Saturday, July 28, was Olympics day. I wound up getting behind with this blog since we had much to do and prepare for the Rome leg of our vacation. But I get ahead of myself, Rome is the next blog. Today, I share our Olympic experience. In summary -- what fun!
We started the day lingering around Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the London Eye in our matching US flagged Old Navy T-shirts. A traditional English breakfast was served and hungrily consumed at a restaurant within a stone's throw from the London Eye. Of course I gained a stone (14 lbs) with my Super English Breakfast but "when in London"...oh...again I get ahead of myself...not in Rome yet. Scratch that. "Super" only because that was the only dish that offerred Black Pudding. It of course wouldn't be an English breakfast without Black Pudding which consists of a bunch of things that includes pork fat, onions, other stuff (you don't want to know), and blood. You didn't misread that...yes blood...boiled over and over until it is black. Yum. Hope you are not preparing to eat a meal. Really it is good but perhaps an acquired taste or maybe acquired courage. Fully loaded with protein, we were prepared to tackle the throngs going to Earls Court where all the volleyball games are played.
Here is the crowd going from Earls Court to the volleyball stadium.
Our Olympic tickets! We had tickets for the women's Great Britain vs Russian and Italy vs Dominican Republic matches. The thumb I believe belongs to Elena who is badly in need of a manicure. I'm sure that is a Rome foreshadow.
Here is the view from our seats...
Of course, every thing is about precision and practice at the Olympics -- even how they sweep and mop the court at every timeout. Look at these gals...
The Great Britain vs Russia match was exciting only because the home team crowd energized the games. The GB team itself didn't play all too well -- afterall it was their inaugural volleyball event. We had a deja vu moment with Elena and Kelsey's high school volleyball experience when the Russian's walk in...they almost had to duck when they went under the Jumbo Tron in the middle of the court. These ladies were TALL! It also was reminiscent of the East Germany women athletes back in the day -- I know a few of you gray hairs remember that! Recall the fun trying to figure out if the East Germans were men or women? Now we have relegated this fun but cruel game for only the Chinese. The cold war did have its moments...
The several 6' 5" plus Russians quickly dispatched the herioc attempt by the Great Britain team who in comparison could probably walk under the net without ducking. I jest but you get the picture. It was interesting shouting the same things volleyball parents shout at their kids. You volleyball parents will know these..."close the block", "cover the block", "up on it", "just serve it in the court", and "come on ref...you are missing a great game". For you uninitiated, many on the GB side made similar unforced mistakes you see during high school volleyball. I am not implying the GB team was equivalent to high school skill...on the other hand they have amazing skill. The GB setter was just brilliant with jump sets going backwards across the entire court. Skill at this level has to be admired. But unforced errors are frustrating for all -- at one point, GB missed five or six straight serves. But hey, the wave was fun and the crowd, including us, cheered them on. The match was unfortunately won by the Russians in straight sets...on to the Italians and Domincan's. For what its worth, the GB players were prettier.
The Italian vs Dominican Republic game by comparison was amazing volleyball. The offense and defense was great and many volleys went on for what it seemed hours. The Dominican's had 80 mph serves, but as my girls reminded me, they were are the easiest to dig because they have a predictable trajectory. Once you lock in on one of these serves, it is supposedly easy to pass them to the setter. Supposedly because I don't want to be on the receiving end of anything going 80 mph! By comparison, the Italians (and Russians) had float serves that literally seem to shift laterally a foot as it approaches the defensive player. Those by contrast are hard to pass to the setter. The Italians won in four sets but each set was hard fought. It was also fun to be a few rows up from the family of one of the Italian players, #13 Valentina Arrighetti. You can see her at:
http://www.london2012.com/athlete/arrighetti-valentina-1081583/
When we arrived at the stadium, we heard a rumour that tickets were still available for the later matches. That, combined with the fact there were empty seats for the games we watched, encouraged us to attempt the evening game. Afterall, the US and Brazil, amongst others, were going to play in the evening. If you are wondering why we didn't have tickets to watch the US play, it is a result of the lottery system that was used to allocate tickets. When we, mostly Ella, purchased the tickets, all we knew was that it will be first round games and we'll watch two matches. With the rumour freshly in our mind, we attempted to buy tickets for the later matches but were rebuffed. I swear the person in the kiosk giggled and said something like "those silly Americans." The entire stadium was solded out for the evening matches! Annoyed that we didn't act sooner we hustled back home on the Jubiliee line to Edgware to watch the remaining Olympic events on TV. However, we were glad we experienced the event...and that I can share it with you.
Next stop Rome...
The several 6' 5" plus Russians quickly dispatched the herioc attempt by the Great Britain team who in comparison could probably walk under the net without ducking. I jest but you get the picture. It was interesting shouting the same things volleyball parents shout at their kids. You volleyball parents will know these..."close the block", "cover the block", "up on it", "just serve it in the court", and "come on ref...you are missing a great game". For you uninitiated, many on the GB side made similar unforced mistakes you see during high school volleyball. I am not implying the GB team was equivalent to high school skill...on the other hand they have amazing skill. The GB setter was just brilliant with jump sets going backwards across the entire court. Skill at this level has to be admired. But unforced errors are frustrating for all -- at one point, GB missed five or six straight serves. But hey, the wave was fun and the crowd, including us, cheered them on. The match was unfortunately won by the Russians in straight sets...on to the Italians and Domincan's. For what its worth, the GB players were prettier.
The Italian vs Dominican Republic game by comparison was amazing volleyball. The offense and defense was great and many volleys went on for what it seemed hours. The Dominican's had 80 mph serves, but as my girls reminded me, they were are the easiest to dig because they have a predictable trajectory. Once you lock in on one of these serves, it is supposedly easy to pass them to the setter. Supposedly because I don't want to be on the receiving end of anything going 80 mph! By comparison, the Italians (and Russians) had float serves that literally seem to shift laterally a foot as it approaches the defensive player. Those by contrast are hard to pass to the setter. The Italians won in four sets but each set was hard fought. It was also fun to be a few rows up from the family of one of the Italian players, #13 Valentina Arrighetti. You can see her at:
http://www.london2012.com/athlete/arrighetti-valentina-1081583/
When we arrived at the stadium, we heard a rumour that tickets were still available for the later matches. That, combined with the fact there were empty seats for the games we watched, encouraged us to attempt the evening game. Afterall, the US and Brazil, amongst others, were going to play in the evening. If you are wondering why we didn't have tickets to watch the US play, it is a result of the lottery system that was used to allocate tickets. When we, mostly Ella, purchased the tickets, all we knew was that it will be first round games and we'll watch two matches. With the rumour freshly in our mind, we attempted to buy tickets for the later matches but were rebuffed. I swear the person in the kiosk giggled and said something like "those silly Americans." The entire stadium was solded out for the evening matches! Annoyed that we didn't act sooner we hustled back home on the Jubiliee line to Edgware to watch the remaining Olympic events on TV. However, we were glad we experienced the event...and that I can share it with you.
Next stop Rome...
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