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I’m not a football fan, but the chance of an afternoon watching ‘my’ local team play at home at no cost on a cold but sunny afternoon proved too good to refuse (thanks Ean). And so it was that we found ourselves at Portman Road this afternoon, watching Ipswich Town play northern rivals Blackpool.

When I used to walk to the station, I passed the almost legendary football ground every day, but I’ve only ever been inside once, for a ‘rock’ concert two or three years ago. Today was different, though, and as vast crowds of fans from the 21,059 crowd queued outside made it clear, this afternoon was ‘proper’ league football, at a ‘proper’ league football ground.

Eschewing chips from the mobile stands outside in the hope of finding some inside, in the end we had to settle for pasties and tea. Finding our seats high in the Green King stand was easy, though, and as we settled down and waited for the match to begin, the chants of the crowds in the opposite stands grew louder.

The first 45 minutes saw much of the play in the Tractor Boys’ half, with the Seasiders having to defend their area for all it was worth. No goals were scored, but then, after 50 minutes, came the breakthrough. Velice Sumulikoski scored his first goal for Ipswich, with a 20-yard strike into the roof of the net. It obviously spurred his team mates on, as only a few minutes later Jon Walters put the second away in the Blackpool net for the Suffolk side.

With the Seasiders’ fans singing ever-louder and with minutes to go, Blackpool retaliated, Paul Dickov beating the offside trap to bag the northern side a late consolation score. It wasn’t without controversy, though. I don’t know the offside rule, but it appeared that everyone else did, and as shouts to the referee rang out across the stands, the man with the whistle called his decision in the northerners’ favour, much to the disbelief of the home fans.

After that, the neat passing from both sides that had been ever-present in the game from the start soon deteriorated into scrappy ball control, as both teams fended off challenges from the opposite side, and made runs to the nets, trying to bag a last-minute goal. With lots of shouting and euphoric chants from the home fans around us, it was an exciting finish, and I can quiet understand why passionate fans return home hoarse.

It was an enjoyable afternoon, made better by a win for the home team. That’s good going considering it was my first time at a football match, and as we walked down to the docks to enjoy coffee, cake, and a red, orange, and blue watery sunset, we pondered how much more exciting a local derby match would be.

Off to London yesterday afternoon to watch Varekai, the latest Cirque du Soleil touring show, currently playing to packed and appreciative audiences at the Royal Albert Hall.

Started by Guy Laliberté in 1984 from a group of 20 street performers, Cirque du Soleil is now a global enterprise, and though it still has its performing roots in Canada, it reaches out to audiences far and wide, all over the world.

A successful formula of traditional circus acts wrapped up with stunning costumes, evocative music, and show-stopping spectacle, Varekai was thoroughly enjoyable, and from our seats in a box directly overlooking centre stage, we were wowed and thrilled from our stepped seats and velvet-curtained enclosure.

A story of fantastical creatures and the legend of Icarus, Varekai has been touring for five years, and joins Alegría, Corteo, Dralion, Kooza, and Quidam as a show which takes the award-winning Circus of the Sun brand out to the audiences, leaving seven US theatre performances to impress theatregoers, and a further two productions to capture the hearts of arena spectators.

From a multinational ensemble cast of around 85 artists, the show unfolds around you, and with so many visual elements, it’s often hard to concentrate on any one act, as so many other presences may be on or around the stage at the same time. You also forget that at the end of the day, it’s long-held and traditional circus acts which are being performed in front of you; such is the stunningly visual wrapping.

It’s just a shame that to get to the two-and-a-half hour show, we had to endure seven hours of turbulent travel. Engineering works on the Central Line of the Tube meant that changes were required at Leytonstone, where we boarded a bus to Stratford and then another Tube to South Kensington. Before all of that, we had driven to Epping, too.

The post-performance return journey was just as bad, and we worked out we’d been on at least 13 different modes of transport in those seven hours, all to go 35 miles. It’s always the same, too, every weekend we decide to ignore any cumbersome travel warnings, and attempt to circumnavigate the city in which we work every weekday.

If most other countries in Europe can get it right, why can’t we, and, will it ever improve? Travel in this country needs a sprinkling of magic Cirque du Soleil dust, and then it, would be quite fantastical, too.