After spending a few weeks in Spain it was time for a weekend in London with the wife. If you are traveling to London and want to see a couple of soccer games then be sure to make the wife happy first – then attend the events. I booked two nights at the Andaz Liverpool Street that I found by going to tablethotels.com. Tablethotels.com recommends stylish hotels that the wife will love and will hopefully not cost a fortune.

The Andaz was about five hotels listed that were less than 150 pounds. The others cheaper hotels were further away and we wanted to stay in a central location. Also, since we were flying to London Saturday morning before the Arsenal match, I wanted to stay within a reasonable distance of the stadium just in case the plane was late. It also turned out that the Andaz was a Hyatt.

Pre Game Dining
We met the Arsenal boys – consisting of Hospitality Jim, Big Chris, Stevie White Hair, Timmie Hampton and Just Gary – for lunch at the St. Pancras Grand in the St. Pancras Train Station. Of course, they were drinking wine and champagne as we arrived at the champagne bar across from the restaurant.

Tim and Steve supposedly found the “deal of the day” which consisted of a two course meal with a half bottle of prosecco for 15 pounds. However, what we did not realize was that receiving our entrées would take forever. We ordered around 1:15 pm. At 2:15 pm we had only eaten our appetizers and the match started at 3 pm. After some firm conversations with the manager our meals arrived, we scarfed down our food and were off for the match.

Obtaining Tickets
As has occurred with the last two Arsenal matches I have attended, Hospitality Jim did not charge me for the ticket.

The Game
Arsenal defeated Wigan convincingly 4-0 as Thomas Vermaelen scored two goals in the 24th and 48th minute followed by Emmanuel Eboue’s goal in the 58th minute and Cesc Fabregas in the 89th.