Unexpected work trip to the UK, would have been great except we had a family football weekend planned so I missed meeting up with Sharon and the girls in Tempe for the UCLA-ASU game. But not too bad as this is the first personal trip messed up this year. Stayed near Penny Lane (but not the Penny Lane).
Overall, one of the better jobsite situations that I have visited with regard to logistics – near city, good hotel, short drive to site, and no crappy Korean good. The food is great as UK law requires a canteen onsite and I can go get me a bacon & sausage bap smothered in mayo anytime I want along with an endless supply of diet coke. About an hour outside of London, directly south of Heathrow just inside the M25 Orbital (that is what it is called).
Went to Wembley for the England – Malta 2018 World Cup qualifier game. This game counts but it is like the Georgia playing Nichols State. England was favored by 4.5 goals but only won 2-0, so the back pages will screaming over the low margin of victory. Note on the National Anthem- no one kneeled and the fans also really sang with much more enthusiasm than you would ever see in the USA. Had a 10 year old sitting behind me who had the colour commentary for the game – very knowledgeable. Best quote after England got another free kick was “Dad-dee, not Roo-nee again, we must make it stop”. As predicted, Rooney launched one into the wall.
Getting in was easy via Uber and buying a ticket there – great experience as the stadium has a lot of history (from the old Wembley as well). Getting home a little more challenging, no chance of getting an Uber and my battery drained completely – so a good soul on the train into London let me use there extra battery to charge my phone then Uber’d from central London, only to run into another stadium event at Twickenham with another 80,000 people at a rugby match ending.
On Sunday, took the train into London and almost met my goal of 30,000 steps. Lots of pictures attached. On the walk to the train station, a lady joined me for my walk and said she was very pro-American (she had fancied a young US GI at the end of the war – she must have been about 90) and like everyone else – wanted to know why Trump and what had happened to America. It is pretty much the topic of conversation once anyone hears my accent.
And a good weather week – most days dry and even sunny.
From Week 144- Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies. Posted by JC Travels on 10/10/2016 (16 items)
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