Final day in London…crossing Abbey Road and then the Fulham vs Bristol City match

The team set off from Watford at 9am and headed to the city for our final day in London. We stopped by Abbey Road for a quick photo similar to that on the Beatles’ album cover.     

 
From there it was back on the bus to central London. Some of the team spent time shopping, last minute sightseeing and a couple ventured to the Harry Potter Platform 9 3/4 in the Underground rail system.   

We then headed to Craven Cottage to watch Fulham FC take on Bristol City. It was an exciting match that ended with Bristol City winning 2-1 in the 90th minute!     

Craven Cottage along the Thames

  
 The team will enjoy a night on the town as we say farewell to London. Tomorrow we have a visit to Windsor Castle before our flight leaves from Heathrow.

Stratford, Cotswolds, Oxford University and checking into our last hotel in Watford

We checked out of our hotel in Rancorn this morning and made a 2 hour journey south to Stratford. This small village is where Shakespeare was born and was also laid to rest. We took a quick stroll through the streets and got some lunch before getting back on the bus and heading to the Cotswolds.

This is a beautiful area and the buildings/homes are all a honey colored limestone.

   
Winston Churchill  was born and spent lots of time in Blenheim Palace. We passed by this as we drive through Woodstock. 

Oxford University is comprised of very old buildings and many different colleges. It is the most prestigious university in England. Harry Potter’s Hogwarths was inspired by the dining hall of Christchurch.  

Bond, Catelyn and Katie outside of Christchurch

 

 

Radcliffe Square

 
We finished up the day around 5pm and boarded the bus at the Martyr’s Memorial to head back to Watford for the last two nights. 

Martyr’s Memorial

Tomorrow we have a full day in London and will attend the Fulham vs Bristol City match.

Visits to Chester, over the border to Wales and through Shrewbury to our final match in Lilleshall.

To start the day we visited the town of Chester.    Here you can see the Tudor style buildings throughout the town center.

 This is where the town crier would announce the daily news brought in by stagecoach before there were newspapers.   

A visit to the Chester Cathedral.

 A few of the team members walking along the top of the city walls. 

After lunch we headed over the border into Wales. We had about an hour to explore the town of Llangollen. There was a little shop as we entered the town…try to pronounce it’s name…  

Ofcourse we had time for a photo of some team members on the bridge.   

 After our short visit we headed back over the border to England and off to our final match of the trip.    

Tonight we kicked off against The New Saints women’s team at Lilleshall. The venue was extra special because it was built as a national training center for England. The Sharks earned an international victory scoring 4 goals! Victoria Russo started off the scoring in the 15th minute followed by a great finish by Klane to put the Sharks up 2-0 at the halftime. We doubled the score with super finishes from Ainslie Gibbs and Mikayla Elliott. It will be a happy ride back to the hotel. Go Sharks!

Training session with Liverpool’s Hugh McAuley

The team had a once in a lifetime opportunity to train with Hugh McAuley and his son Andrew. Hugh is the former Liverpool FC Academy Director who developed Gerrard and Fowler. 

  
  After the training session, it was back on the bus for a quick driveby of Everton Stadium.  Then we kept going a few hundred yards down the road to Anfield, home of Liverpool FC.  

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the port city of Liverpool. This included some shopping, a bite to eat and some sightseeing around the Albert Docks.   

 Back to the hotel for dinner and some rest after a long, chilly day! Tomorrow we are off to Chester.

Match vs Liverpool Marshall’s Feds

  
Wow! This team was top notch. They played with precision and were extremely fit. The Sharks battled for 90 minutes but could not overtake the Feds. It was fun to play under the lights and our opponents were gracious hosts. Best of luck to them as they battle for their league title.

Black Country and the Warwick Castle

We left Elstree this morning and headed 2 hours north for a visit at Warwick Castle.  

 
The team spent a few hours roaming the grounds and exploring the towers and the dungeons. 

We (as women) have certainly come along way from being “women of the wardrobe.”

  
  
We toured through the great hall and the private apartments. I think we found some new team rules ;0)   

After some lunch in the town of Warwick we boarded the bus and continued north 2 hours to Runcorn. Off to our match….will update with some pics and the results tonight! 

Emirates Stadium and a full day of London!

We started off the day with a tour of Emirates Stadium…home to Arsenal (also known as the Gunners). 

  
   
 

We then got dropped off near the Tower Bridge and the team took off to get in as many sites as possible. There was the London Eye, the Crown Jewels in the London Tower, the Tate Modern, Burroughs Market, Southwark Cathedral, and then we walked over the River Thames and back towards Trafalgar Square. 

 

A ride on the Eye

  

View from the London Eye

 
 

Tower Bridge

 

We have to pack up tonight for a 9am checkout before we head north to Warwick Castle and we have our second match tomorrow night!

A morning of sightseeing…an afternoon match

 We started the day with breakfast at the hotel and then headed back to central London. On our way we passed by the Sherlock Holmes Residence.

  
The bus dropped is near Trafalgar Square and the girls split off into groups to take in the sights.   
 It was a day packed with Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guards.

 

    
  

Then we were off to our match against the women of Watford FC. The match was great! The Sharks were excited to be playing against some of the area’s top players. We didn’t quite get the result we wanted on the scoreboard, but for it being our first match since October… the team should be proud. 

 
After the match, our opponents hosted a nice social in their clubhouse. We enjoyed sandwiches and the two teams competed again in a game of pool and posed for a photo with our new friends from Watford.

 

The team will enjoy a little free time before calling it a night. Tomorrow we have a tour of Emirates Stadium! 

All in a day’s work (or two)…wait what day is it?

We left Boston on Friday night…it is now Saturday night and the team is just settling down to rest. We had to struggle to keep each other awake as we left the airport and headed to Central London. Our bus driver, Keith and our tour guide, Mike are fantastic. Our sightseeing what cut a bit short today but we plan to make up for it tomorrow. We were able to walk around a bit and stretch our legs. We walked down Drury Lane…do you know who lives on Drury Lane? (The muffin man…. I know you all just sang the nursery rhyme in your head!) we also passed by the Royals Residence but they were not in town today. We could see the London Eye and Big Ben from our bus windows… A closer view tomorrow. Briana Hayes was able to capture this great shot (with a little editing):

  
The team took off in search of some lunch and we captured teammates Catelyn Kimball and Allison Bondi taking it all in:

  
Oh the team bonding on this trip is just beginning! I have to say everyone’s attitude was fantastic when we went out on the cold rain for a training session this evening. The team is very excited for some sleep (laying down!) and then a full day of London sightseeing followed by our first match tomorrow at 3pm (10am back in Boston). We will keep you updated! 

Last photo in the USA!