Saturday 06 March

Friday was a day to get settled in and to catch my breath. Nothing much had changed in the last year, except I had my own bedroom; which meant there was a guest room and I would not be relegated to the garage when company visited (just kidding - about the relegation to the garage, not the bedroom.)
Speaking of relegation and promotion, these two words play a big part in English Football, which I keep referring to as soccer, for which I am constantly being corrected. What confuses me is the TV program on Saturday mornings called Soccer AM which deals with all the football matches that have gone on the previous week.
To return to relegation and promotion, football clubs in England are divided into leagues in a pyramid setup. The top of the pyramid is the Premier League, and at the end of a season the top team in that league are champions of England. The bottom three teams in the league are relegated to the next league down, the Championship League. Within that league, the top two teams are promoted to the Premier League, and the next four teams enter a playoff and the winner of the playoff is also promoted. And so it goes for the league below the Championship, Football League One, and then Football League Two, and then Conference National, then Conference North and Conference South, and so and so on.

Saturday afternoon, after a brisk walk in the country side (just me, the other two were layabouts with one watching Soccer AM and the other playing XBox), Jeff, Alexander and myself drove into Peterborough to watch the Peterborough United Football Club, affectionately know as the POSH (for reasons I have yet to discover) play Coventry.

Have you ever wondered why seated areas in sports arenas are called 'stands'? I think it is because we stood to watch the match - no seats. There are seats in the 'stands' to our left and right, but the one on the opposite end of the field is again without seats. Our area was for Posh supports while the other end was reserved for fans of the visiting team - keeps us separated so we don't get carried away and bop someone.

The three lads.

This was the second string goalie and his task was to be a target during warm-up.

It was pretty windy and we fans were hoping the flag bearer might get swept away.

And play gets underway.

Unfortunately our team lost 1-nil, but it was still a very enjoyable way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Except that it was cold, so very cold, a very damp English type of cold, the kind that just sucks the warmth out of you.

That evening we met Sue and Mark Custerson, a wonderful couple that I met on my last trip, for dinner at Spiceland, an Indian Buffet near Sawtry (like that's going to help you picture it where it is). A very sensible restaurant that let you bring your favourite dinner beverage and no corkage fee.
I was rolled out to the car, driven home, had an evening single malt libation, almost fell asleep in my chair and was told by all four members of the family to "GO TO BED, DON!!"
I'm home.