London: Our First Football Match

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!

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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.

Photo: Completely incredible experience at the Chelsea match today!!!

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. 245

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!

774The 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.

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Paris Running Tour

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen a few pictures from our weekend in Paris.

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It was an absolutely perfect weekend which Bo and I are both so thankful to have enjoyed together. Living in Europe definitely has some benefits and the ease of travel is one that we are taking full advantage of each month!

I tried to consolidate our Paris weekend into one overview post, similar to what I did for Brussels, but I found it impossible. Therefore, I will share one overview post later this week in addition to sharing the details of our Paris Running Tour in today’s post!

When Bo and I started planning our weekend in Paris, I requested that we invest in a running tour. A New York Times article, Paris at the Speed of Sneakers, had inspired me earlier in the week.  While we often run through a city we are visiting, I knew that both Bo and I would love learning the history behind the magical city first hand from a local. We are both history buffs so having the opportunity to combine exercise with a sightseeing tour of Paris seemed like the best way to make use of our time!

When we searched for Paris running tours on Google we quickly discovered a company by the same name, Paris Running Tours. Featured in a number of different magazines including Travel & Leisure and Elle magazine, Paris Running Tours boasts personalized tours led by knowledgeable tour guides who can design tours through Paris based on your previous experiences. For those people who want to keep things simple and plan nothing, they have 7 pre-planned tours as well

  • Right Bank tour (less than an hour in length)
  • Left Bank tour (less than an hour in length)
  • Most Beautiful Palaces tour (less than an hour in length)
  • Banks of the Seine Tour (less than an hour in length)
  • French Revolution Tour (more than an hour in length)
  • Paris Marathon Tour (more than an hour in length)

When working with our run guide, Jean-Charles, we let him know that we wanted to do a run ranging from 7-9 miles in length and focus on the big sights as this was Bo’s first trip to Paris. He also let us know that the run would start and end at our hotel, making the run even more convenient!

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The tour, which covered 8.84 miles in total, was absolutely incredible! Though we were caught off guard by the weather which was 10 degrees colder than predicted and quite windy, we were smiling the entire time and soaked up every piece of trivia he shared!

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As you can tell from the above, one of the added bonus’ of the tour was the fact that he brought along a camera to capture the experience. We stopped 10-12 times during the run to hear history and stories but the rest of the time we were keeping around a 9:30 pace through the streets of Paris.

While the personalized private tour was not cheap it was well worth the investment in our opinion. We saw more of Paris in 2.5 hours than we would have seen on foot in a full day. While there are most likely less expensive tour groups, there is something to be said for a tour guide who goes at your pace and builds the tour to meet your needs.

Your turn: If you could take a guided running tour through any city, where would you choose?

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Silent Saturday: Paris Running Tour

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