End of October, 2019. The wife and I wanted to travel during the Christmas period; the only question was where. We discussed places we wanted to go, checked flight availability and prices, and somehow decided on London.
Once we decided on London, there was only one place I knew I had to visit: North London. Highbury. Emirates Stadium. The ground I’d spent hundreds of hours across almost two decades watching from afar, but had never seen in person. I had to see it in person.
After booking flights, the next stop I made was to Arsenal’s ticket website. As we were visiting over the holiday period, I knew there would be matches. Unfortunately, one was away from London, and the other was both an Arsenal-Chelsea match and just scant hours before we were due to fly back to Japan from the other side of the city. Because it was around the holidays (when almost everything is closed December 24th through the 26th) and our plans were very loose, I didn’t even try to book a stadium tour either.
But the missus said yes, and there we were, walking up from Arsenal tube station to turn around the corner and head towards the home of the Gunners. And on a cold, dreary London morning, we walked around the perimeter of the stadium, me teaching her about the collection of figures immortalized in statue form around the ground, and practically buzzing from being so close to a place so special to me. Thierry Henry’s statue, in front of the celebration wall featuring a photo of him celebrating his spectacular goal against Leeds, made the hair on my arms stand up. I was not the only non-Londoner wandering around and taking photos on the morning, either; hardly a surprise, given Arsenal’s international fanbase.
I wrapped up the visit by spending just enough at the club shop. While I didn’t get a chance to see a game in person, this was a close second. It’ll be there; I’m sure I’ll make it over to London again. And, maybe next time I’ll make sure to get tickets first before we secure the flights!
Doug Bonham Dot Blog 