Football Friday

Well today was probably my favorite day here so far! The morning started off with our first taste of some classic English weather, cool and drizzling. We made our way to the Emirates Airline cable cars over the Thames, and for a very reasonable price (3.20) we got to have about a 10 minute cable car journey over the river. While the weather wasn't altogether unpleasant, it did spoil the photo-op from the cable car, as all I could my camera to focus on was the water droplets on the outside of the window!

Once we got to the other side of the river, we made a quick stop over to the Olympic Center to have a look at the Olympic Stadium (left) and the Aquatic Center (right) from above, although the other venues were out of sight around the corner.

By the time we took the tube back to our flats, we only had time for a quick lunch before heading off to a tour of Stamford Bridge, home of my favorite club, Chelsea FC. For me, this was an incredible experience. Not only was it my first time at the stadium, but we got to visit the press room, the visitors locker room, and the home locker room, as well as sit in the teams' dugouts, all in addition to sitting in some of the best seats in the house at either end of the pitch. I took way more pictures than I could possibly share, although there will probably be more on Facebook than I put on here.

At the press table in the stadium press room!
Last player to sign his contract at this table?
Frank Lampard.

Home Dressing Room

Sitting on John Terry's PT table

When our tour came to a close, we, again, had just enough time to run back to our flats and eat before heading off to our final event of the day, England vs. Moldova in a Fifa World Cup Qualifier! Before the match, we got to hang out at one of the popular pre-match pubs for England fans, and the atmosphere from there carried right on through to the stadium. In the one day, I got to go to two dream soccer destinations! Not only was the stadium beautiful, but England came through winning 4-0, with the only thing missing being a Frank Lampard strike (although he did have a very nice assist to Steven Gerrard's opening goal). 

All in all, it was an awesome day of seeing some of the best sights London has to offer, ranging from almost 200 ft above the Thames to right in the heart of a world-renowned football club. All three things that I accomplished today were high on the list of things I wanted to do while in London, and visiting both stadiums takes two items off my bucket list! It was a great final day of my introductory week to London, and now it's time to start thinking about my classes (starting Monday) and internship (starting Tuesday)!