England :: Day 3

The third morning of our trip, we woke up bright and early to catch a train to Manchester. It was a relaxing two hour ride, where we could unwind and enjoy a few of the treats we picked up at the Borough Market the day before. We dropped our bags off at the hotel (we stayed at the Crowne Plaza - Manchester), and took a cab right away to Old Trafford -- our ultimate destination. (We were all a bit excited.) We spent some time just walking around with our mouths dropped open, in disbelief that we were even there. Then we went to the Mega Store to purchase some gear. You should have seen Bill & Brian's smiles walking into that place. Next we took our seats, and this is where I'm going to warn you -- we were so completely spoiled. My parent's friends, who's season tickets we used, have seats right in the middle of the field. They were amazing seats. Not only that, we had access to a couple restaurants. Typically these have to be arranged ahead of time, but we were lucky to have gotten a table for lunch. Maybe it was the way we talked that gave it away that we weren't from around there. (Actually, it was pretty funny because everyone kept telling us how much they loved our accents and I had to laugh, because we of course felt the same about theirs! Plus, everyone in Manchester was really so nice.) Anyhow, we enjoyed a nice lunch, then were happy to hear that once we were at a table, it was ours the rest of the day! In fact, we placed our halftime drink order when we were leaving, and had beverages waiting for us, which was quite divine. Another fact, we even had drinks waiting for us after the game. It was magic.

The game was awesome to watch. The level of play was ridiculous. Manchester United played the Wolves and creamed them 4-1. We were warned about the language -- and while I do believe it does get rowdy, it was quite tame when we were there. One thing we all commented on was the fact that beverages and drink were not served IN the stadium. You watched the match, took a break during half time, then came back. It was kind of nice. Imagine the uproar people would have if they couldn't have their nachos and beer while watching a game here. Of course, baseball and football are much longer games -- food and drink is what gets me through it too! The other thing we noticed, is the lack of mega screens. If you missed a play, you missed the play -- there was no showing it back. Honestly, it was so nice not having that distraction. I've never had a game go by faster. We didn't ever want it to end, and felt so lucky to have had the change to be there.

After the game, we took a cab back to the hotel, checked in, then looked for a place for dinner. This was the hardest part of the entire vacation -- everything was so jam packed. After awhile, we ended up at a Lebanese Restaurant, and it was so good. The nightlife was crazy. Even if we were interested (which we weren't), we couldn't have even gotten into one of the pubs. We ended up at our hotel for a quick nightcap, then retired upstairs for the best night sleep I've had in a really, really long time. Amazing.