jamie goode's wine blog: In Manchester with the mighty blues!

Saturday, February 02, 2008

In Manchester with the mighty blues!

I'm in Manchester with my chum Rob. We've been to see City play Arsenal at the City of Manchester stadium, which is one of the most impressive football venues you can imagine [I am heavily biased, of course]. City played OK-ish; Arsenal played very well - the result, 3-1 to Arsenal, flattered them slightly - their first goal was soft, their third came when we were chasing hard in the final minutes. I have to admit that Arsenal are a great side, and City could really do with a striker like the awesome Adebayour.

It was an early start to get here, though, for a 1245 kick-off time. And that was after a heavy Friday night out with the school dads in Twickenham. We started out at the White Swan (three pints of Tribute), proceeded to the Barmy Arms (a Bombardier and a London Pride) before finishing off at the Eel Pie for a final pint. At this stage I had to bail out while the others went off for a curry. This is what happens when old blokes who don't get out very often are let out for the night.

So we got to Manchester in good time, went to the stadium and parked without any hassle. Because the COMS is located on an old brownfield industrial site, there's loads of parking. It's a really well thought out stadium and copes pretty painlessly with 48000 crowds.

Rob and I are staying over, making a bit of a weekend of it (indeed, this match was a present from our respective spouses, which was very kind of them). We're staying in the Radisson Edwardian, which used to be the Free Trade Hall. It's pretty central, and an excellent place to stay, with a great spa.

We decided to grab some food and watch a film. We ate at Wagamamas, and it was good food - simple and fresh and with plenty of flavour. Then we watched a remarkable, unusual film - Cloverfield. It's about huge, wantonly destructive aliens who invade Manhattan (why always Manhattan?), but it's entirely shot as faux camcorder footage later recovered from the scene. As a result, it's incredibly jerky (there were wet patches on the floor of the cinema where they'd cleared vomit up from people who'd experienced motion sickness), but it has a really greast sense of realism. I really enjoyed it - it was silly, a bit scary, and quite fun.

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6 Comments:

At 10:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"We're staying in the Radisson Edwardian, which used to be the Free Trade Hall. It's pretty central, and an excellent place to stay, with a great spa."

And who said football was dying at the hands of the prawn sandwich brigade?

 
At 11:28 PM, Anonymous andrew chapman said...

Great minds think alike re. out to see Cloverfield tonight! Was a bit silly how the chap managed to keep filming even though they were fighting mini-aliens and jumping across roof-tops. But a nice idea, and a bit scary too. Our 15 year old son loved it!

And it (sorta) helped make up for the 'other' Manchester team getting yet another jammy late goal and grabbing a draw against a resurgent Spurs. Looks like Woodgate (and Hutton too) were good buys for us - lets hope we can keep him fit, and even get him and Ledley to play the occasional game together!

 
At 8:35 AM, Blogger Jamie said...

Yes, anon, I see where you are coming from... but at least I was born in manchester and have family connections, even though I can't claim (or pretend) to be a good old fashioned working class football fan...we don't sit there in silence, tho'

Andrew, I though at the beginning that it was a shame that clearly the worst cameraman in living history had been given the camera during the party, but then he showed real perseverence to continue filming as he encountered intense peril, attack by baby aliens and the death of close friends.

 
At 10:38 AM, Anonymous Cru Master said...

Whats happening with the benjani transfer - comedy of errors all round.

must say i didnt see that signing coming.

think he'll fit in?

 
At 11:36 AM, Anonymous Bex said...

does that photo belong to you? would i be able to use it?

 
At 7:47 AM, Blogger Jamie said...

yes, it belongs to me - email me letting me know what you need it for, and I'll send you a hi-res version

 

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