Back to the UK! Part 3: Edinburgh, London, and Soccer Aid

While the Robbie show in Stoke-on-Trent may have been the catalyst for my (triumphant?) return to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the bulk of my time there was spent just generally hanging out in two of the cities that I most missed while I wasn't able to travel.

Edinburgh

From Stoke, I took the train north to Edinburgh, where I'd rented a flat for a few days. I figured it would give me a break from hotels in the middle of my trip, letting me do laundry and cook my own food for a bit. But really it just made it like the old days when I made the city home for a while, every other month or so.

Because Embra's felt like home to me for so many years, I act more like a resident than a tourist, and there's not really much to tell about my time there. I went out walking every day, visiting places I'd missed, eating food I can only get in Scotland, and just generally feeling happy and relaxed... until the night before I was supposed to leave, when my train to London got cancelled. 

After having been on British trains so overbooked that I had to stand or sit on the floor, I always buy advanced tickets for a specific train with a reserved seat when I can. But of course, that can backfire when you find out about 16 hours before travelling that what you booked is cancelled and it's up to you to figure it out, with no help from the rail company. 

Upon seeing the cancellation, I found that the only train I could change my ticket for was earlier in the morning than I really wanted to leave, and despite being only about 12 hours away, didn't show that it was confirmed to travel like the other routes did. As I sat wondering what I'd do if it got cancelled as well, I decided to check flights, just in case. There were lots of flights to London the following day, most costing only a couple hundred bucks, so... sold. Forget the train. And the flight went off without a hitch. 

London

In London, I stayed at my usual hotel in a neighbourhood I know very well by now, so it was also homey in its own way. I'm a bit better at doing touristy things in London, so my days there included a visit to the Buckingham Palace shop for some official Platinum Jubilee swag, and wandering the Victoria & Albert Museum, where I checked out their Fashioning Masculinity exhibit, all about menswear. Fantastic. 

On the homey side, I also did a lot of walking just to enjoy the city, made a couple visits to my usual kebab shop, and did some record shopping (but sadly not buying), including my first visit to the Rough Trade in Notting Hill.

Oh, and also in London, I went to...

Soccer Aid

After my trip was already somewhat planned, Soccer Aid 2022 was announced, happening at the London Olympic Stadium only a day or two after I was supposed to leave there. So I figured I might as well extend my visit to go to the game -- it's a charity event, always a good time, decent football, and this year had a bonus halftime show from my very own popstar (and Soccer Aid co-founder), Robbie Williams. But because I didn't feel like waking up in the middle of the night to get tickets the moment they went on sale, all that was left when I looked was 'premium tickets' up high in the luxury area. So that's what I got -- why not? It's more money for UNICEF.

But when I arrived and was ushered in the VIP door -- where the actual on-air talent was also entering the stadium to be whisked down to the field -- I wasn't so sure about my ticket decision. Luckily, once I got past all the high-brow concessions and staff buzzing around cleaning up after us (because this was the part of the stadium too fancy for anyone to be forced to throw away their own trash), the environment was pretty much normal. And I did appreciate being in a section where the seats were more spread out and comfy than in the cheap, knees-smashed-up-to-your-chin areas.

The game was decent, tied at 1 at the half, when they pulled out the stage for Rob's performance... which was him in what looked like a sparkly tracksuit from up high where I was sitting (but which the big screen showed to be a rhinestone-covered Canadian tuxedo), a few members of his band, and a junior orchestra, performing Angels. Just Angels. I mean, it's a televised charity event with a halftime almost as long as one of the halves, so I was expecting a few songs or a medley like at the Super Bowl, but nope. Oh well. As it turned out the most memorable part of halftime for me was when they played a clip of Eddie Izzard asking us to donate more to UNICEF, getting all emotional about kids in war-torn areas, saying, "No child should be fearful of being shot while walking down the street, or going to school...." And I thought, that sounds like where I come from. When's the international community coming to deal with the humanitarian crisis in my country?

Anyway. As the second half got underway, I started thinking about the sardine-packed subway cars I normally experience after events like Soccer Aid, and how I was literally the ONLY person I'd seen around the entire packed stadium wearing a mask. For those who don't know, Soccer Aid is played between a team of English celebrities and retired footballers against the same from everywhere else. Because I'm a Scotland supporter normally, I'm physically unable to root for England in any sport and cheer for the World squad in Soccer Aid. But when it really comes down to it, I'm not bothered about who wins, there are no real stakes. So around the 73rd minute when the game was 2-2 and my bladder was full, I went to the bathroom and then bailed. 

Turned out the train was still very busy, unfortunately, both because others had the same idea as I did, and because a nearby Abba show let out just as I took off. The Abba bit I found out from a Swedish guy on the tube platform, who got very chatty after I helped direct him to the right train back to his hotel. He told me all about the Abba gig (beyond words), why it's only a one-off show (they're getting old), and all his upcoming travel plans now that flight bans have been lifted. Now, I'm normally not all that amenable to having long discussions with strangers in public places, but I couldn't help feeling a kinship to this guy who flew to another country, on his own, just to see a band he loved. Plus, Sweden's one of my top five countries!

It's now a week later, and after a very long, delayed flight, I've been back home a few days, getting into the swing of normal life again. And planning the next trip...