Back to DerbyJon index

Introduction

England are going to Portugal in June for the 2004 European Championship Finals. So am I! Woohoo!

My girlfriend and me will be heading over to Spain the day before the first group game, hiring a car then driving around Portugal with accommodation provided by our luxury gold-plated tent with built-in hot-tub and cinema (£35 from Argos - bargain).

I'm not sure yet whether there'll be time to keep a diary as the schedule is fairly hectic, but hopefully I'll get chance to update this page along the way with our progress.

Itinerary

Fri Jun 11 2004 T flies down to Stansted from Newcastle. Jon somehow gets to Stansted from Basingstoke(?). Stay overnight at the airport in the Hilton. Last sniff of luxury for a few weeks.
Sat Jun 12 2004 Fly Stansted to Palma (Mallorca). 40 minute connection (erk!), then fly on to Seville in Southern Spain. Pick-up a hire car at Seville, drive into Portugal and hopefully get within a couple of hours of Lisbon. Find a camp-site and pitch before sundown.
Sun Jun 13 2004 Drive into Lisbon and find a camp-site with space. Expecting this to be tricky so hope to arrive in Lisbon by noon. Get back into Lisbon late afternoon for England v France (Lisbon, Luz).

Mon Jun 14 2004 Depending on hangover, probably start heading North as our next three games are up there.
Tue Jun 15 2004 Czech Republic v Latvia (Aveiro)
Wed Jun 16 2004 Sight-seeing.
Thu Jun 17 2004 England v Switzerland (Coimbra)
Fri Jun 18 2004 Italy v Sweden (Porto, Dragao)
Sat Jun 19 2004 Probably head down to Lisbon with some sight-seeing on the way.
Sun Jun 20 2004 Spain v Portugal (Lisbon, Jose Alvalade)

Mon Jun 21 2004 England v Croatia (Lisbon, Luz)
Tue Jun 22 2004 Italy v Bulgaria (Guimaraes) This sticks out as being a bit daft travel-wise so there's a chance we might skip this game.
Wed Jun 23 2004 Germany v Czech Republic (Lisbon, Jose Alvalade)
Thu Jun 24 2004 Possible England quarter-final (Lisbon, Luz)
Fri Jun 25 2004 Possible England quarter-final (Lisbon, Jose Alvalade)
This is where it gets a bit hazy. If England have been knocked out, I'll travel back with Toni. If not, I'll drop T at the airport and find my way back into Portugal.
Sat Jun 26 2004 Drive back into Spain. Return hire-car. Fly Seville-Palma-Stansted. Possible stay overnight near Stansted or picked up from airport by my parents.
Sun Jun 27 2004 T flying or getting the bus/train back home. Jon getting back to Basingstoke or making my way back into Portugal towards either Lisbon or Porto.

Mon Jun 28 2004 Sight-seeing.
Tue Jun 29 2004 Sight-seeing.
Wed Jun 30 2004 Possible England semi-final (Lisbon, Jose Alvalade) My dad would be over for this.
Thu Jul 01 2004 Possible England semi-final (Porto, Dragao) My dad would be over for this.
Fri Jul 02 2004 Sight-seeing.
Sat Jul 03 2004 Sight-seeing.
Sun Jul 04 2004 Possible England final (Lisbon, Luz) My dad would be over for this.
Mon Jul 05 2004 Somehow get back from Lisbon to England, and then to Basingstoke. Start work :(

Update

The tickets from Englandfans turned up Saturday morning (May 29th), the UEFA tickets the week before. So we're now fully sorted match-wise.