+- VikeFans.com (https://vikefans.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Forums (https://vikefans.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: The Longship (https://vikefans.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Thread: Hi from London (/showthread.php?tid=2629)
Hi from London - Guest - 10-30-2017
I was never able to upload photos to anything. It's likely due to the hotel connection so I'll upload and post a link to photos when I return home tomorrow.
In the meantime, here's a summary. Sorry for the length.
11 of us traveled from the US to the game. The 12th
member of our group was coming from Geneva. We split up so that everyone could
do and see as much or as little of London as they wanted. I’ve been to London a
few times so I didn’t do as much regular touring.Besides all of the sightseeing and awesome London city highlights
we were able to have a little Vikings fun.Some of us made it to the KFAN broadcast on Friday at the
Barrowboy and Banker pub. Not sure if you happened to catch any of the show
that morning but it was all of the regular content including the initials game
and Chris Hawkey doing his purposefully awful Irish accent. The place is not
that big so we sat with a team photographer and someone from their events team.
We picked up a couple of giveaways and interacted with Vikings fans from all
over Europe. Fun! Chad Greenway stopped in for about 30 seconds. That’s really
all it was. He was running 20 minutes late so he stopped in and then jetted.No, the margarita machine didn’t make the trip (I wish!) but
I now love flaming passion fruit martinis. Yum. So good I had to take a
picture. After doing some shopping on Saturday, more of us went back
to the same pub on Saturday night. I’ve told a couple of you about a Myron
Mixon BBQ class I took in Georgia a couple of years ago. While standing in the
pub in London, I ran into someone that I met at that class. Incredible. What a
crazy coincidence. He’d also traveled over for the game. We spent the night talking with fans from Wales, Scotland,
Germany, Fargo (heh), etc, etc, etc. One guy from Wales is a Falcons fan because he likes their logo. They wanted to learn the Vikings song so we taught it to them. I took a couple of videos from the pub of fans from all over the world singing
the song and doing the SKOL chant. When we first arrived Rick Spielman was there. A friend went
up to him and told him “Great job with the team!” (No comments from Spielman
haters!) I posted on the NFL UK forum to get info before coming to London. One
of the posters there came out and hung out with us all night. He hasn’t been to
US Bank stadium yet but he’s going to the Rams game (and then the Vikings/Lions
game and then he’s off to Atlanta for that game). We invited him to our regular
tailgate so we plan to see him then.Game time on Sunday! We took the train from our hotel to the
stadium and as expected there were NFL fans everywhere. Nothing like a fan
wearing a Patriots jersey and a Vikings hat. Or how about a Packers jersey and
a Bears hat? They were just happy to be there. We had a table in a hospitality
suite which gave us the opportunity to meet some of the staff. The manager was
nice enough to take us on an impromptu tour of Twickenham and discuss its Rugby
history.We were looking through the game day program and noticed
something we thought was strange. Half of the book was for the Browns and the
rest for the Vikings. The table of contents for a Browns article noted that it
was called “Believe in the PLAN”. It referred to an article about the coach’s
patient approach. But when you turn to the article (which did mention a
long-term plan), it was called “Believe in the PAIN” Ha! Typo? After lunch we were off to our seats. We had front row seats
in the middle section around the 30/40 yard line. As soon as we got there we
realized we were sitting directly behind the KFAN broadcast team. Woo hoo! We said
hi to Paul Allen, Wobby, Chris Hawkey and Pete Bercich. And I was able to
deliver a HI to Pete and let him know how much he’s appreciated for the insight
and information he shares here.Since it was a Browns home game, there was no Skol chant but
we sang the Vikings song at the top of our lungs every time we scored. Paul
Allen had us pause singing at one point. Then he pointed to us to start again.
We assumed that he mentioned there were loud (screaming) Vikings fans behind
him. If you follow Chris Hawkey on Twitter he posted a photo and another video
and you can see us screaming in the background. Paul Allen retweeted it so you can find it there too.
After the game we went back to the suite where we hung out
with some Viking fans and some locals who had never seen a game before. One
English gentleman described what he saw. “So, a skinny guy kicks the ball. Then
the big guys watch it go over their heads. Then they say ‘time for a break’” LOL I
guess you had to hear it. He was pretty funny. That's it. I'll add the pics when I'm home!
And @BlackMagic7 I'm so glad I missed the snow!
Hi from London - Guest - 10-30-2017
Great writeup, Nichelle! I think you should be Vikefan's official international correspondent/commentator
It is fun to hear about the festivities leading up to the game; it gives folks like me (who have only been to 2 Viking games in their entire lives, both in Minneapolis) a good feel for what it's like to mingle amongst other fans and places to congregate before and after the game as well as getting up close with some of the personnel and media personalities of the Vikings. Thanks again for writing this and I'm looking forward to seeing your pics if you get them added