UK - Reading: Day 1 - Shoes off if you're going up
(typed up from my journal)
Saturday March 24th, 8:15am London:
As I stand in line to enter the the country, I figured I would start my journal. The first impressions of this island are clean and minimal, yet effective. The bathroom was spotless in the airport and the directions to customs were simple and clear. I changed and washed my face and chugged a 5 hour energy to get my day started. Tammy, Sherry and Michael are picking me up and heading to Windsor castle.
The flight over was delayed about 40 minutes but that was the only hiccup. It was nice to fly economy plus for this flight because I had about 2 feet of leg room and unlimited beverages. I sat next to a London local but he didn't want to chat - fair enough. I cozied up with my book (Bill Bryson, Notes from a small Island) that James gave me to read prior to coming to get an understanding of the country (better late than never!)
9am:
Michael, Tammy and Sherry cant o pick me up at the airport. It worked out great phone less. I went ot he top and within minutes I saw them come around the corner...and they laid on the horn. They scooped me up and we went to Windsor Castle. It was a short drive tot he biggest castle I have ever seen! we went on a tour and saw the St Georges Chapel. We had an audio tour, saw the doll house, the Queen jubilee pictures and the changing of the guard. The Queen was at this residence because she was there with Stephen Spielberg for a private viewing of the War Horse in the stateroom. We were not able to see the stateroom, but it was cool to say we were in the same place as the queen.
We had lunch at Wagamamma, which was thai-esque and a recommendation from Sherry;s friend for a local chain to try out. We drove to Reading to drop off my stuff at their apartment before heading to the Reading Royal vs Blackpool soccer game!
The soccer game was an incredible experience and I will update this post later when we have more time. We are heading to London now!
It is now Sunday night and I wanted to finish my post before heading to bed.
So back to the soccer game...
We headed to the soccer game via cab which was a fun ride and got there just a few minutes before kickoff. We pulled up to hear loud singing and chants from the stadium. We had no idea where our seats were but soon realized they were in the chanting section. It totally made the experience! The whole time people were singing to the opposition. It was a win win for me as Blackpool is orange. Reading is in the playoffs to move to the premier league, so the fans are going wild.
we arrived to our seats where Tammy, Sherry and I were in the same row and Michael and Dustin were sitting behind us. Well there was not open seats behind us so when we asked the guys who were sitting in what we thougth were Michael and Dustin' seats, they simply started yelling profanities at us and saying that they had season tickets...Tammy almost got in a fight because the guys were so rude. The security people came over and moved the kids next to them as they were in the wrong seat and we all sat down. We were 4 rows back and the action was great. Sherry started video taping and caught two goals on camera before the police told her no video taping was allowed as the games are not televised live (that's odd considering there is the Internet) so we had to put it away. We were trying to learn all the cheers and the one that we all remembered was Shoes off if you are going up! Since they are hopefully going to the premier league!
After the game we went back to their apartment to get ready for an Indian dinner experience (Indian is a popular food choice in London, probably due to all the colonization) We walked around downtown Reading along the canal which reminded me of San Antionio a bit on the Riverwalk and settled on a great Indian place. After a fulfilling dinner we headed to the bars for some drinks and dancing. We found a bar with strobe lights and fog and thought...why not!?!
The bar was filled with |Skouses - Basically Reading's version of Jersey Shore...made up girls in trashy outfits. We had a ball people watching and dancing to music of the early 2000:s. Around 11pm i crashed and it was daylight savings time so we went home to get few hours of rest before staring our London experience.
Saturday March 24th, 8:15am London:
As I stand in line to enter the the country, I figured I would start my journal. The first impressions of this island are clean and minimal, yet effective. The bathroom was spotless in the airport and the directions to customs were simple and clear. I changed and washed my face and chugged a 5 hour energy to get my day started. Tammy, Sherry and Michael are picking me up and heading to Windsor castle.
The flight over was delayed about 40 minutes but that was the only hiccup. It was nice to fly economy plus for this flight because I had about 2 feet of leg room and unlimited beverages. I sat next to a London local but he didn't want to chat - fair enough. I cozied up with my book (Bill Bryson, Notes from a small Island) that James gave me to read prior to coming to get an understanding of the country (better late than never!)
9am:
Michael, Tammy and Sherry cant o pick me up at the airport. It worked out great phone less. I went ot he top and within minutes I saw them come around the corner...and they laid on the horn. They scooped me up and we went to Windsor Castle. It was a short drive tot he biggest castle I have ever seen! we went on a tour and saw the St Georges Chapel. We had an audio tour, saw the doll house, the Queen jubilee pictures and the changing of the guard. The Queen was at this residence because she was there with Stephen Spielberg for a private viewing of the War Horse in the stateroom. We were not able to see the stateroom, but it was cool to say we were in the same place as the queen.
We had lunch at Wagamamma, which was thai-esque and a recommendation from Sherry;s friend for a local chain to try out. We drove to Reading to drop off my stuff at their apartment before heading to the Reading Royal vs Blackpool soccer game!
The soccer game was an incredible experience and I will update this post later when we have more time. We are heading to London now!
It is now Sunday night and I wanted to finish my post before heading to bed.
So back to the soccer game...
We headed to the soccer game via cab which was a fun ride and got there just a few minutes before kickoff. We pulled up to hear loud singing and chants from the stadium. We had no idea where our seats were but soon realized they were in the chanting section. It totally made the experience! The whole time people were singing to the opposition. It was a win win for me as Blackpool is orange. Reading is in the playoffs to move to the premier league, so the fans are going wild.
we arrived to our seats where Tammy, Sherry and I were in the same row and Michael and Dustin were sitting behind us. Well there was not open seats behind us so when we asked the guys who were sitting in what we thougth were Michael and Dustin' seats, they simply started yelling profanities at us and saying that they had season tickets...Tammy almost got in a fight because the guys were so rude. The security people came over and moved the kids next to them as they were in the wrong seat and we all sat down. We were 4 rows back and the action was great. Sherry started video taping and caught two goals on camera before the police told her no video taping was allowed as the games are not televised live (that's odd considering there is the Internet) so we had to put it away. We were trying to learn all the cheers and the one that we all remembered was Shoes off if you are going up! Since they are hopefully going to the premier league!
After the game we went back to their apartment to get ready for an Indian dinner experience (Indian is a popular food choice in London, probably due to all the colonization) We walked around downtown Reading along the canal which reminded me of San Antionio a bit on the Riverwalk and settled on a great Indian place. After a fulfilling dinner we headed to the bars for some drinks and dancing. We found a bar with strobe lights and fog and thought...why not!?!
The bar was filled with |Skouses - Basically Reading's version of Jersey Shore...made up girls in trashy outfits. We had a ball people watching and dancing to music of the early 2000:s. Around 11pm i crashed and it was daylight savings time so we went home to get few hours of rest before staring our London experience.
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