Royalty Tours USA

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Royalty goes to Leicester, England & gets plenty of royal treatment!‏

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.

8:29AM East Midlands Train Departure
Front of the East Midlands Train
East Midlands Train
Me at Leicester Train Station
Leicester Host City of Rugby World Cup
Thomas Cook Statue
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.

Rob Campion's car
Rob at the wheel on the right side of car
Melton Mowbray Town Estate
Melton Mowbray Marketplace
Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe
Melton Mowbray Pork Pie
Dickinson & Morris Pork Pie Champions
Sausages at Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe
Anne of Cleves - First built in 1384
Anne of Cleves House & Pub
Rob drove us to Melton Mowbray which was about a half hour drive northeast of downtown Lei‎cester. He parked the car & we took a walk to the area that consisted of a variety of different stores in the local village. First we stopped off at a pastry shop where we got some cookies to eat. Rob also got himself a cup of coffee. The cookie I had was delicious. After we walked around for a short time, we went to the Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe. Rob told me they're known for making famous local pork pies. They had a variety of different kinds of sausages there as well. Rob proceeded to buy us a few pies. He bought a big one for himself & he bought me a small one. We didn't eat them right away. We continued walking around the vicinity. He guided me around the village. It was eye popping as I got to see ancient buildings including one called Anne of Cleves Pub that was built way back in 1384. You did read that right. That was indeed 631 years ago.

All Saints Church Asfordby in Village of  Hoby
All Saints Church Asfordby
Countryside in Village of Hoby
The Blue Bell
List of Real Ale & Cider
Lunch at The Blue Bell
 After we got done looking around there, we got back in the car. Rob proceeded to drive us around the countryside so I could get a different perspective of the surrounding areas of where he lives. It was breath taking to see the beautiful scenery as we drove along. ‎He pulled off to the side of the road to show me the All Saints Church Asfordby which has been around since the 13th century. After the brief pit stop, we proceeded to drive until we got to The Blue Bell, which was a local pub in the village of Hoby. We parked the car took a quick look at the scenery then we went inside for some lunch.

Rob Campion's House in Leicester England
Millie
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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