Around the World with Hardy(T)

United Kingdom

I used Blighty as a bit of a home from home during my travels and, as a consequence, made quite a few stopovers here.

The first time back in Blighty was 29th May, when I flew in from the USA. Almost immediately I was back on a plane and flying out to Ireland for Martin's stag night.

After the shindig in Dublin, I was back in the UK from 2nd to 12th June. I caught up with old pals, saw some cricket (England v India at Edgbaston) and caught a bit of Euro 96 (Bulgaria v Spain at Elland Rd and France v Romania at St James' Park) before getting the ferry across the North Sea to Norway.

I was back in Blighty again on 9th July after my Scandinavian adventure had ended in Denmark. This time I celebrated my birthday, went to Martin's wedding and took in some exciting UEFA Cup Preliminary Round action at Newtown in mid Wales! I headed off to Belgium (don't ask why!) on 26th July.

My final visit to Blighty was between 1st and 17th October. Arriving back from Germany, I caught up on some Pompey matches at long last, before saying goodbye to family and friends for the last time and flying out to India.