Mike,Dave & Sue follow the Lions 2013(9)

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Saturday, First Test Day! A laze around the apartment until the ritual Spaghetti Bol for late lunch. Having recce'd the route to the ground previously we walked about a mile down to the bars in Caxton St for 5 pm. They were heaving, inside and on the balconies, the streets were full too and welsh songs and calls of "Lions! Lions! Lions! constantly ringing out. Fabulous atmosphere, fans from both sides mixing. We were drinking in the Lord Alfred and the guy next to us, from Dallas, Texas had been there in the same spot since 12.30pm! Down to the ground and grabbed a photo with Ronnie Reagan and a couple with a Bristol Rugby flag. Must admit I was getting excited by now, difficult not to really I suppose. Not as giddy as Sue though who was leering like a loon! Draped in her Welsh flag of course.

Into the stadium and what a great venue. We had seats on 2nd level at one end, 15m in from touch, end of the row aisle seats and 10m from the toilets and bar, excellent! The Aussies had made an effort and distributed thousands of gold (yellow) Safari hats, so say to go Lion hunting. :~ but they were still drowned out by a sea of red. Umpteen combinations of red and white, full suits in the four national flags, lion suits, red morph suits, headdresses and face paint, plus many rugby club flags.

Great game which ebbed and flowed for both sides until the final minute when it looked as though we were going to suffer another agonising defeat, but no, good old Curtley slipped over and missed the kick. (Back to rehab for him in the morning 😊 We won! What a feeling, the whole place was rocking and the bars refilled for another lengthy session, even at OZ prices. We floated home on cloud nine😊 Celebrated with Cheese and Onion sandwiches!

A leisurely stroll down to the waterfront in the sun on Sunday morning and after a fruitless search for a particular f&c restaurant we settled on an Italian one in the park where we celebrated Sue's birthday (I won't say which one but it has a 0 and a 6 in it😊 rib eye steaks and prawns all round, delish! Back to the apartment for lashings of red wine.

Up early and to the airport for 7.30pm for our Quantas flight to Melbourne. 2.5 hours, not bad. However the Taxi ride into Melbourne was hairaising. Ranjit from Mumbai, 68 yrs, wooden right leg, not much English, needed help putting the "heavy" luggage in the back of the Toyota people carrier. He then fell down the kerb an had to be assisted to his feet. We were fastidious in adjusting our seat belts! Off we went with Ranjit setting his Satnav as he proceeded to race from one lane to another. When he did settle on a lane he then stroked the accelerator as if he was Keith Moon hammering the bass drum, We shot forwards at 70mph in a staccato series of jerks. Note to Phil: all bodes well for journeys in India! HaHa! :0

We arrived, sweating, into central Melbourne. Ranjit turned off the main road down a cobbled lane, walls on each side covered in graffiti and some seedy looking premises, he looked as though he was quite at home but we were getting concerned. Pulling up outside a garage door he deposited us at our destination. Sue, quite understandably after all her efforts, was horrified until we got inside. A really great little house, modern decoration and fully fitted for our needs. Excellent, not a bit what it looked on the outside. After settling in we toured the area. Fitzroy is a bohemian neighbourhood much like Montpelier / bottom end of Gloucester Rd in Bristol. Full of similar loft like apartments and period houses. Eclectic stores and cafes line the streets and a 15 minute walk in to central Melbourne, perfect. Another recce to find the AAMI stadium, about 1.5 miles away (yes Dad is doing a LOT of walking kids - out of my comfort zone!) On our return to our sanctuary and behind the locked steel security gate we had a bohemianesque green Thai curry.

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Comments

[Rik]

Thumbs up Mike, thoroughly enjoying the blog. Been in Turkey for last week so haven't seen or followed any of our successes. Keep it coming..