An Eventful Weekend

I was feeling a bit sad heading into this past weekend, knowing that the Cardinals would be doing battle with the Dodgers in the NLDS and I would probably not be able to watch any of the games because of the time difference and the lack of enthusiasm for baseball in London. I sort of put it in the back of my mind because Friday was the St. James Staff Night Out and I was excited to hang out with some of the other people who work at the school. I kicked off Friday evening at my favorite burger spot Dub Jam, where I consumed this masterpiece ...

After dinner I proceeded to "Revolution Bar" in Richmond, West London, to meet up with the St. James staff. They were all great, very inviting. I had met some of them previously through PE and History lessons, but it was nice to converse outside of the academic setting.

Later in the night the younger teachers decided to move to another pub where a local band was playing. I was planning to catch a train home around that time, so I told one of the PE teachers, Stewart Willis, that I was going to take off. I've spent most of my time at school helping him and his class, and he instead insisted that I would be staying at his house for the night. I did not really have a chance to say no.

We got back to Stewart's flat at about 2 a.m. after meeting up with his roommate for one last pint. We sit down in his living room and he tunes his television to BT Sport, basically England's answer to ESPN. Low and behold my Cardinals were being broadcast on this channel. Ecstatic, I explain to "Stew" and his roommate James that this is my team, in the biggest game of the year thus far.

They were intrigued.

The game was in the fourth inning and the Dodgers were up 4-1 at this point. I explained to the boys that Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in Major League Baseball but then told them about last year's NLCS, when my Cardinals picked him apart. They were skeptical about my optimism, and rightly so after the LA nine tacked on two more runs in the next inning to go up 6-1.

Amid all of this I was explaining the cultural importance of the St. Louis Cardinals and the passion St. Louisans have for their baseball club. So they understood -- I think -- when I began screaming at the top of my lungs while I watched the Cardinals put up eight runs on the outright favorite for the NL Cy Young Award and MVP in the top of the seventh. We watched them finish it out, and I think it's safe to say Cardinal Nation has grown by two. Here is a look inside their living room during the game, around 3:00 a.m. local time ...

I woke up Sunday feeling like doing some touristy things. I wanted to see some of the famous attractions in London. A few weeks ago I purchased a skateboard to get around the city a little quicker. So I went to see Picadilly Circus, skated a bit around Trafalgar Square, Oxford Circus, Regent Street, and Leicester Square ...

Regent Street ...

Oxford Circus ...

Picadilly Circus ...