! All up the atmosphere was awesome. Have a look at the video and you'll see half of what it was like.
So once the game was over and everyone filed out of the stadium we headed back to the tube. Unfortunatley we went straight to the station wihtout realising there was a line. So we got to the front of the line and had to walk about 10 minutes back before finally reaching the end of the line. Oh yes Fun times!
So we attempted to find a cinema so that we could see Spiderman 3 (so as to make the most of our day off.) Apparently London isn't at all like Brisbane where there is a cinema at every shopping complex and cinemas a little more scarce.
Another Upton Park
Another Upton Park So unable to find one close enough we decided to skip it and went for dinner instead.
We finally caught the train back at about 9pm and by the time we got back it was close to 10. It was a very long but excellent day!
So yesterday was back to routine with work all day for both of us. Today I had the day shift and Tyson is on night so we crossed over for a bit but that's all we'll see of each other. He get's the day off tomorrow and I will work a split shift. Oh fun times!!!
Anyways I think I mentioned we have now booked a Contiki Tour. It's a camping tour which should be fun for me. Anyways we are really looking forward to it and starting the countdown. It does mean we will get to see a little less than we would of liked but...... it's what we can afford.
Well that's pretty much all that we've been up to.
Until next time. Love you all
Bye bye now.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.109s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 50; dbt: 0.0481s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Michelle
non-member comment
Hey guess what..Emma and are going to Bulldogs vs Cowboys at suncorp!!! We have 2nd row tickets behind the goal posts! Should be sweet!!! Not so security like your football game...the police just stand there watching the game..they dont do anything!!! lol..but never the less...