Last week, I had the fantastic fortune to be invited to London by our in-game sponsor
Steve Perryman Sport Travel. What wasn't already included, Chairman would cover as a very nice Christmas gift! Fringe-benefit you say?
Absolutely!
Did I love it!
Absolutely!
The trip was originally about two things, really;
1: Watch my first ever big football-match in England (Arsenal - Steua Bucuresti in the Champions League)
2: Evaluate a fantastic luxurious hotel in London for
Steve Perryman. (
The Landmark Hotel) (HELLO!!)
Resourceful as I am, I managed to get in a 3rd goal for the trip.
3: Meet up with some ML-friends (and enemies!) of mine!
First of all, I have to give credit where credit is due, and so I wish to thank Steve Perryman for a fantastic and professional package.
Everything was taken care of in advance, with plane-tickets, tickets for the train to the airport here in Oslo, tickets for the train from Stanstead into London, a "travel as much as you like on the tube" card for the time we were there, Club-level VIP tickets to the game itself (including a very nice dinner at the Emirates Stadium, as well as a guided tour of the facilities) and of course the fantastic hotel!
I can safely recommend using Steve Perryman for such trips, and I can promise you are in good hands should you choose to do so!
Anyway, the trains and flight were rather un-eventful and we arrived at the fancy smancy hotel on schedule, just in time to catch the Liverpool-game in a nice Pub, and then a very late and very tasty dinner at a cozy Italian restaurant, just off Baker Street. Got fed, got tipsy, and got back to the hotel, eventually anyway :-P
Here is a photo of my hotel-room, just to put you in the right state of mind about the hotel :)
On Wednesday morning, I "had the day off" until 16.00, and while I was waiting to have my breakfast, my phone rang, and it was Kloopy and MissSpoons standing just outside the hotel! We chilled out for a bit, then went shopping for a deodorant (I forgot to pack it!) , met up with A2, and headed for a pub. (Why wait?)
Yepp, that's still me, with no hair :) A2 is sitting next to me, and Kloopy and MissSpoons standing behind us!
Who took the picture? Hah, my little surprise visitor!
There is this cheeky git here on ManagerLeague, who is famous for his rubbish team and fantastic blogs, Wojteker, who turned out to be, and this hurts a bit, a great guy! I had met the others before, and everyone knows I like them, but it was cool meeting up with Wojteker. He has a thing about not being displayed on pictures online, so I'll try to avoid that, but I can tell you all that we had a great couple of beers and a (seemingly) traditional lunch; Cheesy Chips with gravy (!).
A2 and Wojteker had to go (they were on lunchbreaks after all), but Matt and Charley took me for a little spin. Here they are on the tube!
One looks happy, the other looks a bit tired, but I will leave it up to you to decide :)
We ended up next to Big Ben, which I learnt is NOT the name of the tower with the clock, but actually the name of the big bell inside..So there you go, something new to be learned every day!
As you can see, there was nothing wrong with the weather either, blue skies and sunshine. Don't be fooled though, it wasn't warm!
Knowing I suffer from fear of heights, there was only one thing they could drag me into, and so, of course, it was time to take Spinner for a "spin" in the London Eye!
"And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream at the top of my lungs
What's going on?"
I overcame my fear of heights, and it was a rather memorable "spin". Here are some more pictures from WAY UP!
We also had a fellow "spinner" take a picture of the 3 of us:
After the whole spinning-thing was over and one with, they took me back to my hotel (Yes, I would get in London in just over a heartbeat!), we got a quick giuded tour around the fancy smancy hotel (By a VERY cute sales-manager named Emma.....) it was time to head over to the largest stadium I have ever laid eyes upon.
The new Emirates Stadium (Arsenals fairly new stadium) has almost 3 times the capacity of the biggest stadium here in Norway (Ullevål), and the sight was quite spectacular for an unknowing Viking such as myself!
Of course, we had to check out The Armoury (the fanshop) as well, and I picked up a few items; Enough to be called "a gunner" anyways :)
For those interested in history, the team Arsenal was originally called Dial Square (which is now the name of a nice restaurant we had dinner in inside the staidum itself), and then changed name to Royal Arsenal. From what I heard, this is due to the village being a weapons-arsenal for the army back in the days...
Bugger if I know :)
I also got the full story about why Tottenham and Arsenal are such bitter enemies, in case you wondered. If you have no idea what I am talking about, try googling for it!
So, after a quick stop'n shop, it was time to head inside, where we got a guided tour around the facilities, which was both entertaining and educational. I had no idea there were so many restaurants, bars and different kind of VIP-boxes all over the place!
Did you know that there are 1880 people at work in the stadium when Arsenal plays a home-game? And that is not including catering-personell! How about that!
Speaking of catering, we had quite a meal in there, check out this buffet and my desert!
Yeah, baby!
And so, finally, it was time!
It was time to see Arsenal put their boots up some Bucuresti butts!
See! I was there! Along with 60.000 other people or so!
A wonderful evening, a wonderful trip, a wonderful host, and the perfect Christmas gift!
Whoa, thats a long blog-entry, with a lot more pictures than text, and I think I should probably stop now.
Anyway, thank you
Steve Perryman Sport Travel for being the perfect tour-operator, thank you Matt and Charley for making sure I had a perfect day in London (and for finding that deodorant!), thank you A2 ans Wojteker for taking the time to meet up, and thank you Emma, for being so pretty! (I still have no clue what she was talking about on that guided tour, but I do remember the short skirt and the nice...necklace!) And thank you Chairman for providing the perfect Christmas-gift!
Until next time! (Yes, MrJollyGReaper, I promise it will be a Tottenham-game! After all, Steve Perryman was once a famous Spurs-hero!)
