Lost in the Wilds of UK Sports: Flight to Chicago

After attending 17 sporting events in 15 days in three countries it was time to go home. Here were my stats:

I attended 12 games in England, 3 in Scotland and 2 in Finland.

I attended 10 soccer matches consisting of 4 English Premier League, 2 Champions League, 1 Europa League, 1 Scottish Premier League and 2 Carling Cup.
I attended 2 rugby matches – 1 in the Guinness Premiership and 1 in the Magners League.
I attended 2 county cricket matches – both Division I and Division II.
I attended 2 NHL games – the first regular season NHL games in Finland.
I attended 1 NBA game – probably the least exciting from a global standpoint.

My flight was scheduled for 2:40 pm so once again I packed up my stuff, said bye to Big Chris and took the underground to London’s Heathrow airport. The trip was a great experience but it was time to get home to Nicole.

Morning Train from Newcastle to Edinburgh

This morning I woke up and showered in my hostel. Since the bathroom was not in the room and down the hall I had planned to shower in my hotel in Manchester. But my change of plans to travel to Edinburgh meant I was most likely without a room for most of the day.

I showered, checked out of my hostel and walked to the train station. Remember my train pass is “technically” only for England so I was hoping it would work for Scotland as well. I went to the ticket office to ask them if my pass would be accepted from Newcastle to Edinburgh and the man at the counter said it would be. I pointed out my pass was England only but he said not to worry so I did not.

I was on the 9:29 am train to Edinburgh. I figured my pass would be ok taking the train to Scotland since I got on in England. The train conductor came by, looked at my pass and said thanks. I was in the clear for this leg of my journey. Then I realized the next three days on my rail pass I would be coming or going to Scotland and I would need to go through the same exercise on each of those trains.

The train from Newcastle to Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful train rides in the world. As you get to the England – Scotland border it rides adjacent to the North Sea and the views are spectacular. The train arrived at Edinburgh at 11:02 am. Luckily the hostel I booked was a short walk from the train station. I was at the Edinburgh backpackers before 11:30 am where I was told I could not check in until 1 pm.

Guinness Premiership: Harlequins at Newcastle

After spending the day at my hostel, it was time to head out for the reason I was in Newcastle – Newcastle Falcons rugby. Even though the game was not scheduled to start until 8 pm, I departed the hostel around 4 pm. I was hoping to hang out at a restaurant or pub around the stadium before the game. In order to get to Kingston Park, I took the subway from the Monument stop to the Bank Foot stop – although I could have gotten off at Kingston Park the woman at my hostel called the subway and they said to get off at Bank Foot.

Area around Kingston Park
My hopes of restaurants and pubs quickly dwindled as I walked from the subway stop to the stadium and saw no place to eat or drink at. As I got closer to the stadium, I saw a sign for an Italian restaurant that was located in the stadium. I figured this was my best bet for any pre-game meal so I walked that way.

Obtaining Tickets
However, rather than eat at the restaurant first, I walked directly to the ticket office to buy a ticket for the match. This was the first game of my seven days in Northern England and I was unsure how much ticket demand there would be. Since the cheapest ticket at the box office was £18 I bought the ticket.

Pre Game Dining
Before buying my ticket I noticed a pub over the ticket office that I thought might be better than the Italian restaurant. My arrival at the pub was delayed since as I walked out of the ticket office, the Harlequins bus pulled up outside the ticket office and the team walked off the bus. I followed the team into the lobby entrance – they headed to the locker room while I headed to pub called The Hiding Place.

The Hiding Place is a traditional English pub. Traditional enough where they did not plan to serve any food until 7 pm. I was starving at 6 pm, so I walked over to the Italian restaurant to get some food. However, I found out the hard way that the Italian restaurant only seats hospitality guests on game days. My plan of eating a nice meal and enjoying some drinks before the game was dead at this point. The only place in the area was The Hiding Place and they would not serve any food for another hour.

At 7 pm, I rejoiced in the fact I would finally be able to eat. However, all the pub did was roll out a cart of poorly made hamburgers and hot dogs. At this point I started to understand why a Gastropub (a pub that serves quality food) was such an invention in England whereas it is standard in the United States.

Finding My Seat
After eating a bad hamburger and having a couple more pints it was time for the match between Newcastle Falcons and Harlequin to begin. The one perk of being in the bar before the game was that I could exit the bar directly into the stadium. Ah, but there was a catch. You needed to have a ticket for those sections and I was in the standing only section behind the end zone. I actually walked into the stadium, without having my ticket checked at first, but then realized I could buy a beer at the bar and bring it into the stadium.

After buying a beer at the bar, I walked to the other “ticket taker” since the line was shorter. He checked my ticket, and, since I had a standing only ticket he told me I could not enter the section I was heading towards. Instead I needed to take my sorry ass and walk outside of the pub and into the end zone sections. I did that but decided I could not stand since I had already been in the sitting section. I walked by security on the other side of the stadium and ended up sitting at mid-field.

The Game
With a crowd of 5,714 in attendance (so much for being worried about a sellout), the Harlequins and Falcons ended up in a 17-17 draw. It was the first non-soccer or hockey tie I have ever seen as Harlequins came back from a 14-3 deficit.

As with cricket, fans could buy beer during a rugby match.

Post Game
After the game an Irish band played on the side of the stadium I had snuck into. I watched the band for a few songs, but was concerned that I might miss the last subway train back to downtown Newcastle. The last train left at 11:13 pm so I left in order not to be left in Kenton.

Downtown Newcastle
When I arrived back in downtown Newcastle it was time to grab some food. Of course, nothing was open at midnight so I ate at a Kebab restaurant and ordered a gyros platter. As I was ordering another guy had already ordered was incredibly drunk to the point where he could barely speak. When his pizza was ready, he sat down to eat it and proceeded to take his shirt off. The owner yelled at him to put it on which he somehow managed to do so.

After eating, I was back wandering the streets of Newcastle. Once again, the town had come to life with people lining up for a block or two to get into certain clubs.

Free Day in Newcastle

Friday afternoon was a free day. I had arrived in Newcastle Thursday night with the plan to attend the Newcastle Falcons rugby match Friday night. Thus, I had multiple tourist options for Friday afternoon. First, I thought I might take the bus to Hadrian’s Wall – a fortification wall built by the Roman Empire between 122 and 126 AD. Second, I considered seeing the sites in Newcastle and staying local. Third, I could check my email, run some “online” errands and relax at the hostel. The wireless connection was free.

I chose option three and was online for most of the day. I did run out for a sandwich at a deli and buy myself a new toothbrush but that was it.

Evening in Newcastle

My train arrived in Newcastle Thursday evening and it was now time to find the Albatross hostel I had booked on Tuesday. The hostel was located at 51 Grainger Street which was a short distance from the train station. The most important aspect for every place I would stay was that it needed to be within walking distance of the train station for two reasons. First, it is easier to find and second, it was close to the train station so I could get back quickly the next day.

I had booked a six bed room since that was all that was available. However, when I checked in they said they did not have the same six bed room available for both nights. However, I could “downgrade” to an eight bed room (the same room for both nights) for £1 cheaper per night. I decided that was fine and took the eight bed room hoping that eight people would not actually be staying in the room.

My room was basically what I expected – a large room with four bunk beds. I took the bottom bunk furthest away from the windows. The original reason I chose to stay in a hostel was to meet other travelers and go out in Newcastle with them. However, when I arrived nobody was in the room. Since there was nothing to do in the room I decided to walk around Newcastle on my own.

I was in the mood for some Italian food so I ate at Portofino located at 12 Mosley Street. Since it was late it was one of the last restaurants still serving food.

Newcastle is one of the craziest towns I have been to in awhile. There were clubs and pubs around every corner and thousands of young adults walking everywhere. Either places were overcrowded or totally empty so after walking around for about an hour I walked back to my hostel to get some sleep.