Experience the NFL UK Invasion – It’s Game Day

London Day Two – Where Patti discovers ancient torture methods, and Minds the Gap

Sister side note (ssn) – and Where Peggy gets Pete Carroll’s attention

Wake up!  It’s Seahawks Game Day!  If you haven’t read our Day 1 NFL UK experience, find it is here. We had to be out to Wembley Stadium by 4:00, and we had lots of exploring to do. We decided that we will take The Tube to the game, Pat reminds us (multiple times, haha) that we must Mind the Gap.

An Early Start

We headed out for our morning walk to our new favorite place on the planet, the Exmouth Coffee Company. More pastries and avocado toast to try.

ssn – the coffee is not quite ordered like American coffee. Definitely much smaller portions and terms like Long Black (similar to an Americano) or White Coffee – and it’s either milk or cream, no half-n-half. Luckily, I love a Flat White because that was available everywhere. Why is coffee always better on vacation?

We took coffee back to wake our fellow travelers so we could get on with today’s plan. We were going to experience the city from a new and differing perspective with the Thames River Boat Tour.  This came as part of our London City Pass. Pat and I had done the Chicago Architecture Boat tour and absolutely loved it, so I was very excited for this one. 

Thames River Tour

It was rather damp outside, in a very Londonesque hazy, drizzly way.  This really made for the best experience of a city tour to feel the classic London greyness, but damn glad that it wasn’t like this on our walking tour the day before!  Now, unlike the walking tour, this one wasn’t about the beer, but they did have a bar and we couldn’t pass up mimosas!

ssn – we were the first ones in line and we started a trend, soon almost everyone was drinking them!

We grabbed some indoor seating at the front of the boat, and away we cruised.

This was a fascinating look at the city! We passed the Tower bridge, the Millennium Bridge, saw the Shakespeare Globe theater, The London Eye, Parliament and plenty of notable historical sites from the river view.

Tower of London

We docked not far from the Tower of London, which would be stop number two.  And this is where the rain starts to pick up, and we were pretty soaked.  Mom grabbed a seat at the nearest café to wait out the rain, while the rest of us checkout the Tower of London. Turns out it is not actually much of a tower as it is a fort.

My dream of being a modern day Rapunzel was put to death. But I quickly recovered when the first thing I saw was the sign pointing the way to the “Torture at the Tower”. Giddy may be the best word to describe the next 10 minutes. I have new plans of Full Global Domination that include owning my own Rack and my own Scavengers Daughter (because really, having my own Iron Maiden is pretty much a given at this point, right?).

The Tower is also where the royal jewels are kept, and I am not referring to Harry <batting my eyes, longingly>. I’m talking about the Queen’s crown and other major historically significant pieces from the royal collection.  We took a bypass on this due to an incredibly long line to get inside, and our time constraints.  I have to be honest, I have no regrets about skipping this.  The Tower was pretty dang cool from a historical perspective. Even more so when we discovered the Beefeaters, you know, the guys from the gin bottle!  They are actual people!  I have proof.

That Was All Before Lunch

We headed to lunch, only to discover that my much coveted The Walrus and The Carpenter Alice in Wonderland themed pub was closed.  While this was a bummer, we ended up at The Hydrant, which was a cool firehouse themed pub.

I have to say, I absolutely loved that the pubs all had themes, and they were so well executed and designed.  It was a cool part of our London experience seeing all the differing pubs, laughing at the VERY English names, and loving the well thought out interiors.

The city was also impressively supportive of American Football, so many businesses were supporting the 12^th man, and they really seemed to catch the fever of the tourists. Luckily, The Hydrant was in walking distance to the tube station because it was now time to head north towards Wembley for our big game, Seahawks vs Raiders!

NFL UK Experience

Minding the Gap, we hit the tube with all the many football fans to head for pre-game festivities.  It was amazing to see all the people decked out for the game, especially all the Europeans who wore their own favorite team colors.  In the US, when you go to the game, people usually only dress in the teams that are playing.  Not in England, people were all out for whomever their favorite team was, just to throw that support out there.  So, we were surrounded by Dolphins, and Packers, and Falcons

ssn – and Lions and Bengals and Bears, oh my.

And the comradery of the crowd was incredible, everyone just gathered together to have a great time at a game.  They put together a huge NFL UK tailgate area, with food vendors, games, beer stations, and souvenir stands. And more rain.

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Game Time!

The game was awesome (we won), our seats were awesome (center of the end zone, front row behind some equipment), the crowd was awesome. It was an amazing experience all around, and I am so glad we did this.  Plus it was our mother’s first NFL game.  Although she is a big Seahawks fans, she doesn’t go to the games. Mostly this is because crowds and conflicts make her nervous. This was a great initiation in a friendly supportive crowd environment, without angry confrontations over which team is best.  England is definitely one of the friendliest places we have traveled.

ssn – the absolute highlight of my life was when we (Patti) yelled to Pete Carroll (my absolute crush and future husband) as he walked past and he waved to us. I was as giddy as Patti was with the torture devices. Oh, and Ciara walked right past us and she was stunning!!

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Now, getting out of Wembley was a nightmare, with not enough transportation for all the revelers. I only mention this for those readers who might one day venture there for a Futbol match. Be prepared to spend two hours trying to get back to London in a packed train car. .  . and MIND THE GAP!!!

Check out NFL UK Experience – Day 3 here.