Diving Into the Olympics

If you really want to immerse yourself in the Olympics, but don't have any tickets, just head to the Westfield Mall in Stratford, which is adjacent to the Olympic Park.  Sonia and I had tickets to Women's Synchronized 10m Platform Diving at the Aquatic Centre yesterday, so we go there early and popped into the mall for lunch beforehand.  It was mobbed with people, and we had only been there a few minutes when we saw a crowd gathered around two very tall men wearing Team USA uniforms.

US athletes pose for photos at the mall

At first we thought they must be basketball players, but they turned out to be track & field stars Duane Solomon (in white) and Ryan Bailey (in blue).  We later saw an extremely tall female Russian athlete graciously posing for a photo with what appeared to be a South American gentleman in a suit.  We decided to save the London 2012 store at John Lewis and the Team GB store for later, so we grabbed a quick lunch and headed into the Olympic Park across the street.

Olympic rings on the Aquatic Centre

The Aquatic Centre has an oval central core with two giant 'wings' on either side.  The wings are designed to be removed after the Olympics, and the remaining structure will continue to be used as a community swimming and diving facility.

The Aquatic Centre

Because the wings are temporary, there are no elevators or escalators, so you have to walk up A LOT of stairs! 

View of Orbit tower and Olympic Stadium from the Aquatic Centre

Our seats were waaaaay up in the nosebleed section, just 8 rows from the very top.   We were up so high that the roof blocked our view of the other side of the Aquatic Centre, but we still had a pretty decent view of the diving pool.

10 meters doesn't seem so high from up here!

The competition included teams from China, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Australia, and Ukraine.  No US team!  Since the GB team had plenty of supporters on hand, we cheered for our North American neighbors: Canada and Mexico.

Fellow divers watch the competition.  Tom Daley is in there somewhere...

Despite being miles above the action, I managed to get some decent photos using the 'high-speed burst' setting on my little camera.  You can see how synchronized these amazing divers really are!

We chose the right teams to cheer for.  Mexico and Canada won silver and bronze respectively.  Not surprisingly, China won the gold.

The final standings

The medal ceremony

The winning teams

After the medal ceremony, we made our way back down the stairs and spent some time exploring the rest of the Olympic Park.  It is HUGE! 

One of two giant McDonald's with Orbit tower in the background

We spent some time watching the Women's Gymnastics team final on the big screen at Park Live.  Very cool, especially considering the final result.  Of course, the coverage mostly focused on the British gymnasts, but we did get to see several Team USA performances.

Go Team USA!!!

Other interesting sights in the Olympic Park...

The Coca-Cola Beatbox

The Olympic Broadcast studio, resting atop a stack of shipping containers

One of three large shops selling Olympic souvenirs

The Gloriana, which carried the Olympic Torch down the Thames from
Hampton Court Palace - and was in the Thames Jubilee Pageant

The massive Westfield Mall

Orbit Tower

Flowers and Water Polo arena

By the time we were ready to leave, it was 8 pm, so we went back to the mall for a quick dinner before heading home.  We ended up eating Indian food in the food court and watching swimming on TV with an international crowd, including Chinese, Dutch, British, and other American fans.  It was a fun atmosphere, with people clapping and cheering as if we were actually in the Aquatic Centre rather than across the street in a shopping mall food court.

Watching swimming at the mall

Today was the first day since Sonia arrived that we didn't have anything specific on our agenda.  We ran a few errands and then headed to the Victoria & Albert Museum to see the special exhibits on Ballgowns and Heatherwick Studio.  The Heatherwick design exhibit was particularly timely as they designed the amazing Olympic cauldron used in the opening ceremony.  They had a model of it in the museum, which they must have added recently -- it would have ruined the surprise if they had it on display before the Olympics began.

So, are well all Olympic-ed out now?  No way!  More to come...

We Walked to the Olympics

"Get me tennis tickets," I told my sister.  "I want to be able to walk to the Olympics from my house."

My sister had better luck finding Olympic tickets in the US than we did in the UK, so thanks to her, Josh and I headed up the hill to the All England Lawn Tennis Club with ground passes (and American flags) for today's Olympic tennis.  It was a lovely day -- partly cloudy, breezy, and in the mid-60's.  I checked the schedule of play and it looked like we could camp out at the Number 2 Court (which has unreserved seating during the Olympics!) for most of the day and watch several of the Americans play.

Sure enough, when we found our seats, Andy Roddick was playing.

Andy Roddick vs Martin Klizan of Slovakia

There were lots of American flags in the stands, but they were all outshone by Andy Roddick's shoes.

Nice tennis shoes!

Andy is a very vocal tennis player, occasionally making comments to the umpire, his entourage in the stands, and the crowd in general.  At one point he paused while a man took his crying baby out of the court, and said, "Don't worry, it will get better."  (Children under 5 are not allowed in the courts during Wimbledon, but there were an awful lot of them there for the Olympics!)  He also got into a lengthy discussion with the judge after one of the ball girls caught a ball before it hit the ground.  It was clearly headed out of bounds, but technically she should have let it bounce before touching it.  He's sort of like a good-natured John McEnroe...

Andy won his match in straight sets, and then I wandered off in search of some lunch while Josh held on to our seats.  I bumped into my friend Nancy, a fellow American who lives in Wimbledon, who was lucky enough to get Centre Court tickets for today, but had been watching Andy Roddick's match.  We agreed that the Olympic tennis had a very different feel from the Wimbledon tennis championships, despite being held in the same place.

I also came across this topiary version of the Olympic mascot wielding a tennis racquet.

Topiary Olympic mascot

Next up in Number 2 Court: Venus Williams vs Sara Errani of Italy.  Sadly, many people left to watch Federer's match in Centre Court on the big screen, but there was still a vocal USA contingent supporting her.

Venus serves

Where did everyone go?

After Venus won her match, we went up to Henman Hill (Mount Murray?) to watch some of the action in Centre Court on the big screen.

Olympic rings at the top of Henman Hill

Despite the fact that Federer was playing, the crowd was pretty sparse, especially compared to the hordes gathered on the hill to watch Andy Murray play a few weeks ago.  The big screen had been modified to match the bizarre 80's-style Olympic design and color scheme.

The big screen from Henman Hill

Roger Federer defeats Julian Benneteau of France

Olympic graphics on Centre Court

Mini Team GB supporter

The Dutch like to show their true colors

We headed back to Number 2 Court to watch the Williams sisters play their doubles match against a team from Romania.  There was a much bigger crowd compared to Venus' match earlier in the afternoon.

No empty seats for this match!

Mama Williams and her entourage

The judge measures the height of the new net

Venus and Serena get ready for their match

These Romanian ladies played well, but they didn't stand a chance!

The Williams sisters are a force of nature!

It was a good day for the Americans.  Serena and Venus won their doubles match, as well as each of their singles matches.  In fact, all the Americans who played today won.  Yay!

The final match scheduled for Number 2 Court was a men's doubles match with Roger Federer, but as soon as the Williams sisters had cleared the court, the umpire announced that it had been moved to Number 1 Court, which is reserved seating only.  That announcement was met with jeers and boos, but there was nothing we could do about it, so we drowned our sorrows in some strawberries and cream and wandered around for a bit.

It's strange to see all the Olympic branding all over the grounds -- quite a contrast from how it looks during Wimbledon...

Inspire a generation from the 80's?

We discovered they were showing Federer's doubles match against a Japanese team on the big screen, so we watched a little of that before heading home.  It was a bit challenging to follow, since all four players were wearing red shirts and white shorts.  We didn't stay for the whole match, but I hear the Swiss team won...

Who's who?

Occasionally someone would see us with our American flags and ask where we were from.  It's fun to see their surprise when we respond that we live right here in Wimbledon, although we always add that we are Americans and relocated here from Washington DC last year.  I ended up having a nice chat with a lovely family from Kew after one such exchange while Josh found a quiet spot to dial in to a conference call.  He was "working from home" today.

We walked back down the hill and met my sister for dinner in central Wimbledon before heading back home.   It was another great Olympic experience.  I hope the Americans continue to do well.  Too bad we won't be able to see more tennis, but other events await...

Promming with Wallace & Gromit

No, it's not a high-school formal.  The BBC Proms is a popular classical music concert series at the Royal Albert Hall that runs from July through September every year.   "Proms" is short for "promenade," because these were originally outdoor concerts where the audience could stroll around while listening to the music.  Today you can still "prom" by queueing up on the day of the concert to buy £5 standing-room tickets.

When the tickets went on sale months ago, I tried to get reserved seats for today's afternoon concert, but it was so popular that they sold out in 10 minutes.  Why?  It was a new Wallace & Gromit animated short, accompanied by a live orchestra.  We were planning on "promming" so we could still go to the concert, but at the last minute I discovered they had a few "obstructed view" seats available, so we bought those online so we wouldn't waste precious Olympics-viewing time standing in line in the rain.

The Royal Albert Hall

It turned out to be a good call.  Our view was not really obstructed at all.  In fact, we had a great view of the Royal Orchestra, and we were sitting directly in front of a small video screen.

"Obstructed" view from our seats

The concert was fantastic!  The first half was consisted of musical interludes interspersed with special animation created just for the Proms concert.  A few pieces accompanied montages of scenes from Wallace & Gromit's adventures.  The second half was the new animated short A Matter of Loaf and Death with a live soundtrack provided by the Royal Orchestra.  The conductor stood on a special stand invented by Wallace that was equipped with a cup of tea, a telephone, a plate of crackers, and a pneumatic tube -- through which Wallace and Gromit delivered sheet music from backstage. 

Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels

As he was taking his bows at the end, the conductor thanked the composers of the Wallace & Gromit theme music and the soundtrack, who were seated in the audience.  Then he thanked Nick Park, the animator and creator of Wallace & Gromit, and it turned out that he was in the audience, too!

Nick Park, in the dark grey jacket, front and center

What a great event!  We all thoroughly enjoyed it.  Definitely worth taking a break from the Olympics to spend a little quality time with Wallace & Gromit.

Olympic Kick-Off

U-S-A!  U-S-A!  As an American living in London, I usually try to keep a low profile, but with the Olympics in town, it's time to start showing my true colors.

My sister arrived from California yesterday morning, just a few hours after Josh's aunt, cousin, and family departed, and a few hours before the Olympics began.  She had much better luck getting tickets in the US than we did in the UK, so after lunch we headed up to the City of Westminster College to pick them up at the Cosport Will Call Center.  Unlike everything else Olympic-related, this operation seemed rather poorly organized.  There was no signage or any helpful staff people to direct us there from the Tube station, and once we found it, we ended up waiting in line for TWO AND A HALF HOURS!  We barely made it home in time to throw some dinner together and watch the opening ceremonies.

The long and winding line for will call

 We were all pretty tired, so we had a tough time staying awake until 1 am to watch the entire event.  There were some lovely moments -- especially when they lit the Olympic cauldron -- but overall it was kind of a weird conglomeration of random British stuff.  I honestly did not expect either Voldemort or the NHS to be involved in the opening ceremonies.  But I did enjoy watching the athletes march into the stadium...

Today, Sonia and I set off for our first Olympic event -- the Men's Gymnastics qualifiers at the "North Greenwich Arena."  Londoners know this venue as the O2 Arena, but since the mobile phone service provider is not an official Olympic sponsor, they had to make up a new name for it.

The North Greenwich Arena (aka, the O2 Arena)

Everything went very smoothly.  We had no trouble getting there on the train/Tube, and it took 2 minutes to go through security.  In fact, the only long line we had to wait in was at one of the many restaurants in the arena so we could get some lunch.  But we still made it to our seats in time to see the 'pre-game show.'

Gymnastics hype

 Our seats were up in the nosebleed section...

The gymnasts warm up

 But at least we were sitting in front of the correct flag!

We were glad we brought our own American flags, because Team USA was competing in this session.  Yay!

Team USA warms up on the pommel horse

The challenging part of watching gymnastics in person is there are five different things going on at once, so it's hard to know where to look.

Vault!

Rings!

Danell Leyva wears his lucky towel

Bangladeshi gymnast on the high bar

John Orozco on parallel bars

Jonathon Horton on high bar

The USA did very well against teams from Japan and Italy, as well as individual competitors from a variety of other countries, including Israel, Brazil, Chile, Greece, and Australia.  In fact, they were in the lead in the team competition, and two of the US team members ended up first and fourth in the individual rankings.  Go Team USA!

Sonia stands on the Prime Meridian

My very first Olympic experience was pretty darn good!  I can't wait for the second one, and the third...