A Wales of a time (sorry, had to, wont happen again)

Before we left London, of course we needed photos with the telephone booths.

 So this morning we had a nice lazy start in our hotel room -- I attempted to make hash browns with left over dinner ingredients (potatoes and tomatoes) and discovered that they take a really long time to cook, and Michael was a doll and cleaned the pan after I burned potatoe onto the bottom (they came out edible in the end) -- and then headed to the train station to go to Cardiff, Wales. Since Scotty knew how things worked, it was a really easy trip.
   Cardiff looks like a really neat town. We're staying really close to the center of town, and it's all decked out for the Olympics and there is lots going on. There's even a giant screen set up in the town square showing the games, and there were a lot of people gathered around watching the Women's gymnastics finals. It was fun to look at the television and know that we were there yesterday! But yeah, we basically went on a foraging walk, and came back with groceries and dinner, and will explore more tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

Also, London tries to help visitors not get run over.

I thought it was rather nice of them.

Paddington Station! I really liked the Paddington Bear books as a kid...

Yes, that's Welsh.

All the signs are in both Welsh and English, since the languages share official status

The church in the middle of central Cardiff is really pretty.

The church spire was a bunch of smaller spires on smaller spires, and reminded me of Matryoshka dolls. Only in church spire form.

Defying Gravity aka OMG WE WENT TO THE OLYMPICS!!!

So: We went to the Men's Gymnastics Final this afternoon, and it was phenomenal.

     First off, the crowds seem to be afraid of the crowds, so we've been able to breeze through trains and there was hardly a line for security into the arena. Although that was also a function of arriving several hours early for the event. However, North Greenwich Arena, built specially for the Olympics, is a pretty neat place to spend time. There were lots of restaurants, an 11 screen cinema, some exhibits, and lots of great people watching. Actually, we probably contributed to the people watching, but I'll let you see why in the pictures.
     Secondly, we had great seats.  Our perspective for all the events was great, and we were in a "suite" type box with a bunch of other people from all over, who were pretty friendly. Overall, the crowd was pretty fun. There was of course a big Home Team crowd, but Japan and China (favored teams) were well represented, Russia had a small but organized cheering section, Germany had a good turn out, and the US had fans scattered all over. So there was a really good vibe.
     And most importantly, the gymnastics were stunning. Really, it was like the guys could just turn off physics and do what they wanted. I've always been especially impressed by the free-hanging Rings... I can't imagine the strength and skill required to keep still on those things! Or do an amazing combination of flips and turns and then suddenly freeze. Anyway, there were 6 events: the Pommel-horse, the rings, the vault, the uneven bars, the high bar and floor exercises. It was amazing to watch all of them. The only bummer was that the US had a disappointing series of falls at the beginning which lost them a medal, but they had strong showings in their later events. And seriously, even if the US hadn't been in the finals at all it would have been totally worth it to see the class of athletes performing at the Olympics.
    It was an unforgettable experience, and one that I feel incredibly lucky to have shared in it.

Hey! Yeah, those are Olympic rings!!

Pictures in front of important places

We haven't found a real guard to pose with, so a statue will do.

On our way!

The Arena! Also called the O2 Dome, since it appears to be inflated. It's a pretty neat building.

We think this is the thingy that keeps the arena roof inflated.

In the O2 Arena

It's so big!! It filled up in a couple of hours, though. The posts are the main support structures for the roof.

And this is why we made for good people watching.

I helped, too.

So did Michael! And Scotty is good at framing shots... (:

Fully decked out

Go Team USA!   We got a lot of "oh, you must be from Australia!" or "Well, and where are you from?" It was a great conversation starter.

We're a little backlit, but you can tell how great our seats were.

The Bros

Rotating the cameraman

The media section was pretty impressive... aka most of one side of the arena.

Yay International Events!

The opening ceremony coupled with the media computers made for a pretty light show.

The arena holds 16,500 people... I'd estimate there was about 15,000 people there by the end.

The parallel bars and the high bars were really impressive. So were the Rings. It was like gravity didn't apply.

Speaking of gravity not applying... these kids can fly.

The final score board

That was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

All over London!

It's our Underground stop.

      Ok, so what's there to see in London? Big Ben, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Hyde Park, the London Eye, the Parliament Building, St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square...  check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check aaaand check. We wandered into London proper with the intention to see the Tower of London and swing by Westminster Abbey, and ended up on quite the tour of the city, managing to see pretty much all famous sights, mostly by accident. It was great!
     It's also really exciting to be here in the midst of the Olympics. And the crowds were nowhere near as bad as we were expecting... the Underground trains weren't even all that crowded, although it probably helped that it's the weekend. The effort the city has put in to make London en-mass visitor friendly is apparent, and it's super helpful. There are information people in bright pink vests all over the city if you have any questions, there are extra map posts and signs everywhere, the streets and train cars have all been cleaned up, and pretty much the whole city feels like a big festival. There are lots of little stages where local groups are performing (so we stumbled across a marching band and a theater group, as well as a handful of singers), food booths with international cuisine, and blocked off roads for pedestrians only. So this is actually a really excellent time to be touring the city, because it's extra easy! It's also fun because there are so many different countries represented everywhere... you see people decked out in support of their teams and hear all sorts of languages. And the overall vibe is very excited and happy.

Ok, if you wanted pictures, you've got pictures!

At the tower of London

They liked the lions..

Scotty has the best faces

It's quite the fortress...

The Tower Bridge, the really iconic bridge crossing the Thames, is all decked out for the Games

Crossing it gave a lovely view

It's crazy we're here for the Olympics!!

fairly self-explanatory...

It's blue! And also has a nice fresh paint job.

One of my favorite things about London is how eclectic the architecture is. Right next to a centuries old fortress is a super modern skyscraper next to something Victorian next to something else... it really makes its own character.

There are lots of flags everywhere. And flowers!

HMS Belfast

That's St Paul's Basilica in the background.

St Paul's Cathedral

Since it's Sunday, the churches weren't open for tourists, but the buildings are pretty impressive from the outside, too!

We accidentally found Trafalgar Square...

And wandered to Westminster Abbey

which is really pretty

There are indications of the Olympics absolutely everywhere.

Hey! It's Big Ben!

And the Parliament Building!

And the London Eye!

And London Bridge! (if that wasn't clear enough). This bridge doesn't seem like its going to fall down anytime soon.

Buckingham Palace! All that's left to see is the queen...

A very shiny sculpture in front of the Palace.

It's definitely an impressive palace. And the guards march funny. (: