London Rendzvous

My visit to London can be split into two distinct halves. The first half of the trip was spent meeting up with friends, and the 2^nd half was back to exploring on my own. The first night marked the return of Jonny C (formerly of Florence adventures) and a night at the pub with several members of the crew that was in Prague with me for the 2008 World Junior Hockey Championships. We set up shop at a local pub named Walmer Castle. I arrived a bit later than everyone else and was in serious need of some tasty pub food. In traditional English pubs there aren’t any servers, so you order everything at the bar. After examining the menu I decided a delicious bacon cheeseburger would be tonight’s meal. I made the request to the bartender and got a response I would have never predicted in 1,000 years. She said “sorry, we don’t serve English food after 6pm. Only Thai!” WHAT? An English pub called Walmer Castle only serves Thai?? I wasn’t actually upset because the spring rolls and pad thai weren’t such an awful alternative to the burger, but I was definitely surprised. The evening then moved around the corner to a house party at an impressive flat with a roof-top deck. The problem with the deck was that it was the middle of October and the summer weather/heat was long gone. We refused to let go of the faded season and stubbornly stayed on the roof. Our host provided extra jackets, blankets and a fur vest so that we could beat the weather. I expect Jonny C will be adding a fur vest to his wardrobe in the near future. Originally the plan for Saturday was to attend the Fulham vs Everton Premiership match, but the game was moved to Sunday afternoon. The new plan was to meet the crew (which consisted of Jeremy down from law school in York, Sarah and Yaz visiting from Vancouver and their friend Ted that now lives in London) at the Maple Leaf pub in Covent Garden to watch the Canucks game. We were all excited that the Nucks game was an early afternoon start back home which meant we could watch it at a decent hour. The excitement was squashed pretty quickly when we got to the bar. We found out that due to ESPN losing the rights to broadcast the NHL in Europe that they would not be showing the game. However, the dream was not completely dead. The bar had wifi and Ted had a subscription to NHLgamecentre.com, so all we needed was a laptop. Jeremy took one for the team and took the tube back to his place and returned with his computer. A Sami Salo slapshot to the top corner in overtime meant our group of Canadians left the pub in a great mood (except for the Flames fan that got his computer in hopes of watching the Canucks lose). On Sunday we gathered again for a quick pint before the big game at Craven Cottage, the home of Fulham FC. It was a vastly different experience than my visit to Stamford Bridge several years early. The stadium is quite small by Premier League standards. It only holds around 26,000 fans, which is barely more than the stands at Empire Stadium back in Van. The home crowd was not as enthusiastic/intense/fanatical as I had expected and were in fact dominated by the chants and cheers of the Everton away fans. The game itself was one of the most entertaining matches I’ve seen live. With the score tied at 1-1 in the 87^th minute the home side had a wide open net for the victory…but the shot went over the crossbar and into the stands. The ensuing goal kick led to an Everton attack and the go ahead goal in the 90^th minute. The away side of the stadium erupted and the home fans headed for the exits. To add further insult to the Fulham missed chance at victory Everton scored a 3^rd goal in injury time. Tough to beat a gorgeous October afternoon at the Cottage.