For the unindoctrinated, Everton is a Liverpool-based team coming to play on West Ham’s home turf. This is an interesting season for Everton because they were docked 10-points in what the football world has unanimously agreed is an injustice of the highest order. After that, death (i.e. relegation) seemed inevitable, but they have harnessed their collective spite to mount a revenge-fueled run of wins that has put them comfortably in the center of the table, safe from the relegation zone. If it wasn’t for those 10 points, they would be a strong contender for European qualification right now. Unfortunately for West Ham, this would ultimately mean a home-defeat for them. So there were lots of angry fans in East London on this day, but that’s part of the magic of the game. ✨
Today we’re going to Stamford Bridge to see Chelsea v. Brighton in the EFL Cup a.k.a. the Carabao Cup!
This is not technically my first English Premier League (EPL) game because it’s a cup game (i.e. it’s not part of the regular season, it’s a separate competition) but it’s still a good time. So let’s get into what this experience was like… because, it was an experience.
Today we’re going to walk from Green Park to the BT Tower at sunset. I’d plot out the route of my walk for you on Google maps, but I have no idea what my route actually was. As is my custom, I was trying to get lost. What I can tell you is that this walk will take us through a little corner of Mayfair, and then through neighborhoods called Soho and Fitzrovia. Having only been here for 1.5 months, I still feel quite under-qualified to be making any sort of statements about London as a whole, but these areas really feel like the “heart of the city” to me.
I don’t know if people coming to visit as tourists really get a sense of the scale of this place because most major tourist attractions are clustered relatively close to one another. But to me, whose first time in London was the day I moved to London, its size was a bit terrifying. I couldn’t afford to stay in the city center, so I found an Airbnb further afield. Fighting the traffic and crowds to haul my ass back and forth across this city to do apartment viewings was exhausting, and I only covered a small portion of the city in those trips.
Welp, I won’t bury the lead.
I am moving to London!
If you haven’t heard of it, that’s in England.
It’s a bit surreal that I haven’t been to the UK yet in my travels. I suppose it never seemed like it would be all that foreign, so every time I was planning a bit of travel, I opted for something that felt more AdV3nTuR0Us. I always used to say “I’m sure I’ll end up there eventually.”
Well… that turned out to be truer than I could have predicted.
