London 2012, Day 9 – London!

Finally! I feel like I am at the Olympics.

This morning, I took a train from Manchester to London and made it to my flat on High Street by about 3 pm. The view from our balcony is fantastic–we can see the entire Olympic Village. Definitely the most convenient accommodations I’ve had at an Olympics.

The view from my balcony …

Once I got situated, I headed to the ExCel Center to cover my first fencing match and watch America’s golden girl of fencing, Mariel Zagunis, attempt to win her third gold medal in saber fencing.

Unfortunately, she faltered in her semifinal match and finished for the first time in her 12-year Olympic career without a medal. You can read my story on Zagunis HERE.

 

Saber fencing, especially with the high-tech face masks and strip at the Olympics, is extremely user friendly.

After the bout, I headed back to our flat at The Lock Building and met up with my flatmate for the next two weeks, Jackie MacMullan, who is amazing and funny and going to be so much fun to hang out with at the Olympics. We sat up watching the BBC, chatting and drinking wine and eating frozen pizza.

Not a bad first day in London!

 

 

A FEW OLYMPIC OBSERVATIONS …

* Bathrooms in England do not have power outlets. Where do they dry their hair, shave or plug in their electric toothbrushes? Oh, wait …

* Outlets, however, are smarter here. Once you plug something in, you must also turn on the outlet, so as to not waste power when you’re not using the plug.

* If you want to find the French at any venue – and this pertains to the coaches, the athletes and the fans – just walk outside. They’re smoking.

The DLR train station near our flat … home base for the next 14.

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