Everyone needs an "England" scarf.

Monday 15 November 2010

After a long weekend, the work day felt extra long. I was exhausted from traveling around England. I continued to work on researching lists of potential clients for Think London.

Once 5:30pm hit the clock, I was out of the office and onto Victoria underground station. I was heading to the Victorian Apollo Theatre to watch Wicked on Broadway with other IFSA students. We got a sweet deal for the tickets, only fifteen pounds which is ridiculously cheap! I hadn’t seen this musical before and actually, I’ve only seen one other musical on Broadway. The summer before college, I saw Mary Poppins in NYC and it was amazing! I loved it and I had been looking forward to see wicked for a couple weeks.

I remember being so impressed with how talented the singers were. It was extraordinary. The story is based on the Wizard of Oz, except the story is told from the Wicked Witch’s point of view. It was really clever and I was surprised at how well both of the stories fit together. I really loved the music and I’ve even YouTubed several of the songs numerous times since I saw the show. I would absolutely go see it again, I enjoyed it that much. “Defying Gravity” is probably the most popular song from the show and when Alphaeba, The Wicked Witch, sang it right before intermission I got goosebumps. It was definitely a "feel good show."

Elizabeth, Mark and I at the theatre before the show (Christine refused to be in it, so she photographed)

Definitely not supposed to take pictures of the set, but Elizabeth did and these are her photos. She's ruthless with photography and I love it.

Leaving the theatre

Tuesday 16 November 2010

I had class in the morning and in the afternoon. After class, I returned to Harrow for a relaxing night. I made dinner (pasta time!) and settled in early for the night. Northing to excited on Tuesday happened.

On a side note, we tried to buy tickets for the final football (soccer) game at Wembley for the next day’s game. They were sold out and my heart was crushed. Other than that, no other notable things happened.

Wednesday 17 November 2010

“Clap your hands if you hate the French” -Actual chant in Wembley during the English vs. France friendly football match

This night was one of my favorites of London so far. It’s also one that I know I will remember for the rest of my life and be telling this ridiculous story to my grandkids when I am old and ramble on about my youth.

I worked during the day and continued the process of completing the Olympic Sponsor briefs. Can’t wait until I am finished with this project.

During work, I had the brilliant idea to try and scalp tickets for the final football game of the season at Wembley, England vs. France. I had no idea this is strictly an American pastime or if people in Europe do the same. Elizabeth was up for the adventure and so it began. We left about 6:45pm since the game started at 8pm. It’s only a couple stops from our tube stop. I guess living in Harrow finally paid off! Hah. Anyway, we get there and begin walking towards the iconic white ring in the sky that is Wembley Arena. We don’t see anyone lingering outside with signs like, “Need tickets?” or “I need tickets.” like at every professional sporting event in America. I was getting a little disappointed because I had really wanted to see Wembley but we just never got our act together to get tickets in time. Meanwhile, I am texting my friend Christine who was still in Central because she was thinking about joining us. I tell her it’s not really worth it because we are not seeing any scalpers. She goes back to her flat. We ask a few people where we could buy tickets and everyone says that people don’t sell tickets anywhere near the stadium. They also couldn’t tell us any surrounding area that is known for selling tickets. That was discouraging.

We figured if we made the trek in the rain here, we were at least going to get some photos!

Elizabeth and I decided to call it a night after we ask a street vendor selling cheesy England merchandise if there is a place nearby that is known for scalping. He can’t tell us anywhere so we figure it’s a sign to go back home.

A few minutes later as we are walking back to the tube to head home for the night, I get a call from Christine. She said she had found a phone number online of a dude who was selling tickets at the Wembley tonight for tonight’s game. I’m quite a bit hesitant, but I have her text me the phone number anyway. I give this man a ring and ask about his tickets. He wants 40 quid for them but Elizabeth and I combined only have fifty-five. We ask if he could do cheaper and he agrees. He declares a meeting point near a hotel that we can see off in the distance. We stop by the street vendor again to ask for directions and he is only somewhat helpful (just as all Londoners are with directions!) but he also gives us FREE scarves! Sweeeet! We were so excited and very surprised.

It probably took us twenty minutes to find our guy by Hotel Ibis and I think he called me five times to confirm we were actually coming. We eventually made it but by the time we got there he only had two tickets that we on opposite sides of the stadium. Not kidding.  Elizabeth and I had a quick conversation and exchanged looks but in the end decided to buy them anyway. He was with his girlfriend so that helped take the edge off that we weren’t being scammed. Not sure why, but it did. We figured we could meet up at halftime.

We did and had separate entrances to the stadium. I think I walked more than halfway around to get in. It was alright though and I found my seat pretty painlessly. I was sitting next to a line of about 7 guys about my age. When I sat down they are stared at me and I felt quite uncomfortable so I said “Hi” in a very American cheesy way. You know what I mean, I’m sure. Maybe not, but that’s the best way I can explain it. I remember feeling so excited to be in the stadium and loving that is was a sold out game. So cool! Elizabeth texted me shortly after we sat down telling me there were four empty seats next to her. We got into the stadium about 25 minutes after it started and it was nearly halftime by that point. I figured at halftime if no one was there I would join her.

The halftime horn sounded and I got up and headed to her section, 110. As I’m walking I get a call from our guy saying that there are empty seats by her because he couldn’t sell the rest of the tickets. What a nice guy I thought. He knew we were a bit concerned about being separated and he took the extra time to help us out. Quite nice and refreshing. We got to sit together the rest of the game (in the tenth row!!) and it was so much fun! There was a group of drunk men in front of us shouting and chanting ridiculous sayings. Very entertaining.  It was a great game to watch and I’m so glad it worked out for us to go!

Dripping wet from the downpour but excited about our tickets!

10th Row Seats!

When we were leaving it was a human traffic jam to the tube. Think about it, 90,000 people trying to fit in a train station. Not many drove cars, so it only makes sense that is was super crowded to get to the public transportation. It took us four times as long to walk from the stadium to the tube. Police officers were “guarding” the tube station and only letting so many in at once. It was like a herd of animals walking into a sidewalk shaped like a funnel. After walking a few steps, we'd have to come to a complete stop because the people in front of stopped moving.

It was such a fun night and the traffic jam leaving or the fact that our toes were frozen from the rain didn’t taint my memories whatsoever. It was just so great and a story I will keep forever.