Boxing Day in Manchester

Today was the big, big day! We took the car four hours north to Manchester where we passed nothing on the highway but fields of sheep and the occasional castle in the distance. Just sheep and castles. Wild! We were headed to the highly anticipated match between Man U and Aston Villa. Keagan’s dream to see a game at Old Trafford came true today! I was fearful he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the game, but he woke up feeling great after he was down for 12 hours with a stomach bug. 

The streets were lined with kiosks selling game day food, and we were starved after our remaining three eggs were split among four people for breakfast. We stopped for fish and chips and ate on the street with the locals. This time we tried it with brown gravy, like Sunday roast gravy, and it was great!



We shopped for gear at another street kiosk and made our way into the official team store where Keagan bought a warm-up jacket. 

Then we made it to our seats for warmups. The atmosphere was so much better here than at London Stadium; the crowd was much more enthusiastic. 



After being down 0-2 at half, we came back with three goals for the win. The boys were ecstatic! We beat the #2 team in the league - something nobody really expected to see happen tonight. This game will probably be voted the match of the year, and we saw it!

We are headed back to London tonight to catch an early morning train to Amsterdam. We might get four hours of sleep tonight, but we hope to sleep on the train. 

Cheers to a great night of soccer!

Puerto Rico Day #3 - San Juan

Today’s travels took us to the city of San Juan. I loved it here because of the combination of the Taino Indian influence, the Old World European Charm, and the modern buildings and outdoor eateries. The brightly colored buildings were Caribbean-esque, and Puerto Rican pride was evident on every street.

The boys took a couple of shots on the Carmelo Anthony Court that overlooked the water.

We toured both of the castles, El Morro and San Cristobal, and climbed to the top for gorgeous panoramic views. We took so many beautiful pictures; it was hard to choose just a few.

We grabbed lunch at a food truck, and took my friend’s suggestion to eat fried cod. (That hair. Wes kindly told me today I needed a refund on my shampoo because the anti-frizz promise is not holding up in this humidity.)

Keagan loved the bacalaito and surullito so much he went back to buy another round for an afternoon snack. 

After we dropped Makinley off at the airport (she’s off to spend Christmas with her family), we headed to the beach to drink Jarritos and watch the sunset. 

We were pleasantly surprised after dinner by a parade of decorated golf carts and bikes that took to the streets of the neighborhood. People played music, dressed in costumes, and danced. So fun!