Tennis
Wimbledon! This is one of the most iconic venues in all of sports. We felt very fortunate to be able to get tickets to this event. So many Londoners had trouble getting tickets to anything. So seeing Tennis here was just really amazing.
Centre Court! My original tickets just had General Admission into Wimbledon, which I think would have put us at one of the outlying courts. But because of the ticket debacle, we got bumped up into Centre Court...where all the big tennis stars play.
These tickets are amazing. Here I am soaking up the sun, ready for action to begin. Our tickets were in Row E...five rows from the grass court!
Early on in the day, the roof was closed, because they still weren't sure if it would rain. You can also see that since it was the first match, the stands weren't completely full yet.
Behold, the open roof! It was a gorgeous, sunny day, with just enough clouds to give is cover from the direct sun.
Here's another view of the open roof at Wimbledon. What a beautiful day!
Roger Federer! We didn't know who we were going to see play when we arrived... and then they announced the ticket. So cool to see him play. Here he (barely) defeated American John Isner.
One of the coolest things of the entire Olympics was when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Will and Kate, walked in an took in a little tennis. They were only about 50 feet away! Just as many cameras were focused on them as on the game. It really was pretty cool to see them in person. Royalty!
Maria Sharapova was the other high profile player we got to see. She was extremely fierce and competitive, and was really exciting to watch.
One last shot in the seats. We were so close! All four matches went a total of 8 hours...so we were pretty much there the whole day. Didn't seem like it though...it was great.
Part of our compensation for the ticket debacle was full access to the Hospitality Suite for the entirety of the Olympics. It was a restaurant/lounge building in the center of London with couches set up in front of flat screen TV's, a dining area, and free food and drink from a full bar. In the afternoons they had tea service, and lunch and dinner was Michelin-rated food. Below is an example of just one meal we ate. This is lamb served with scalloped potatoes. I had this about 4 times!
This is a huge area in Hyde Park called BT London Live. There were 5 large HD screens set up all over the area, with food and drink venues surrounding many tables and a grassy area for viewing and hanging out. This was a great place to come on sunny days to watch many different events at once, and to hang out with people cheering for many different countries.
All over London, the international patriotism was incredible. It's really cool to see flags you've never seen...as well as the people from those countries! How often to do you run into people from Australia, Europe, and Asia on the same day?
On the way out of an event, we see a familiar sight on the train platform.
The next day we had a day off from Olympic events. (Translation: we couldn't get tickets for this day.) This pic was a daily sight for me - listening to my jams as we ride the train from place to place.
London Transport had a pretty entertaining campaign for helping Londoners prepare for the anticipated business during the Games. This is just one poster that I saw almost every day.
Camden Town is a very eclectic area with a lot of flea markets, stores, street food, and some live music. It's just something you have to see in person.
Check out these very unique stores. Have you ever seen a giant yellow Converse shoe on the front of a building?
This was a pretty cool area in Camden, with lots of antiques and great food.
A giant horse head.
Camden is a great place to buy some cheap knock-off T-shirts. And they're everywhere. Pretty much every vendor has the same ones. Any they're all authentic, right?? :-D
This guy was HILARIOUS. He just stood out on the sidewalk, and talked about a bunch of random stuff, and interacted with passerbyers. He was actually very smart and well-spoken, and ranted for a while against people who wear "branded clothing", like Abercrombie or Hollister. He said soon the authorities would be force-feeding "hash cakes" to people who wear these clothes until they see "the error of their ways". Everyone was cracking up.
Look at all that great food!
This is the exterior of the Liverpool Street Underground Station, where Andy and I went through every single day. It was so cool to see decals like this on windows all over town.
After work is London is the time to hit the pubs. People come straight from work and stand outside on the sidewalk, having a pint. It's odd to me to see people drinking outside, but that's how it's done here.
Athletics
Track and Field time! At Olympic Stadium!
There's really no better way for London to represent the Olympic Rings, than with umbrellas. Hahaha!
Olympic Stadium in Olympic Park. The stadium itself is technically on an island, only accessible via one of these green bridges. It holds 80,000 people, and will most likely be used as the home field for one of London's soccer teams after the Games. The part itself will transform into a giant city park, with additions of apartment buildings here and there, and an enormous retail and restaurant district nearby.
On the left is The Orbit - a huge piece of permanent installation art created just for the Games. It's actually now the tallest structure in London. A lot of people didn't seem to like it all that much, and I just ended up calling it "the red thing".
Here's a close-up view of The Orbit. Architecturally speaking, it's quite a creation. The fluid path of the line is unbroken - it starts at the ground, swirls up and around, and then ends up back down again. I just think it looks like a roller coaster idea gone wrong.
Inside Olympic Stadium! Check out the Olympic Flame down there by the track. It was so inspiring to be in the Stadium, and watching all of the athletes competing in the different sports. To the left you can see the white-outlines lane in which the Javelin throwers run before releasing there javelins. Also, just above that, is the purple cage in which the Shotput and Hammer athletes release their apparatus.
And here's the rest of the stadium! In the distance is the High Jump and Pole Vault scene. To the right of the long side of the field is where Long Jump and Triple Jump took place.
I used my American charm to get myself pretty close to the Olympic Flame. Several camera filters later, this is my creation. :)
What would the Olympics be without merchandising? Here is the pin-trading area, where very "enthusiastic" pin-traders seek out rare and valuable pins...to put all over their hats. Saw a lot of Americans here in this area, haha. We love our merch!
Traveling is all about meeting people. You never know who you're going to meet, right? Well, one day at the hospitality suite, I struck up a conversation with a German woman who turned out to work for Audi. Turns out she had full access to the M.S. Deutschland, Germany's 9-story cruiseliner docked at Canary Wharf in south London. She liked Andy and I so much, that she invited us to come aboard one night to experience the V.I.P. treatment!
To the Lido deck! On board, we got to experience an amazing, gourmet buffet dinner, and watch the Olympics on huge flatscreen TV's set up around the deck. This was the night that Usain Bolt won the gold medal for the 100m...and we got to listen to it all in German commentary, haha!
If there's something you can expect from a German meal...it's good meat. Yum.
After dinner, several German medal winners came up and talked about how amazing it was to compete in the Olympics, win medals, blah blah blah...I dunno, it was in German. :)
After that it was out to the deck to enjoy the surroundings, and more Olympics on big screens, in the cool London air.
Flat screens outside! The Brazilians go crazy for beach volleyball. (As they should.)
Not bad a view from the bow!
Chilling on the Lido Deck, sporting my V.I.P. pass!
Water Polo
The Water Polo arena is one of several arenas in Olympics Park that will be partially dismantled after the Games are over. It's part of the London Organizing Committee's focus on sustainability - to minimize the money spent pre-Olympics and maximize the usability of structures post-Olympics. With this particular structure, all of the scaffolding to the left that supports the flights of stairs will be taken down, as will the plastic tarp (made from recycled plastic) that forms the roof. Only the pool will remain.
See how the interior is just scaffolding with a tarp stretched over it? Looks just fine, and there won't be a huge, depressing, empty building standing around for years.
The Australian team gets ready to do some damage. It's kind of silly-looking to see grown men wearing terrycloth mid-length robes as part of a sport's uniform, don't you think? But make no mistake - these guys are incredible athletes.
These guys have to tread water the entire time. I can't even imagine how athletic you have to be to swim, tread water, and on top of that, play soccer with your arms at the same time. Whew.
During another match, Spanish fans cheer on their players!
Diving
This is the Aquatics Center. Just look at this arena! I love how it overlooks the stream here. This is also one of the structures that will be partially dismantled after the Games are over. What you can't exactly see from this angle is the beautiful structure inside these temporary white grandstands. You can kind of see the slanted roof to the right as it ascends up into the building.
There he goes! It was pin-drop silent during the dives. Also, check out the roof as it continues to rise from the right and then dip again at the left. It's supposed to emulate a rolling wave.
After it was over, I walked down to the lower seats and got a better shot of the pool and boards.
And there's the famed Olympic pool. This is where all the drama took place. At this point, all of the swimming was over, and Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time! USA!
Again you can see the undulating roof as it rises as falls on it's way to the other side of the pool.
Here's the other side of the roof (on another day) with Olympic Stadium in the background.
With the Olympic Stadium on the right, and The Orbit in the center, you can see down the stream towards another side of the Park.
A good shot at dusk in the park.
This is an area called Park Live. If you were in Olympic Park, but didn't have a ticket to a certain event, you could watch it here. This is something going on inside the Stadium.
They were handing out free (plastic) British flags during one event. Gotta root for the home team (unless America is playing!)
Look how many people are leaving the Park after a night at the Stadium. That's all people.
The Orbit, aka "red thing" sure is strange, but it looks cool at night next to Olympic Stadium.
Time for merchandise!
Here's the inside of the Megastore - the place for all things London 2012 merchandise. For those of you who don't recognize this athlete (looking at you, Americans!!...thanks a lot NBC) this is Jessica Ennis. Jessica Ennis was the face of Britain for 2012 and ended up winning the Heptathlon by a mile. She was so amazing to watch, and absolutely shinned in every event. Ennis was basically England's Carl Lewis this year. Too bad more people outside of England didn't see her compete.
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