[Nuje]

Tons of great memories. 4-0 against Madrid, 4-1 against United...and my first visit.

Took the train to Manchester, since it's quick, and I was supposed to meet up with some people there, but that never worked out. Spent under an hour in that hole, and got a round tip ticket to Liverpool. Arrived, found a hotel quickly (albeit a bit frantically), and got right onto a bus. I had no tickets to the Atletico game...I was DEFINITELY watching that at the Albert. At the bus stop, I talked to some other fans, and they commented on my scarf. I asked them if they'd seen one of those before (a "Calgary branch of the Liverpool FC supporters club" one). They said they saw 2 that afternoon. When I asked if the names were Kim and Tony, they said "Yeah!" described them to a T as well. Pretty awesome.

On the bus, Atletico fans constantly started humming the Torres song, trying to get the Reds fans to sing, but no such thing happened, as he was hurt. Got off, and into the Albert. It was over an hour before the game, and after my busload walked in, it was full. Everyone was singing, and I myself started "we won it 5 times" at one point. 20 minutes before kick off, it emptied, and the group I was talking to asked "coming?" I said no, as I had no ticket. "Want one?" I wanted to see the look on my own face when I heard that question. I paid 39 quid plus my scarf (which now belongs to a season ticket holder). That was it. I was 5 minutes away from walking into Anfield.

Being close to the anniversary of Hillsborough, the memorial was gigantic, and took 2 pictures to capture all of the flowers and wreaths set up. Walking through the Shankly gates felt like baptism, and holding up my scarf, singing You'll Never Walk Alone at the top of my lungs was like nothing I've ever felt before. I can't count how many times I had the shivers in there. That is a 126 year old field, and 118 years of Liverpool history, right there. I thought of the fact that when the stands are removed, the field will remain, due to the amount of people who have had their ashes spread there. The shield, representing the city of Liverpool, the Shankly gates on top, and the Hillsborough memorial flames. I wasn't born into this club. I chose it when I was young...and I don't consider myself a better, or worse fan, than anyone. It's not about that at all. All I know is, I can not support any other football club...hell, any other sports team, to anywhere near this level.