Just so happened we were in London during the England vs. Pakistan test matches this summer and hubby, being a cricket buff, knew we had to get out there and check it out. We took the Tube like pros to the Vauxhall station and walked the short distance to the Kia Oval. As we made our way to the ticket booth, we were bombarded by scalpers selling tickets for a fraction of the original cost. We brushed them off, well because how does one normally feel about someone trying to sell things out of their coat, and bought two (very expensive) tickets legally.
Inside, there were tons of food trucks and food booths and the alcohol flowed freely. The match had begun so we had to wait until the over was over (haha see what I did there) before we could go up into the stands to find our seat. The aisles were long, tight and narrow and we had to get up every time someone had to get by (which was a lot). It was a perfect summer day though, no need for jackets and no rain in sight, so that made things more pleasant.
The seating in the Oval is plentiful and the place was packed which I thought highly unusual for an afternoon on a workday...the place was crawling with men of all ages...and many of them looked like they were there with coworkers...cricket, beer and fish and chips on a Thursday afternoon? What companies are these people working for?!
While Hubby watched the match, I people watched. Guys were dumping back literally gallons of beer, one pint after another, most of them dressed much better than business casual, but that appeared to be the norm for both guys and gals at the match and London in general. And most of them weren't even getting up to pee...what alien bladders do these English people have? There were some rude fellas that thought it was funny that we were taking pics of the ground and match going on...hello, we're tourists at our very first live cricket match. This is why you guys get that snob rap.....
During one of the breaks, we headed back down for some food and checked out the gift shop and listened to a former cricket player being interviewed, who he was, I know not. Hubby did. We had some delicious Cod and Chips from the Deep Blue food truck.
We left the place probably 20 minutes before the match ended for the day to beat the crowds heading to the Underground and had no issues. read more