Earlier
this year, I was contacted by a guy named
Rob Campion aka
@allroads1 on Twitter. He was given my
contact information by my pal Paul Swaney who's the founder of
Stadium Journey, the website that reviews all the different sports venues here
in North America & other parts of the World. As a result, he's
gotten in touch with many interesting & down to earth people. I've
met some of them in my travels. I honestly have no complains. I always
look forward to our next meet up.
With
that being said, I received a message on Facebook from Rob. He asked me
about the possibility of getting him tickets to see the Mets play the
Atlanta Braves in September at Citi Field. He told me that he & his
wife Angela were planning to come to the States for the very first time.
He said they were going to come to NYC for three or four days then they
were going to fly to Chicago for another two or three days.
Ironically I told him I was planning to go to England & Europe for
the very first time in October. In the meantime, we wrote each other
back & forth. We arranged to help each other perfect our trip plans.
Rob decided to pass on the Met game when he finalized his plans.
Instead he decided to see a soccer match aka football if you will. He
looked at the NYCFC schedule. They were home the same day they were
flying into New York. They were playing the San Jose Earthquakes at 7PM that night at Yankee Stadium.
Despite the thought of being tired from the flight & time
difference, he asked me if I could get them tickets. I said absolutely.
The King & I already had ours since we planned to go as well after
the Mets played the Yankees that afternoon at Citi Field. I wound up
getting them seats in the same section as ours a row apart. A month
later the hockey schedule came out. Rob noticed that the Rangers were
playing an exhibition game that Monday night 9/21 at Madison Square
Garden. He said he wanted to see the World's most famous arena. Even
though it was a preseason game, this was his chance to do so. With that
being said, I went ahead & spoke to a friend of mine who has season
tickets. I told him I needed a pair for that game. He told me he would
sell them to me so I could help these people out. When I told Rob, he
was thrilled. He couldn't thank me enough for sorting that out for him.
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8:29AM East Midlands Train Departure
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| Front of the East Midlands Train |
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| East Midlands Train |
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| Me at Leicester Train Station |
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| Leicester Host City of Rugby World Cup |
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| Thomas Cook Statue |
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| View of Downtown Leicester England |
In
May, I told him I booked my flight to London. He said he was going to
try to switch with someone at work to be off when I was going to be
there. In July, he wrote me & he said he was able to switch. As a
result, he was off that Tuesday which was October 6th. He worked nights. He told me that he
lived in Leicester which is 100 miles North of London. He said I could
take a train from London to Leicester. He watched the fares for me. At
first, they were outrageously priced. He said he would keep watching
them for me. A few weeks later they dropped to a reasonable price. He
went ahead & bought me a round trip ticket for 32 pounds which was
50 US dollars. He got me a seat on the
East Midlands train that left St. Pancras/Kings
Cross Station at 8:29AM. It was scheduled to arrive in Leicester at
9:45AM. Rob told me he would meet me at the train station. When I got
there, we met up again. We walked over to his car which was parked nearby. In the process, we
passed a statue of
Thomas Cook. Like in Australia, it was odd to get in
on the left side of the car & not be the driver. Unlike that Monday,
the weather was dry for the time being. Rob proceeded to drive around.
He pointed out different landmarks along the way.
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| Rob Campion's House in Leicester England |
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| Millie |
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| I was attacked by Millie LOL |
I wound up having
another great meal that consisted of a piece of broiled fish that came
with mashed potatoes & vegetables. It was excellent. I also enjoyed a
local ale called the Everard Sunchaser Blonde. It was tasty. I'm not a big
alcohol drinker so I can't tell you much more about it. After we
finished eating, Rob said he needed to stop off at his house. We went
inside for a little while. By doing so, I got to see his very friendly
dog named Millie. The dog loved me. She jumped all over me in a playful
fashion. I love animals so it was an added treat for me.
Stay tuned for another special post that will go into detail about the rest of our time together that day.
Thank you for reading & following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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