Based on all the comments I received regarding what you all want to see more in 2014, travel adventures was the top request. Lucky for you I have a long list of upcoming travel posts, starting with today’s London bucket list item!
This weekend we had the opportunity to attend our first football (soccer) match in England! When our friend Emily planned her weekend visit to London with us she had one request: go to a Chelsea football game. As Emily grew up playing soccer and even played at Emory during college, there was no way we couldn’t help but get excited about experiencing a very European sporting experience with someone who is an expert on the sport! It didn’t hurt that this was already one of the items on our ever growing London bucket list!
The experience was absolutely incredible! Unlike many professional sports stadiums in the United States, the Chelsea Football Club stadium is in the city. Therefore there isn’t a tailgating tradition, instead people frequent the nearby pubs and restaurants before and after the the games. The stadium felt very intimate, which we loved. The stadium holds around 55,000 people and there were over 47,000 at Saturday’s game.
On our way into the stadium both Bo and Emily purchased Chelsea scarves to get into the spirit and stay warm. They weren’t alone as I felt like i was the only person not sporting one of these scarves.
Since there is no alcohol allowed in the stands, we stopped for a proper pint before the match while also checking out the food offerings which we’d take advantage of during half time. On our side of the stadium there were 6-8 different food stands each specializing in a different type of food ranging from burgers, fish & chips, mince pies, and bangers. 
At halftime Bo and I split one banger and one meat pie so we could have a taste of each. The meat pie was warm and hearty but tasted similar to something they stuck in the microwave. The banger however was DELICIOUS! The banger was served on a roll with sage stuffing and all the toppings including onions, sauerkraut, mustard, relish and peppers!
The match itself was an exciting one with action at both ends of the field. While the Chelsea fans obeyed the “please no standing during the game” other than cheering after goals, the Crystal Palace fans were the complete opposite. They were small but mighty in a way you can’t imagine! The 2-1 match is something that all 3 of us enjoyed so much that we’ve already decided we want to squeeze in a few more football matches this season, sampling the different local clubs.
If you’re a London local and haven’t been to a Chelsea game yet I highly recommend it. Even if you aren’t a football fan per se it is a great experience. If you’re visiting the London area and interested in going to a game, make sure to start searching for tickets as early as possible as they are hard to find. In addition, make sure that you buy them from an authorized seller as the Chelsea Football club is cracking down on ticket resale.
Regardless of the terrain for each of the 5 kilometers we pushed on as fast as my lungs and legs could considering the elements. Luckily the one thing in our favor was the weather as it was a gorgeous, clear day around 40 degrees and sunny! We had no idea what are pace was as we ran Garmin free. When we crossed the finished we high fived each other, proud that we’d still given it our best effort but were definitely thankful we didn’t have to run another loop for the 10k. We later found out that our effort resulted in a shiny new PR of 28:38 or a 9:13 pace. While this isn’t the sub 9 that I was hoping for it is still a huge improvement from my previous 5k time and has me excited for half marathon training this Spring when I can focus a bit more on strength and speed! 
