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| Cardiff Center-Dave, Mark and Andy |
On Tuesday morning, September 22, 2015 two friends from Boulder, Dave Cunningham and Mark
Young, and I arrived on three separate flights in London to experience the 8th celebration of the Rugby World Cup.
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| View from Andy's Vacation Home |
At Paddington Station we met up with our Welsh friend Andy Jones for the train trip to Cardiff. Years ago Andy played rugby with us in Boulder and now lives in the Manchester, England area. However, he maintains a wonderful "vacation home" near downtown Cardiff on the River Taff where the four of us stayed the next two nights.
Wednesday morning we walked around the center of Cardiff which was festooned with colorful flags and banners from the various teams participating in the tournament. That afternoon we stood in the crowded FanZone outside of Millennium Stadium, drinking beer, eating fish and chips and watching Scotland beat Japan on the jumbo video screen. We then entered the stadium to see Australia edge Fiji in an entertaining match. The perfect day was topped with a meal at an Indian restaurant.
Thursday morning the 24th, Andy drove us up through northern Wales to his home in Macclesfield, Cheshire. This is a picturesque part of the country with rolling green hills and well preserved villages from another time. We spent an enjoyable evening with Andy, his wife Delyth, and their two children, Caitlyn 23 and Lewis 18.
The next morning we took the train east to Leeds, where we spent the first nights on this trip in a hotel. Leeds has a certain charm in the old city center, but is most notably a thriving industrial center. Saturday we attended a well-played match where Italy just beat Canada. The highlight that evening, especially for Andy, was watching Wales come from behind to beat England on TV in the crowded Hourglass Pub.
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| Andy's home in Macclesfield |
Sunday the 27th we witnessed the USA lose to Scotland in a disappointing match. Lots of good "Craic" in the stands, but we once again made amateurish mistakes on the field that we never appear to able to correct. After the match we caught the high-speed train down to London for a night in a hotel before our flights out the next day.
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| /Aus vs Fiji Millennium Stadium |
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| Can vs Italy |
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| Can vs Italy |
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| Dave makes friends easily |
At Paddington Station we met up with our Welsh friend Andy Jones for the train trip to Cardiff. Years ago Andy played rugby with us in Boulder and now lives in the Manchester, England area. However, he maintains a wonderful "vacation home" near downtown Cardiff on the River Taff where the four of us stayed the next two nights.
Thursday morning the 24th, Andy drove us up through northern Wales to his home in Macclesfield, Cheshire. This is a picturesque part of the country with rolling green hills and well preserved villages from another time. We spent an enjoyable evening with Andy, his wife Delyth, and their two children, Caitlyn 23 and Lewis 18.
