RWC2015 London

London Sunday morning found Mark making coffee, so toasted a bagel and stepped out front to sit at the neighbor's picnic table.  Once everyone was up, Mark, Miles and I decided to walk over to Hyde Park and have a quick look around.  Very short walk and we were at the park.  Walked along the Serpentine for a bit.  Clearly the park is very large (625 acres when combined with Kensington Gardens), but not larger than Central Park in New York.  The park was opened to the public in 1637 by Charles I. Lots of people our walking, running, rolling and cycling.  Back to the flat and prep to leave for Leicester.  Cab to London St. Pancras International station from Paddington was easy.  Just missed the 11:00 departure as it was full, but we able to get on the 11:30.  By complete fluke, we stumbled into the only car that had unreserved seats and got the four facing with a table.  Beside us were some Argies now living in England.  Very thoughtful prop was back at the concession and called his uncle in the seat to ask if we wanted a beer.  Not sure why he bothered to ask.  Anyway since I had told Matt the the game started at 2 and it was a 2 hour train ride, with the reality being a 2:30 kick off and 1.5 hour train ride, we arrived in time (in spite of a medical delay causing the train to wait 20 minutes at one station - not us) and set out to find The Tiffin - a restaurant Dave Lougheed had suggested.  After walking around aimlessly for a bit, we discovered that the name had been changed and now called Mumbai Inn.  We were able to get a reservation for after the game via sign language at the door as the restaurant was closed for the afternoon.  Next was the fairly long treck to Leicester City stadium, which took right by the Tiger's ground at Welford Road.

 Our seats were split but all enjoyed the game.  Tonga put up a fight, but in the end, Los Pumas were just too strong.  Afterwards, we strolled up to the Fan Zone and found the area to be rather subdued on a Sunday night.  Watched a bit of the Ireland vs. Italy test.  Italy proved to be a formidable opponent for the Irish, but they prevailed in a tight score line.  Kangaroo Kourt at the zone found the Judge issue a verdict of Guilty on myself for inviting my wife to come to London along side a boys tour.  The Mountie was duly transferred.  The Judge is dead, long live the Judge.  Next it was off to the Mumbai Inn where we had a fantastic currie dinner, which of course goes rather well with beer.  Lamb Vindaloo was particularly good, might be regretful next day.  Then it was a short walk back to the station and got there just in time to hop on the train back to London without problem.  Sadly, Mark and Matt snoring the whole way back made for an embarrassing display indeed.  Duly noted by the Judge.  Cab driver from St. Pancras to Bathhurst Mews had a great sense of humor, and we found the ladies comfortably reading when we arrived at the flat.