Going to my first game!

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SunderlandUSA said:
Seaburn Marriott. Altho Im told the italian restaurant at the Roker hotel is top drawer.
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If you've got the cash upgrade to one of the three suites on the corner. Best Italians are Bellini on Dovedale Road or Romanos in Cleadon, best Indian is Goa about 50m along the road from your hotel. Unfortunately for you the council are digging up the road and footpath right outside The Marriott starting on Monday.
 
Gala said:
If you've got the cash upgrade to one of the three suites on the corner. Best Italians are Bellini on Dovedale Road or Romanos in Cleadon, best Indian is Goa about 50m along the road from your hotel. Unfortunately for you the council are digging up the road and footpath right outside The Marriott starting on Monday.
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Cheers Gala. I know we have a Sea view but I'll investigate the corner rooms on arrival.

Weather looks canny for Tuesday night - hardly need that jumper 8)
 
SunderlandUSA said:
Cheers Gala. I know we have a Sea view but I'll investigate the corner rooms on arrival.

Weather looks canny for Tuesday night - hardly need that jumper 8)
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I stayed in the middle suite when I got married and Arsenal were there the same day, got me picture with Bergkamp and Henry but no shit if you can get a corner suite it's f***ing brilliant.
 
And so it begins... landed in London, not even off the plane and some bloke asks what my plans are. I say I plan to see some football in the northeast, I'm going to see Sunderland.

"Not going to see any football up there," he says. Cheeky bugger. Says he wasnt a mag but wouldnt say who he supports. Hmm... I wonder.
 
Gala said:
best Indian is Goa about 50m along the road from your hotel.
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Best in town IMO.

SunderlandUSA said:
And so it begins... landed in London, not even off the plane and some bloke asks what my plans are. I say I plan to see some football in the northeast, I'm going to see Sunderland.

"Not going to see any football up there," he says. Cheeky bugger. Says he wasnt a mag but wouldnt say who he supports. Hmm... I wonder.
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Cockney wankers mate. Strange bunch down that way! ;) Hows the Jetlag? :lol:
 
SunderlandUSA said:
That is awesome - SAFC profile raising by the minute in the states - Jozy, the DC news, world cup and many Americans have a new found appreciation for true football.

I didn't know about the bricks or half time board, I will try and do that!

Are there any other places in Sunderland besides the SoL that are connected to the team? Can one visit the Academy?
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I'm not sure the AoL is open to the public all the time, however if it's something that you want to see, I'm sure an email to the club explaining your trip will get a pass to have a look around. They're a pretty open and accommodating club compared to the rest.

SunderlandUSA said:
And so it begins... landed in London, not even off the plane and some bloke asks what my plans are. I say I plan to see some football in the northeast, I'm going to see Sunderland.

"Not going to see any football up there," he says. Cheeky bugger. Says he wasnt a mag but wouldnt say who he supports. Hmm... I wonder.
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In London, probably Manchester United.
 
SunderlandUSA said:
Haha - The customs agent says he didnt know there were sunderland fans in London let alone the states. Glad I could set that straight!

Quite knackered from the flight mind, might need a siesta :)
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best thing to do is just power through to this evening. Go to bed around 9/10. But make sure to set an alarm for the morning.
 
SunderlandUSA said:
Seaburn Marriott. Altho Im told the italian restaurant at the Roker hotel is top drawer.



Hospitable lot you.
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Italian at roker is very good (Tavistock) and the bar in the hotel is nice too. A little further round the corner the harbour view is nice too. The asiana is great for pan Asian cuisine.
If you like real ale, get to the Isis.
Ps if you're here already, why aren't you doing burnley?! Some fan pah! ;)
 
gabbiadini1 said:
Italian at roker is very good (Tavistock) and the bar in the hotel is nice too. A little further round the corner the harbour view is nice too. The asiana is great for pan Asian cuisine.
If you like real ale, get to the Isis.
Ps if you're here already, why aren't you doing burnley?! Some fan pah! ;)
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Cheers for the restaurants mate, all sounds canny.

I've had to disguise this footballing pilgrimage as partly a vacation to the missus ;) nee chance was getting out of London for the match today.
 
chr1s1973 said:
http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/new-york-times-article-praises-7240974

I thought this was interesting. It says she goes to some of the places we mention on the thread, particularly Lindisfarne. In that context, if she enjoyed these places maybe the OP might.
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Canny read Chris, thank you. Tbf, nothing new that you lads hadn't already highlighted but it makes me (if possible) further over the moon to finally get to see the area. Durham sounds magnificent.

I'm continuing to shock every knob in london that I'm going to Sunderland to watch football. Love it me, the look on their faces. Fuck sake, like theres only 5 teams in the league. Loved the Spurs fan after having a go, I reminded him we had just knicked a point late from his massive London club. Had nothing to say then, did he f&ck.

Still, canny first day about London: http://instagram.com/jwestbay
 
SunderlandUSA said:
Canny read Chris, thank you. Tbf, nothing new that you lads hadn't already highlighted but it makes me (if possible) further over the moon to finally get to see the area. Durham sounds magnificent.

I'm continuing to shock every knob in london that I'm going to Sunderland to watch football. Love it me, the look on their faces. Fuck sake, like theres only 5 teams in the league. Loved the Spurs fan after having a go, I reminded him we had just knicked a point late from his massive London club. Had nothing to say then, did he f&ck.

Still, canny first day about London: http://instagram.com/jwestbay
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Definitely nothing new, I just thought it adds from an impartial perspective of something an American would appreciate.

People there just see the North East as a post-industrial shit hole. Great that you are flying the flag though and I hope you are all having a great time.
 
SunderlandUSA said:
Canny read Chris, thank you. Tbf, nothing new that you lads hadn't already highlighted but it makes me (if possible) further over the moon to finally get to see the area. Durham sounds magnificent.
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A fellow American, Bill Bryson loves it...

I was heading to Newcastle, by way of York when I did another impetuous thing. I got off at Durham, intending to poke around the cathedral for an hour or so and fell in love with it instantly in a serious way. Why, it's wonderful - a perfect little city - and I kept thinking: 'Why did no-one tell me about this?' I knew, of course, that it had a fine Norman cathedral but I had no idea that it was so splendid. I couldn't believe that not once in twenty years had anyone said to me, 'You've never been to Durham? Good God, man, you must go at once! Please - take my car.' I had read countless travel pieces in Sunday papers about weekends away in York, Canterbury, Norwich, even Lincoln, but I couldn't remember reading a single one about Durham, and when I asked friends about it, I found hardly any who had ever been there. So let me say it now: if you have never been to Durham, go at once. Take my car. It's wonderful.
The cathedral, a mountain of reddish-brown stone standing high above a lazy green loop of the River Wear, is, of course, its glory. Everything about it was perfect - not just its setting and execution but also, no less notably, the way it is run today. For a start there was no nagging for money, no 'voluntary' admission fee. Outside, there was simply a discreet sign announcing that it cost £700,000 a year to maintain the cathedral and that it was now engaged on a £400,000 renovation project on the east wing and that they would very much appreciate any spare money that visitors might give them. Inside, there were two modest collecting boxes and nothing else - no clutter, no nagging notices, no irksome bulletin boards or stupid Eisenhower flags, nothing at all to detract from the unutterable soaring majesty of the interior. It was a perfect day to see it. Sun slanted lavishly through the stained-glass windows, highlighting the stout pillars with their sumptuously grooved patterns and spattering the floors with motes of colour. There were even wooden pews.
I'm no judge of these things, but the window at the choir end looked to me at least the equal of the more famous one at York, and this one at least you could see in all its splendour since it wasn't tucked away in a transept. And the stained-glass window at the other end was even finer. Well, I can't talk about this without babbling because it was just so wonderful. As I stood there, one of only a dozen or so visitors, a verger passed and issued a cheery hello. I was charmed by this show of friendliness and captivated to find myself amid such perfection, and I unhesitatingly gave Durham my vote for best cathedral on planet Earth.
When I had drunk my fill, I showered the collection pot with coins and wandered off for the most fleeting of looks at the old quarter of town, which was no less ancient and beguiling, and returned to the station feeling simultaneously impressed and desolate at just how much there was to see in this little country and what folly it had been to suppose that I might see anything more than a fraction of it in seven flying weeks.
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