The London 2012 Olympics Come to Town

 London  has been quite abuzz with activity this year, as it is hosting not just one major global based event, but two.

 On top of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, it is hosting the 2012 Olympics.  It started with the torch relay, which has been run the length and breadth of the UK, from Lands End in the south to the Scottish Highlands. 

 The relay didn't feel as exciting when it was far away from us in London, but as the final days before the Olympics approached, and the torch grew closer, the excitement mounted.  When it came down Shaftesbury Avenue past my office, everyone ran outside, or stood in the windows for a better look.

Tony and I got up early to walk up to Upper Street to see the torch go by.  It was a great way to start the day.











We'd entered the lottery to have the opportunity to buy tickets, but only came away with tickets for 1 event, Men's Wrestling (more on this later).

Our friend Matthew, back in Los Angeles had also entered to win tickets.  He ended up buying tickets for two events, but that wasn't enough for him to justify flying all the way to London, as if just seeing us wasn't reason enough.  We ended up buying his tickets for Men's Diving (more on that later).











Thankfully, Mark with his connections through Hilton, managed to score some premium tickets for Men's and Women's Beach Volleyball.











 We had amazing seats, which made for a terrifically fun afternoon.  Even the royal marching band was there to kickoff the show.

The women's groups from Russia and Brazil were really terrific. 

 At intermission, to help create a genuine beach-like atmosphere (even in central London), a dance troop came out and did syncronized moves with beach balls to fun beach-like music. 

We had a lot of fun when one of the American teams came out for a game, which was all the more exciting when they won.  There were quite a few Americans in the stands, so it was a lot of fun.






Sadly, despite a fine effort from Team GB, the home team didn't win their game.

We also had tickets for a Men's Preliminary Diving  Event that was held in the Aquatics Center out at the Olympic Park. 

What made this event special was the opportunity to go to the Olympic Park and walk around it. Though we couldn't go inside the Olympic Stadium, it was a real treat to get to walk around the outside of it.







While there, we couldn't miss the opportunity to eat at the official restaurant of the London 2012 Olympics - McDonald's.  I know, strange, but with the sheer numbers of people needing to be fed at the same time, there are few places on the planet with their same degree of (dare I say it) expertise.

Our seats for the diving event were nowhere near the awesomeness of our Beach Volleyball seats, but it was fun to be there nonetheless. 

 People always asked us whether we were seeing Men's or Women's diving.  I would always tell them that at the distance we were sitting, it didn't matter.

It was still exciting to see the venue where Michael Phelps had swam into Olympic history only the day before.

 For our last Olympics event, and the only event we managed to buy tickets for on our own, we took the tube out to the O2 arena, and then took the Emerites Skyride across the Thames to the Excel Center where the Wrestling Event was taking place.

 This gondola was put in for the Olympics, but the view is spectacular, and we expect it will last long afterwards as a new tourist attraction to equal the London Eye.




It has great views of the O2 Arena and Canary Wharf.











There was a fun carnival atmosphere as people from the many countries gathered cheered and dressed up in support of their teams.  I was impressed by how respectful people were of all the different peoples and cultures represented at the games.  It was the last day of the Olympics, and everyone seemed a little subdued, but there was an underlying excitement as well.

Having never been to a wrestling match in my life, I had no idea what to expect.  There were 3 rings laid out, but matches only occured while we were there in the middle ring.  

I had no idea how lucky we were with our tickets, as this turned out to be the final medal matches in Wrestling.  So we were seeing the absolute best of the best.  

Japan's Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu won the lighter weight title, and is was fun to see them win the gold.

The best news came when America was up for winning the gold medal in wrestling. 











And sure enough America's Jacob Varner won!




















It was a real treat to see our flag raised and national anthem played.  I'd always dreamed of one day seeing something like this in person, and I finally got a chance.

On our way out of the stadium to the tube to catch the train home, we came across Akzhurek Tanatarov, the lighter weight wrestling bronze medalist from Kazakhstan .  Tony got a chance to congratulate him and see an Olympic Medal in person.  Seems a perfect end to an amazing Olympic Games.

The Diamond Jubilee

Unfortunately, or fortunately as it was pouring rain that weekend, we were out of town in Budapest when the Queen had her Diamond Jubilee.

The people over here are divided into Royalists and Republicans.  Those who like having a Royal Head of State, and those who feel it is an outmoded old-fashioned tradition that should be done away with.













In this year, however, whatever your opinion, everyone is getting into the spirit, and the Union Jack is everywhere.  

From billboards to Bric-a-brac, everything is dressed up for the event.













It is a great time to be here in England.

To celebrate the occasion, I tried my hand at making English Muffins.  They proved to be easier to make than I imagined.  And they came out very good too by the way.

We even bought a plate with the face of our favorite monarch on it.

Cambridge

We had some friends in from out of town, and we decided to reserve our shared car to drive up to Cambridge. 

 Cambridge is one of the oldest Universities in England.  It was setup by a group that left Oxford to create a more liberal university. 

 It came into greater prominence under the reign of Henry VIII, and if you look carefully at the carvings, you can find his insignia.

 










It has some wonderful whimsical architecture that invokes a blending of Gothic and Italian Palladian styles.










 It is home to many great discoveries including the first spliting of the atom, and the unraveling of the DNA strand. 










We did a walking tour, which included admission to two of the colleges -  Kings College and Queens College.  A college in American terms equates more to a dormitory than a specific discipline, though many of the colleges are divided by interest.  One can easily see where the Harry Potter concepts of houses originates.

For lunch, we stopped at The Eagle Pub.  There wasn't anything remarkable about the food at this pub, but it was where many of Cambridges Science luminaries from the Science college across the street would hang out here for drinks.  They have a beer named in their honor.

 It was also the pub where many of the American GIs from the local airfield would come and relax.  Their initials are carved in the ceiling.

After lunch we took part in a classic Cambridge pasttime - Punting.  These are small boats similar to gondolas, and they cruise up and down the small river, Cam, which runs through the town. 

There is even a bridge that is named after a similar bridge in Venice also called the bridge of sighs.  The story goes that the bridge here in Cambridge is named this as it is the bridge students cross to go take some exams.

 It was a beautiful afternoon, and the threatened rain never materialized thankfully.

Bentley in particular was fascinated by the ducks.











Cambridge makes a wonderful day out from London.

Budapest - Final Pix

The massive City Park is beautiful.  It has lakes for boating, and a replica of a Transylvanian Castle.  It is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon. 

We happened across a Belgian Biere fest, and of course had some Biere and Frites on the grass.  How European.

We also went to the Széchenyi Baths, which were not as scary as they sound to the American ear.

It is basically the public pool for the city.  These were definitely the least intimidating sounding of the thermal baths, and were clothed and coed.  We had a lot of fun in the outdoor swimming pool that included a jetsteam area with water jets that propelled you in a circle.  Lots of fun.

We also went inside to the more health beneficial mineral pools.  They smelled of sulfur and other minerals.  We soaked for about an hour figuring any benefits derived from the minerals would certainly have done their trick in that time.

That evening we took a boat cruise to see the city from the river.  Budapest is definitely one of my favorite European cities, and I hope to get back here again soon. 









It is a city on the rise, with lots of post Soviet construction and restoration.  It suffered greatly after WWII, but is now moving into the future, and it looks bright.