world cup fever

so, news just in, but football (soccer) is really big over here in England. the Brits love their local teams as much if not more than they love their mothers, and will watch every match faithfully. i know people who have actually scheduled important meetings around match times. with it being the World Cup this year, you can imagine the excitement that has ensued.

i haven't jumped on the football train yet (parents: yes, i did manage to find a boy that doesn't watch sports on tv!), but i do have a tottenham hotspurs toothbrush holder and i enjoy a good match now and then. i've been eyeing this whole World Cup thing with mild interest, mainly because there was a US v. England match this past saturday. if i was going to watch any of the 1,000 games, it seemed the US match would make the most sense. what made it even more special was that Beth's friends Anne and Tommy were visiting from...Cincinnati! i would say that 90% of my other friends, London and Cincinnati combined, know Anne and Tommy. while i had never personally met them, i knew enough about them to feel as though we'd been friends for years. so it was really cool to actually meet them in person (as we were parting, Anne actually said "it was good to catch up with you!" :-)

the match itself was good (1-1 tie) and the crowd at the pub was civilised, which was a pleasant surprise because Adam was fairly certain i was going to get my @ss kicked by rioting locals. moi? i think he was more worried about the fact that football tends to bring out the hooligan in the nicest of gents AND there is a lot of anti-US sentiment when it comes to football. but, we were watching the match at a pub in Angel, off the beaten path and tucked safely away in a corner. we had a really nice mix of Brits and Americans, so there was plenty of spirited banter. fun times!

many hours after the match ended, we wandered across Angel to a restaurant called the diner, which specialises in greasy American food. oddly enough, i've been meaning to go there for ages. i had a spicy, drippy, beany chicken burrito, cheese fries, and the better part of Adam's milkshake. mmmmmmm.

i'm unsure as to what time we left, but i do know that we were well on our way to stoke newington before i finally realised we were walking the wrong way up essex road. oops. :-)