Villa Park

Being a massive football (soccer) fan, I jumped at the chance to head over to Birmingham for the weekend to see an Aston Villa game.  It was really nice to catch up with family who lives there, and Aunty Chris gave us a nice tour around the city centre, which was absolutely packed due to the German Christmas markets that were in town.  The markets were actually pretty good and authentic compared to the markets we saw in Germany and Austria last Christmas.  We also spent some time shopping in the Bullring shopping centre, and went to a nice Indian restaurant on Broad St, a busy district with plenty of restaurants and nightlife.

On Saturday afternoon, we caught the train out to Villa Park for the match.  The train was crammed from wall to wall but the journey was only 10 or 15 minutes, and the atmosphere was positive with many people in their supporter's gear.  Even playing against bottom of the table Sunderland, the stadium was quite full with around 32000 attending.  There was a lot of fuss going on in one corner of the stadium which we later found out was due to Prince William, who is apparently a big Aston Villa fan, being spotted at the game.  Too bad for him, the game ended up being a fairly uninspiring 0-0 draw.  Nonetheless, it was a great experience to be at the game and witness the English passion for football and their home team.