We had a great day... slept in, inadvertently stumbled upon an event, watched the last day of gymnastics and even squeezed in a musical!
I woke up at 8 to straighten my hair since I knew we were attending Jersey Boys in Leicester Square tonight. Amy wanted to leave at ten, but when I finished my hair and 9:50 and poked in to see Amy fast asleep, I knew that wasn't going to happen.
We left about 11:30 to head to Buckingham Palace and catch the full Changing of the Guard. We forgot what one of the Gamesmakers had told us last night, however, and ended up right in the middle of the HUGE crowd headed to Hyde Park to watch the men's triathlon.
While the crowd went one direction, we went in the other, thinking maybe Buckingham Palace was in the clear. It wasn't; turns out the cycling route of the event cut right through the middle of the place. It ended up being pretty cool, though, as we got to see the athletes pass by a few times.
Only Amy and I would inadvertently stumble upon an Olympic event, right? Not complaining, though, cause it was actually pretty cool to see. We headed back to the hostel since Amy had forgotten her camera and actually got to see the end of the triathlon on BBC. Two brothers from Team GB got gold and bronze, so it got the day started on a good note.
We headed back to North Greenwich Arena one last time to watch the final day of event finals. At American Bar & Grill, we ate our burgers and watched men's parallel bars, women's balance beam, men's high bar and women's floor.
Quick thoughts on gymnastics: was surprised that Danell didn't make PB finals, especially since I was at that qualification session. Sui Lu is a little brat; taking off your silver medal immediately after stepping off the podium is classless, and honestly shows disrespect towards the Olympics. I'm glad Mihai filed the inquiry on Aly's score, though I'm not sure why the judges couldn't get it right the first time since Aly stayed on the beam. Thrilled for her bronze. Epke Zonderland hit the most exciting high bar routine I have EVER seen in my life. What is even cooler than his MASSIVE 16.533 score is that Amy and I can now say that we met a 2012 Olympic gold medalist. With floor finals, I feel for Jordyn Wieber as she is not having the Olympics she was expecting. With that said, however, I'm so happy for Aly. She hit the crap out of that routine and definitely deserved the gold medal.
The meet was over about 5:30, but we didn't have to be in Leicester Square for the musical until 6:45. We had time to kill, so we decided to hang around the arena and people-watch. Best. Decision. EVER.
We were standing around joking about how if we ever took a picture with Victoria Komova that we'd have to pout. Five minutes later, I saw a swarm of people surrounding a short girl in a Russian jacket. Boom. Vika. Standing about fifteen feet away from us.
NOTE: The rest of these pictures are from Amy's camera because her camera kicks my camera's ass.
You would think Justin freaking Bieber had just entered the arena.
We turned around to see Ksenia Afanasyeva standing not too far from us in the other direction. She looked upset, though, and not in the mood to be very social. We approached her for a picture, but she was completely oblivious. It took a girl behind us flagging her down for her to finally acknowledge us.
Us with Ksenia! I think that grimace is just how the Russians smile.
Anastasia Grishina. Adorable.
Maria Paseka was an absolute sweetheart. She was surrounded by other Russians, but I caught her eye and asked if we could have a picture. She smiled big, nodded and then went out of her way to navigate the crowd and come to us.
VIKA! This picture came about five minutes after we'd made a pact to pout if we ever got to take a picture with her. We just couldn't do it. It's freaking Vika, y'all. And she's smiling! Amazing.
We were hoping to go 5 for 5 and catch Aliya, but as Kyle Shewfelt told us, she was most likely drug testing.
Oh yea- Kyle Shewfelt! We met him, too.
Pretty much the best Canadian gymnast ever? 2004 Olympic FX Champion? No? YouTube him. You'll be amazed.
We were sad that it was our last day at North Greenwich Arena, so we took some goodbye pictures.
I look like I'm kissing it. I'm not, I'm sad-facing. Great times had at North Greenwich Arena. Certainly a place I will never forget.
After leaving North Greenwich one last time, we headed over to Leicester Square for Jersey Boys at the Prince Edward Theater. We had awesome seats about five or six rows back. The show was just as I remembered it: AWESOME. If you've never seen it, I suggest doing so. The music is fantastic.
Outside the theater. Pouring rain. So British.
We got on the tube after the show at about 10:30, but ended up running into the only tube hiccup we've had since we've been here. The Jubilee Line was suspended at one end of the line, but it was backing things up further down. After sitting at each stop for about five minutes before moving, we decided to get off at Baker Street and take a different line one stop further than where we needed. From there, we caught the Jubilee Line going in the opposite direction. We ended up getting back at about 11:30 when we otherwise would've been back between 10:45-11, but no big deal. After the tube mess, we decided that entitled us to dinner from the deli. I got a cream soda and a chicken samosa and we chilled in the lounge for a while to blog.
Day 13 will be our last full day in London! We've got a packed agenda, though. Shopping in the morning and lunch with one of Amy's friends, then a surprise of sorts that Amy has planned, followed by handball at Olympic Park at 6! Busy day. Thursday, we board the Eurostar at about 7 AM to head to Paris for about three days. We return on Saturday night and the leave for the US on Sunday. This trip has gone so quickly!
Anyways, leave me comments. Come on, you know you want to! If you leave me comments, I promise to blog TONIGHT instead of tomorrow! Come on... please?! Catch you later!
So cool about meeting the Russian gymnasts!!! Enjoy Paris!!! :)
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