Woke up this morning early, and not feeling too bad from last night, to catch a train to Newcastle in order to attend a session of Women's soccer. I got on the East Coast train bound for Edinburgh at 9:30 and 3 hours later I got off in Newcastle with about 2 hours of time to kill before heading into the stadium to see the first game.
Within 5 minutes of walking I came across a 14th century castle that is still standing to this day. It is the Castle Garth and was built by a British noble who wanted protection against the unruly Scots and the Nordic Vikings of Scandinavia. From there I worked my way down to the River Tyne (Newcastle's full name is Newcastle upon Tyne) where there were many different shops and restaurants and where the Olympic Rings hang on a bridge extending over the Tyne. I took a lot of pictures and then headed back into town where I had glimpsed the steeple of an interesting looking cathedral while walking earlier. This turned out to be the St. Nicholas Cathedral, which was as old as the Castle Garth, and which is still an active church and congregation to this day.
By this time it was time to head up to St. James Park, home of the Newcastle United Football Club and the largest stadium in Northeast England. I got there about 45 minutes before kickoff and discovered that I had fantastic seats about midway up and right near the middle of the field. The first game was between Sweden and Canada and was a very exciting affair in which the Swedes jumped out to an early 2 to 0 lead. However the Canadians fought back and scored a goal just before halftime to cut that lead in half. The second half was very evenly matched and looked like it would go scoreless until the Canadians, again, put in a late half goal to tie the game. On top of that, by tying the Swedes, Canada qualified out of group play and into the quarter finals. Sweden also qualified but they had already guaranteed their spot before today's game. The second game was between the heavily favored French team (whom I was rooting for) and a Colombian team that was all but eliminated from the tournament. The French scored within the first 5 minutes and it looked like it would be a blow out. However, the Colombians proved tougher than they initially appeared and held the French scoreless for the rest of the half. The second half started and ended the same way, with the French winning 1 to 0. Both teams had many opportunities to score but just couldn't finish them and it all ended with the French moving on to the quarter finals and the Colombians going home.
After the match I had some Fish and Chips at a local Irish Pub and then killed a little bit more time before boarding the 9:15 train back to London Kings Cross. I wound up sleeping most of the way home and woke up just in time to get off and work my way back to the Clink for a short nights sleep before heading to Ireland tomorrow!
Within 5 minutes of walking I came across a 14th century castle that is still standing to this day. It is the Castle Garth and was built by a British noble who wanted protection against the unruly Scots and the Nordic Vikings of Scandinavia. From there I worked my way down to the River Tyne (Newcastle's full name is Newcastle upon Tyne) where there were many different shops and restaurants and where the Olympic Rings hang on a bridge extending over the Tyne. I took a lot of pictures and then headed back into town where I had glimpsed the steeple of an interesting looking cathedral while walking earlier. This turned out to be the St. Nicholas Cathedral, which was as old as the Castle Garth, and which is still an active church and congregation to this day.
By this time it was time to head up to St. James Park, home of the Newcastle United Football Club and the largest stadium in Northeast England. I got there about 45 minutes before kickoff and discovered that I had fantastic seats about midway up and right near the middle of the field. The first game was between Sweden and Canada and was a very exciting affair in which the Swedes jumped out to an early 2 to 0 lead. However the Canadians fought back and scored a goal just before halftime to cut that lead in half. The second half was very evenly matched and looked like it would go scoreless until the Canadians, again, put in a late half goal to tie the game. On top of that, by tying the Swedes, Canada qualified out of group play and into the quarter finals. Sweden also qualified but they had already guaranteed their spot before today's game. The second game was between the heavily favored French team (whom I was rooting for) and a Colombian team that was all but eliminated from the tournament. The French scored within the first 5 minutes and it looked like it would be a blow out. However, the Colombians proved tougher than they initially appeared and held the French scoreless for the rest of the half. The second half started and ended the same way, with the French winning 1 to 0. Both teams had many opportunities to score but just couldn't finish them and it all ended with the French moving on to the quarter finals and the Colombians going home.
After the match I had some Fish and Chips at a local Irish Pub and then killed a little bit more time before boarding the 9:15 train back to London Kings Cross. I wound up sleeping most of the way home and woke up just in time to get off and work my way back to the Clink for a short nights sleep before heading to Ireland tomorrow!