The Boys are "fitba' mad" at the moment, so we thought that, for their half-term treat, we would take them on a stadium tour. Mind you, had we known how much it was going to cost, we might have kept it for one of their birthdays, but we don't grudge it! They are - well, the elder one is - a staunch Spurs supporter, but Spurs' new stadium isn't ready for visitors yet, and Arsenal is. So we decided to go and visit the Emirates stadium.
Before then, however, we stopped off at King's Cross station to visit the engines from the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland railways that were visiting London. Although the Boy isn't as mad on railways and trains as he was a
few years ago, he still enjoys them and both of them spent a happy quarter-hour investigating the engines and the carriage that had come with them.
Then we headed on up the Piccadilly line to Arsenal, although with hindsight Holloway Road would have been better, as it was on the side of the stadium where the tours began. And it had lifts! Arsenal just had steps, although to be fair, the Piccadilly Line is fairly near the surface there, but even still, my knees were beginning to complain. We then had to walk quite a long way around the stadium before we found the museum entrance, and once we had, there were even more stairs! But once we were up there, it was quite interesting, although rather too hot. Mostly about the early history of Arsenal, and then, thankfully, a film screening where one could at least sit down, and a bit about more recent history. All the familiar names.... I don't follow football at all, but it is quite difficult not to have heard of Arsene Wenger, etc.
Once we had finished with the museum, it was time for the stadium tour. You go in at the Holloway Road side of the stadium, and walk underneath it until you get to the stairs to the Directors' Lounge - there is, fortunately, a lift. When you get there, you can go out and sit in their chairs and look at the pitch and listen to stories about it on your audio guide:
Then you went up another flight to the Diamond Lounge, which is the posh restaurant where the "prawn sandwich brigade" sit and watch and have their expensive meals. This was rather lovely Art Deco, reflecting the old Highbury stadium which apparently was all like that.
Then you took the lift right down to the ground floor where you visited the Home changing rooms (very lush indeed), and the Away ones (less so, but still a lot nicer than you get in the average ice rink), and then went through the tunnel out to the pitch itself. You couldn't go on the pitch, of course, but you could sit in the dugout (although we didn't, as it was raining). We did chat to the assistant who was wielding an umbrella with more enthusiasm than accuracy - all the assistants were charming, and very helpful, even though they all teased the poor Boy who was using his Spurs rucksack. Serves him right - he does have others!
Anyway, after that, that was nearly the end of the tour, but you went out past the interview rooms, the press rooms, which were rather amazing, and the press conference venue. And so back out to the main exit, being allowed to keep the headphones, although the audio guides had to be given back. Boy Two had found them rather awkward to cope with on the move and had, I think, listened to all the audio clips while we were sitting in the Directors' Lounge!
By which time, the Boys were so hungry their bellies quite thought their throats had been cut, but it wasn't quite lunchtime so we meanly made them go back to Walthamstow. The Boy asked if we could try the Chinese restaurant Yum, Yum in the mall there, but it was closed, so we went to Nando's instead. And then back to theirs for a quieter afternoon!
