Day 1 Match 1
Since it was a cold, rainy, and windy day with 50mph gusts I decided to take an Uber from my hotel to Villa Park. Given it was only about $15 it felt like a great deal.

The famous Holte End.

I entered about 60 minutes before kick off and since I was starving made a beeline to a stand that sold chicken tikka wraps which were delicious.

Then, I headed to the hospitality lounge my ticket entitled me to where I was given a program.

Followed by a free pre-match pint.

Since I was still hungry, I bought some chips to go with the pint.

I was able to watch some of warm-ups from a balcony attached to the lounge, before I headed up to my seats.

View from my seats inside a standing section which made for a great atmosphere.

After a mildly entertaining 90 minutes I began the journey back to the city center.

Villa run a match day shuttle which I took back to New Street. Traffic was terrible, but there were some bus lanes which helped.

From the bus, I headed out for a pint of cask ale at a cool local pub.

Following my pint, I took a bus towards the Balti Triange, which dropped me off on a desolate ally. While it was cold, rainy and I hadn’t slept for real in 36 hours I was exited because Shababs, a famous curry house, was in sight.

One incredible balti and medium naan later I was ready to head back to the hotel.
There was a gala behind held in the event hall attached to the hotel, so I decided to work on my TR from the lobby and enjoyed some amazing people watching.


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