Live from London: Postcards with Cole Kmet | Oct. 9
As told to Gabby Hajduk
After touching down in London Tuesday morning ahead of Sunday's game against the Jaguars, Bears players spent the day exploring the city. Check out tight end Cole Kmet's postcard to read about his experience across the pond.
What's up Bears fans,
We've been in London for a little over 24 hours and it's been really great so far. This is my first time in the city and Sunday will be my first international NFL game, so I'm excited for this week.
After landing in the UK Tuesday morning, the team had the rest of the day off and I chose to head to downtown London to do some exploring. We're staying over an hour north of central London and while the Bears set up shuttle buses for us, I really wanted to take the train into the city.
Being from Chicago and visiting New York several times, I'm really comfortable with the transit system and wanted to have a more authentic experience. I hopped on the 1:30 train at the Ware station with a bunch of the guys — Montez (Sweat), Dex (Gervon Dexter Sr.), Stephen Carlson, Tory Taylor, Tyson (Bagent) and Austin Reed.
What would've been an hour and a half bus ride turned into a super smooth and easy 40-minute train ride. We got off at Liverpool Street and walked over to the Borough Market, which was really cool to see. There were a lot of pop-up food stands and it was fun to walk around with everyone and take in the environment of the city.
We took some time to walk by some of the top tourist spots. My favorite was the London Bridge. The architecture of it and the way it overlooks the city is really incredible. I love the architecture across the entire city. There's a good mix between modern buildings and those that have been around for quite some time.
I left the group for about an hour to film my podcast and then met back up with Stephen, Tyson and Austin for dinner in a little neighborhood called Shoreditch. We went to a chophouse called Blacklock and had some good steaks. It was a really nice time.
Before heading back to the hotel for the night, we went back toward downtown to hangout in the SoHo area. I really want to spend as much time as I can with the guys in London and soak it all in because it's going to be a really great time.
Overall the city itself feels a lot like a smaller version of New York. It feels like a normal big city, but one with a lot of history to it. There's so many unique spots and also some stereotypical things that you see when you think of England. Even just passing some of the houses on the train, they looked like some Harry Potter would stay in.
Today was obviously time to lock in on our game preparation and adjust to the schedule. We had a full day of meetings and walkthrough, and then Thursday and Friday will be normal practice days for us.
My mom and fiancé land in London tomorrow morning, so I'm planning to meet them quickly for dinner after practice and then hopefully go back into the city Friday evening and check out some more spots.
I was planning to golf a bit since there's a course right next to our hotel, but honestly, after exploring the city Tuesday, I think I'd rather spend more time in London while I have the chance. I wouldn't rule golfing out yet, though. We'll see if I can fit it in the schedule.
Once we get to Saturday, the sole focus will be getting the win Sunday against Jacksonville. It's a really cool opportunity to have an international game this year and I know Bears fans will travel strong to London.
I think it's a game that everyone who can make it across the pond has been really looking forward to, so I'm excited to see how the Bears fans show up. For those who will be here Sunday, just cheer loud. Make it feel like a home game for us. We're excited to see you all out there.
Bear Down!
