Going to Chelsea

This is the story of going to a big football game in London. . .

On Sunday, Feb. 10th, we went to see the Chelsea vs. Liverpool game. Tickets were from BIL's company, so were expecting great seats, a great game, and a good day out.

Normally, from this far out of London (1 hour), we find it easiest to take a train into Waterloo station, and then get on the tube to get to a specific place. This was our plan to get to Stamford Bridge. Quick, easy, and low stress.

First obstacle: Mr. TeamKing got the train departure times wrong. Can't get a train from here in time.
Resolution: Drive halfway in to another station and get the tube from there. Nix train.
Result: Yes, we did drive to another station, got stuck in gobs of traffic. Had a hard time finding a place to park. Finally got a parking place in a neighborhood that seemed possibly dodgy. We get to the ticket counter only to find engineering works have resulted in no District Line (the line we need to go straight to the stadium).

Second obstacle: Stuck at a tube station with no lines going to where we need to go.
Resolution: Take the bus.
Result: Packed off down the street to cram our way onto a double decker bus. Bus was going so slow, that I saw people walking faster than us. Traffic was horrible. Bus came to standstill in Hammersmith area. We decided to ditch the bus and find another tube station and make the necessary transfers.

Success! We finally made it to the stadium with 15mins before kickoff.

Third obstacle: Where are these seats?!
Resolution: We see lines of people pouring into the stadium in a set of main doors. However, the seats we have mean another door entrance. We go over. No line. Cool! These seats must be good! Up we go on the stairs. Up? After about 4 flights, I'm starting to have doubts on these seats. Are we on the roof, or what?
Result: We get to seats. We are one row away from being as far from the field as any seat in the stadium. We are so far up, that the roof rafters block the scoreboard and the entire opposite side of stadium seating (don't let photos fool you, they are all zoomed). Seats are designed for people approx. 5' 8" and 130lbs or less. If you are bigger than this in any direction, it's a tight fit. Being over 5'8" myself, my knees hung over the seat in front of me. The poor woman sitting there could hardly sit back. That's how tight it was. (Note to UK: measure out a US seat and row in the future for assistance.) And no beer at the seats, but you can get some at the concession. . .is there a point to that? (Oh wait! I know. It's that whole rubbish collection thing again, isn't it?)

Anyway, the game was horrid. Just about the worst that Chelsea and Liverpool have played the whole season. Nil-Nil thriller (as we call them.) Boo. Disgrunted with game and seats, we're ready to leave. Then we hear the announcement on the loudspeaker - more tube problems - we need to walk to another tube station about 2 away due to ? I don't know.


Obstacle 4: Walk to tube station in unknown location in the dark.
Resolution: Just follow the crowd. 41,000 people were at the game. There must be quite a few going our way.
Result: Off we go. In the mass exodus of people crowding up the street in the direction of the desired tube station. So we walk, and walk, and walk. 45 mins later, I've had it. We have no idea where it is and we are now in South Kensington. Lovely stores and restaurants, but we're trying to get home. We ask directions. We missed it about 1/2 hour back. Another one is 1/2 mile away. I finally demand a taxi. Mr. TeamKing reluctantly agrees but moans about the cost. We hail a taxi to go straight back to our car.

Obstacle 5: Is there always bumper to bumper traffic in London on a Sunday night?!
Resolution: Sit tight. No other option at this point.
Result: We jump in the taxi and. . .sit. . .plod along. . .watch ambulances, motorbike delivery drivers, and walkers pass us by. Slowly, slowly. It takes us 40mins to go 5 miles.

Finally! Finally! At the car. Mr. TeamKing grumbles on about spending 20 pounds for the taxi. I block him out. We jump in, roar out of the city and make it home in a new land speed record.

What an adventure.

We have tickets to see Chelsea vs. Middlesborough in an upcoming match. Upon second thought, we're going to give them back to BIL. Let's sit home and watch on our TV instead, we decide. Ahhh. . .