Liverpool FC...

Last weekend three of us (Griff, Rachael and me) went to Anfield to see Liverpool's final game of the Premiership season versus Aston Villa. Liverpool won the game 2-1 and afterwards did a lap of the field (see the photo) to thank the fans for all the support during the season. It was a very good day. And whilst it is still a bit of an adventure I think we are starting to take the trips to Liverpool in our stride now.

This is Rachael standing in front of the Bill Shankly statue at the Kop end of Anfield. Behind the statue is the Museum and a little further over is the shop. As you can see from Rachael's red carrier bag, we had already visited the shop!

The "gang"...

Here are 7/8 of the group that went camping this last weekend (the one missing is me). From the left we have Griff, Rachael, Paul, Andy, Becky, Marla and Fi. This photo is in Swanage itself with the pier in the background.

See more of the photos in this Ofoto album.

Liverpool FC, conquerors of Europe? Again...

We returned from our camping trip on Monday evening after a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. We arrived at the campsite on Friday evening - Andy, Griff & Paul had travelled down that morning and had put all the tents up before we got there. Unfortunately, Marla had to go back to Bristol on Saturday to do some work but because Rachael also had to come back to the area it wasn't such an ordeal and they were both back with us in camp by Saturday evening. On Sunday we travelled a short distance on a steam railway to the nearby seaside town of Swanage where we had cream teas, went on a boat trip to see some nearby rock formations and amused ourselves in the amusement arcade. On Monday we had a leisurely morning packing the camp up before heading home via a stately home and gardens called Kingston Lacy, which was great. The weather for most of the weekend was good and it was generally an all round good time.

On Tuesday night we were supposed to be playing softball, but once again the bad weather prevented us from doing so. Not that I was all that upset because it allowed me to watch the second leg of the Liverpool-Chelsea Champions League semi-final. And I am darn glad I did because it was a glorious victory for the Mighty Reds. It ended 1-0 after a fine display of dogged and determined football. The goal was a scrappy one and not without controversy - I'm sure you can find weblogs by Chelsea fans that say the ball did not cross the goal line - but, for what it is worth, I think the goal was a legitimate one and at the end of the two legs of the semi-final I think Liverpool deserved to go through to the final. In over 180 minutes of football Chelsea really only troubled the Liverpool goalkeeper, Jerzy Dudek, a couple of times.

So, Liverpool are off to Istanbul for the final on May 25. They'll be playing AC Milan, who came through against PSV last night. Milan are generally considered to be the best team in Europe (alongside Chelsea, ironically) and so it will certainly be tough but on the strength of the last three performances against Leverkeusen, Juventus and Chelsea it seems that anything is possible.

It is election day in the UK today. I'll be voting after work. I'll be glad when this is all over so the news media can calm down a bit.