England Vs Netherlands at Wembley Stadium

So the main reason for our recent trip to London was to watch England versus Holland at Wembley stadium. This was to be the first time the boys had watched England play and their first time to Wembley. Holland have always been my second favourite international football team that I usually support once England get knocked out of a major championship. This year that plan will not work as Holland didn't even qualify for Euro 2016 in France.

 

Surprisingly when we got to Tower Hill we bumped in to two of Joshua and Brandon's friends who were also going to the match. It was really funny to see the four of them walking around carrying a St George cross flag and chanting football songs like a right little group of football hooligans.

 

The match was almost a complete sell out with 82,000 people in the stadium. I bought the tickets some time ago before Xmas and got a really good deal for the family enclosure. I paid just £20 for my ticket and £10 each for the boys. Our seats were 3 rows from the front and right behind the away goal, so we got a birds eye view of Vardy's second England goal and the two Dutch goals as well. Before the game started there was a minutes silence to remember the victims of the recent suicide bombings in Brussels which killed 30+ people. Also during the game there was a standing ovation of clapping for the Dutch player and coach Johan Cruyff who died at the age of 68 earlier this week due to lung cancer.

 

So the match itself ended with a 2-1 loss to England, but the score didn't ruin the experience or enjoyment for me and the boys. We had an absolutely wicked time. Joshua and Brandon loved seeing Vardy, Kane, Walcott, Sturridge and the rest of the team. I think they would have really loved it if Joe Hart and Wayne Rooney were playing but they were both injured. I think at the end of the game Drinkwater was man of the match on his debut in an England shirt. Holland were pretty much playing a "B" team as well with no Robben, Schneider, Van Persie etc.

 

Joshua and Brandon meet Zac and George on the underground.

 

 

The boys carrying St Georges cross flag as we walk down towards the famous Wembley arch.



This is the home of England (and appropriately it was raining).

Come on England.



The boys having their picture taken in front of the Euro 2016 cup.

Close up of the Euro cup.



The boys meat one of the 3 lions mascots as we wait for the gates to open.

The boys tucking in to one of the most expensive pick-n-mix selections that I have ever purchased, what a rip off.

Brandon testing his teeth on a large chewy shark sweet.

Me and my boys at Wembley. Lads time at the football.

Joshua gets a "5" from another one of the three lions.



Great picture of Joshua with a lion mascot.

The lions messing around on one of the crowd control railings and getting a little stuck.

The three lions shield flag makes a Mexican wave around the crowd.



Action shot as skipper James Milner takes a corner (I think this was about the most useful contribution he made to the game)!

The friendly was also making awareness of breast cancer research and as we were in the family enclosure they dropped in a load of pink balloons for the kids to knock up and down the isles.

Joshua again getting a five from a lion mascot.

Action shot from the game with a great view from row 3 just behind the goal.

The Wembley arch lit up pink for breast cancer awareness.

 

HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge

Yesterday I took a day off of work as some time ago I had purchased tickets for me and the boys to go and see the England Vs Netherlands football match at Wembley Stadium. As it was the school holidays I figured that if I am going to buy a train ticket to Wembley then we might as well make a day out of it and do some fun stuff in London. I was really excited about the football match as Netherlands have always been my back up team for when ever England inevitably get knocked out of the tournaments.

 

Anyway we had a really good day out in London and spent most of our day visiting the HMS Belfast which is now over 70 years old and moored up in the Thames as a naval museum. The ship is pretty amazing at over 600ft long and with 6 or 7 floors to explore. As it was the school holidays we also stumbled across a kids activity where they could design their own tattoo t-shirt on the ship. We ended up spending so long exploring the ship that we also ended up having lunch on it. Some of the ship is very confined in space and the steep ladders to get from floor to floor can be challenging. The boys did so well as the must have walked miles and climbed hundreds of steps over the course of the day.

 

After the HMS Belfast we decided to visit the Tower Bridge and the climb inside it and experience the glass bottomed floors on the upper galley ways. Yet again the boys had more steps to climb as we counted something like 193 steps to get up the North Tower just to get to the 42m high galley ways. The boys absolutely loved looking down through the glass floor at all the traffic on the bridge and the river boats crossing underneath. It was really funny to watch most people being too scared to go anywhere near the glass and yet Josh and Brandon were laying on it doing some boat spotting. To keep the kids entertained they also had some stickers to collect throughout the tour and put them on their Tower Bridge passport.

 

We arrived at Tower Hill and get a picture of the boys wearing their England shirts outside the Tower of London.

Joshua and Brandon in front of the Tower Bridge.

First on our agenda was to go and explore HMS Belfast moored up on the Thames.

St Georges cross on the Tower Bridge.

On the other side of the river we got some stunning photos of the Tower Bridge.

Joshua and Brandon settle on to HMS Belfast using the electronic radio's to punch in the various numbers scattered around the ship to learn about it.



The HMS Belfast bell.

Brandon in front of one of the little rescue boats on board with the Shard in the background (or cheese grater as he kept calling it).

Inside the ship the boys got to design and colour their own tattoo t-shirt (free of charge as well, bonus).

Brandon looking a bit nervous touching a bomb, he was worried it was going to blow up!

Joshua and Brandon in front of some of the heavy artillery on the ship.

The boys couldn't believe just how big the ships anchor was.

The Union Jack flying proudly at the bow of the ship.

Joshua takes to the Admirals chair. Amazingly the steering room is deep down in the hull and the driver cannot see anything outside and is completely dependant on communications from here.

Admiral Brandon using the ships compass.

The on board hospital had some mannequins showing a simulated operation. Brandon in particular didn't like this and was a bit scared of the blood from the cut open stomach.

Anyone recognise this sailor?

How about this one?

As if Brandon was worried about that small shell blowing up earlier. You can imagine his thought process when I told him to sit on this torpedo for a photo!

Me and my boys having a lads day out on HMS Belfast in front of Tower Bridge.

A farewell picture as we head off for our exploration of Tower Bridge.

Incredibly the ship seems so much bigger inside than out, yet cramped and confined at the same time.

Next on our agenda, the iconic Tower Bridge, and just look at those beautiful blue skies.

Joshua and Brandon laying on the 3" thick glass floor looking down over the Tower Bridge road and the Thames river.

A view looking down through mine, Joshua and Brandon's feet.

Quite spectacular views of the London skyline from on top of Tower Bridge.

My boys were fearless on the glass floor.

Now that's what I call a good selfie!

Both galley ways have a glass floor which is maybe 30ft long. Notice Joshua and Brandon laying all over the glass floor watching out for boats going under the bridge.

Me and my boys.

We even went down to the boiler room to see the engines that used to power the Tower Bridge.

Beautifully maintained hydraulic / steam engines to operate the bridge.