This is the fifth post on our trip to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. You can find the previous post here.
We've come to the last full day in London, as part of our Olympic Adventure. While we're sad to see things come to a close, we had another fantastic day in London!
We started the day with a little shopping. We wanted to find some special items for our kids - so I happily took my wife to London's best toy store - Hamleys on Regent Street:
Inside, it's like a mix of the Toy's R 'Us on Times Square, and the old FAO Schwarz Toy Store in Manhattan. It's a wonderful place for families...and those of us that just love toys ; ) If you make your way up to the top floor, here's an awesome display of Legos (I know my oldest daughter will enjoy this):
Here's a short video showing the top floor of Hamleys and the insane amount of action going on - all on a Saturday:
New to me, was a section of "high-end" collectibles. This includes just about every recognizable wand from Harry Potter:
In fact, the most awesome part of this section of the store? They made milkshakes out of all your favorite candy. You see, my wife is quite particular about the Cadbury Chocolate Eggs:
Wouldn't you know it - they made her a shake out of the entire thing - chocolate and creamy insides:
Near Hamleys, we found Carnaby Street - a wonderful collection of shops - decorated for the Games:
After dragging all our gifts back to the hotel, we set out for another popular tourist destination. We've been there before, but this time was special. The Tower Bridge had massive Olympic Rings attached:
We decided to take a ferry down the Thames River, to get a different view of London (also to increase the different modes of transportation we used around London). This proved to be the best way to see the Tower Bridge, as well as Big Ben and the English Parliament:
We then made our way to the final event in our Olympic Adventure - the Gold Medal game for Women's Volleyball
The venue for this event was Earl's Court - a massive exhibition hall that completely changed to accomodate all volleyball events.
Inside, we had decent seats to catch all of the action. I've never seen a court with so much pink and light blue...but it fit the Olympics well:
In the Gold Medal game, it was the U.S. vs Brazil - the top two teams in the world. Both teams were introduced...
...and it was time to play...
Here's a picture and video of two of the U.S. blocks, at the net:
In this clip, the U.S. girl with the giant pony-tail is Destiny Hooker - yes, that's her real name. She was a powerhouse player for the U.S. In fact, my oldest daughter used to compete with her in the high jump event in high school. Apparently, she consistently took Texas state championships, and moved to higher levels of competition:
Here's a video clip of a slightly longer volley series. So much fun to watch!!!
Here's Destiny again, with a giant kill shot:
Sadly, after taking the first game of the match, the U.S. just couldn't put the Brazilians away. The Amazons from South America truly deserved to win, as they played a terrific match. As I said to my wife - I guess this is what it's like to be other countries ; ) The Japanese team took the Bronze Medal, and they held the ceremony directly after the game.
I need to stop and make a comment here. Let me begin by saying that I have lovely friends from Brazil. They are a beautiful people. However, they are some of the most annoying sports fans I've ever encountered. Granted, this comes from my own cultural definition...not theirs. During the match, the Brazilian fans were booing the U.S. on every serve. Unsportsmanlike, by my definition. However, the medal ceremony was also disturbing to me. Watch this video clip - in it, the Japanese are being awarded their Bronze Medals. A moment of celebration for the Japanese. See how the Brazilian women behave during this moment:
And thus, our time at the Olympics came to a close. It was so magical - a great city, great people from all over the world, great volunteers everywhere we turned, and a great Olympics.
Join me tomorrow, when we return to Brussels for one final day in Europe together. Thanks for reading!
We've come to the last full day in London, as part of our Olympic Adventure. While we're sad to see things come to a close, we had another fantastic day in London!
We started the day with a little shopping. We wanted to find some special items for our kids - so I happily took my wife to London's best toy store - Hamleys on Regent Street:
Inside, it's like a mix of the Toy's R 'Us on Times Square, and the old FAO Schwarz Toy Store in Manhattan. It's a wonderful place for families...and those of us that just love toys ; ) If you make your way up to the top floor, here's an awesome display of Legos (I know my oldest daughter will enjoy this):
The Queen didn't look too bad, either...
Here's a short video showing the top floor of Hamleys and the insane amount of action going on - all on a Saturday:
New to me, was a section of "high-end" collectibles. This includes just about every recognizable wand from Harry Potter:
They had an impressive collection of candy. Even my sister would be impressed ; ) This is just a small portion of the entire section:
In fact, the most awesome part of this section of the store? They made milkshakes out of all your favorite candy. You see, my wife is quite particular about the Cadbury Chocolate Eggs:
Wouldn't you know it - they made her a shake out of the entire thing - chocolate and creamy insides:
Near Hamleys, we found Carnaby Street - a wonderful collection of shops - decorated for the Games:
After dragging all our gifts back to the hotel, we set out for another popular tourist destination. We've been there before, but this time was special. The Tower Bridge had massive Olympic Rings attached:
We decided to take a ferry down the Thames River, to get a different view of London (also to increase the different modes of transportation we used around London). This proved to be the best way to see the Tower Bridge, as well as Big Ben and the English Parliament:
We then made our way to the final event in our Olympic Adventure - the Gold Medal game for Women's Volleyball
The venue for this event was Earl's Court - a massive exhibition hall that completely changed to accomodate all volleyball events.
Inside, we had decent seats to catch all of the action. I've never seen a court with so much pink and light blue...but it fit the Olympics well:
In the Gold Medal game, it was the U.S. vs Brazil - the top two teams in the world. Both teams were introduced...
...and it was time to play...
Here are just a few pictures and video clips from the game. It was amazing to see these amazons jumping so high and spiking the ball:
Here's a picture and video of two of the U.S. blocks, at the net:
In this clip, the U.S. girl with the giant pony-tail is Destiny Hooker - yes, that's her real name. She was a powerhouse player for the U.S. In fact, my oldest daughter used to compete with her in the high jump event in high school. Apparently, she consistently took Texas state championships, and moved to higher levels of competition:
Here's a video clip of a slightly longer volley series. So much fun to watch!!!
Here's Destiny again, with a giant kill shot:
Sadly, after taking the first game of the match, the U.S. just couldn't put the Brazilians away. The Amazons from South America truly deserved to win, as they played a terrific match. As I said to my wife - I guess this is what it's like to be other countries ; ) The Japanese team took the Bronze Medal, and they held the ceremony directly after the game.
I need to stop and make a comment here. Let me begin by saying that I have lovely friends from Brazil. They are a beautiful people. However, they are some of the most annoying sports fans I've ever encountered. Granted, this comes from my own cultural definition...not theirs. During the match, the Brazilian fans were booing the U.S. on every serve. Unsportsmanlike, by my definition. However, the medal ceremony was also disturbing to me. Watch this video clip - in it, the Japanese are being awarded their Bronze Medals. A moment of celebration for the Japanese. See how the Brazilian women behave during this moment:
Again, this is all through my own cultural lens - not their own. I just found it a little off-putting. I hope this isn't a preview of what it's like for the 2016 Olympics in Rio ; )
And thus, our time at the Olympics came to a close. It was so magical - a great city, great people from all over the world, great volunteers everywhere we turned, and a great Olympics.
Join me tomorrow, when we return to Brussels for one final day in Europe together. Thanks for reading!
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