"The Theatre of Dreams"

"Glory, glory, Man United,Glory, glory, Man United,Glory, glory, Man United,And the reds go marching on, on, on..." For those of you who don't know this chant, it is indeed that of Manchester United!!! Last Saturday, my friend Sandy and I made our way to Manchester without any tickets in hand because they were sold out for the match against Bolton. However, we had hopes we were going to be able to scalp some tickets and sure enough we did (not saying how much they were haha). The experience for me was once in a lifetime! (even though I am going again in November!). This has been my dream since I was introduced to English football by my best friend Benny. Since then, I have followed the league every year. Our seats were in the East End, just above one of the goals. United was able to pull out a 2-1 win, with all 3 goals coming at the end that I was sitting!! The atmosphere for the game was better than any other sporting event that I have ever been too. The fans chanted, screamed, and just plain made fun of the Bolton fans all match long. Manchester itself was an awesome city, with public transportation easy to come by and maps all over the place. After the game, Sandy and I were able to hit up a huge shopping area. Overall it was an awesome time!!!!

England til I Die, England til I Die!!

Wow... That's all I have to say about last night. I was fortuante enough to witness an England national soccer match against Belarus at Wembley Stadium with my mates, Cory and Grant. We had the time of our lives and it was an experience of a lifetime. Now picture this. England has already qualifed for the World Cup next season. They are missing two of their best players but still 75,000 crazy fans show up to support their nation. The Ravens get about 70,000 but it would never be that high if they had already qualifed or their best players wern't playing!!! England ended up winning 3-0, with 2 goals from Peter Crouch and a sweet shot by Shaun Wright-Phillips (I will post the video here). The fans were soo passionate and it was the best atmosphere I have ever been in!!! Once again I can't thank Ian Pain enough for getting us tickets as Grant, Cory, and I couldn't of had a better time!!!! Check out these videos yo!!!

Amsterdam

Before I get into my adventure about Amsterdam, I just first want to say congratulations to the Etown Men's Soccer team for entering the rankings at #24 this week. With 12 wins and 1 loss, they are having an awesome season!!!(of course it happens when I'm here!! haha) Anyway, my first trip outside of England was an eventful one. I had terrible problems with the National Express coach buses getting to and from the airport in Birmingham but were not going to dwell on the negatives!. The flight from Birmingham to Amsterdam is only about 45 minutes, which is basically the equivalent of flying from Washington D.C. to New York City. I met my three Etown amigos (Tom Kropp, Allan Craven, and Mike Galanek) at the hostel in downtown Amsterdam on Friday night. Our hostel was interesting, as we were actually staying in a room with 5 sets of bunk beds. The room itself was very small and there wasn't much room to have personal space but it wasn't too bad for 3 nights. The cool part about it was that there were people from all over the world. Our roommates consisted of 2 Germans, 2 Norwegians, and 2 Brits. Also, for one night we had two other American roommates from the BCA program in Barcelona where Mike, Allan, and Tom are studying. The nightlife of Amsterdam was very lively. While I was there, we were able to see the house that Anne Frank was in when she was caught by the Germans. We also went to the Red Light District and saw Dam Square (main square in the city). One day we caught a train to Rotterdam, which is another large city in the Netherlands. An interesting fact about the Netherlands is that it's basically under water. It's similar to New Orleans in the fact that most of the city is below sea level(there are many canals in Amsterdam, as you can see in the picture in the top left). There was no problem with the language barrier, as everyone we encountered spoke perfect English. All in all, it was fun trip and nice to see some of my friends from Etown. Stay tuned for my next post, which will be about the England national soccer teams World Cup qualifer against Belarus!!!!

When in London

Wow, I totally forgot to write this post about one of the best trips I have done yet!!! Soo, I was lucky enough to have two of my English flat mates (Emily and Jess) take me to the city because Jess lives there and Emily has been several times. This made me feel soo much more comfortable (considering I live in the middle of cow fields at home and at Etown haha). We caught the Mega Bus in Cheltenham and it was about a 3 hour ride to London. After arriving in London, we quickly got the Underground because I needed to be at Arsenals Stadium for my scheduled tour of the grounds. For me, the underground was quite an experience because I have never ridden on a train my whole life (other than Amtrax, which is less hectic). So, we got to Emirates Stadium on time and what a sight it is!!! If you don't know, Emirates Stadium is home to Arsenal, one of the premier football (soccer) clubs in England. The stadium itself seats about 62,000. I got a tour of the directors box (leather seats for people who pay rediculous money), the changing rooms, the tunnel entrance to the field, the pitch itself, and the press room. All in all it was a pleasant experience. After that, the two girls and I made our way all around London. I was able to see Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, London Eye, and St. James Park. We only had so much time so I'm hopeing to get to London again to do the Abbey Road walk that the Beatles made famous. After the day in London, I will have to say that it is probably one of my favorite cities right now!!! The next couple weeks I will be traveling a lot so I want to fill you in on where I will be going. Tomorrow I will be leaving for Amsterdam, where I plan on meeting up with Mike G, Bruce Craven, and Tom Kropp (the Etown gang who are currently studying in Barcelona). I will be staying until Monday morning where I will fly back to England. On Wednesday, I have a lifetime opportunity to see the England national soccer team play a World Cup qualifer against Belarus in Wembley Stadium. Wembley seats 90,000 and I have to give a huge thank you to Ian Pain, who was gracious to get some American's tickets to the match. Last but not least, I will be heading up to Manchester next Saturday. Now for all my friends, family, and soccer buddies, keep your fingers crossed I can get some tickets to the game. As of right now they haven't been released to the public. However, I am going up anyway and taking a chance. It's my dream to see a game in Old Trafford and I'm hopeing that I will get that chance!!! For now, stay classy wherever you are!!! Also, many thanks to Jess and Emily, it meant a lot!!!

Bath

On Saturday we did a day trip to the beautiful city of Bath. We started out the day by visiting the Sally Lunn house. This is the oldest house in the city itself (dates to about 1482). Inside the house we were treated to some tea and the world famous Sally Lunn Bun!! The bun is basically sweet bread and it was really delicious. From Sally Lunn, we went to the Roman Baths and Pump Room (the baths are behind Grant, Cory and I). The Roman Baths were very popular in the first and fifth centuries and we were given an audio device to listen how it was like to live during that time. After the Baths, we were free to wander on our own all over the town. The three of us went to the Royal Crescent, which is basically a bunch of townhouses that strech for a really long time (you can see what it looks like in my facebook pictures). Tomorrow I am going to London for the first time so I will be sure to let everyone know how it goes!! (I have a special trip planned in London as well!! See you later!!