We had been planning on sneaking into the Olympic Village but it appeared that the Olympic Village had come to us. After a long day of traveling we decided to call it a night...or so we thought. We had all unpacked, connected to the wifi, enjoyed our welcome treat and settled into bed. When I was catching up on my twitter news of the day I saw that Ryan Lochte, wanting to properly celebrate the end of his swim season tweeted that he was at Club Rose. Well you wouldn't believe it, but the club was 1.5 miles away from our hotel and it took us about 20 minutes to get ready and get to the club. Long story short...we cut the lines, confused the paparazzi, found Ryan, had a couple drinks with Ryan and danced the night away. It was the ultimate first day.
The next day after a little room service we decorated ourselves in our most patriotic gear and marched our way through Trafalgar Square to Horse Gardens Parade for the gold and bronze men's beach volleyball game. Although America didn't make either game it was exhilarating watching the matches...Germany v. Brazil can you find a more rambunctious crowd? And of course another highlight of the day...we saw Pippa Middleton!
After the games and the medal ceremonies we headed back to the hotel. What could we do tonight? After a quick Google stalk it appeared as if China White was the place to go. After a late dinner we headed out to China White...it's Europe everyone goes out late we'll be fine. False the line was huge...well there were 2 lines and one was huge. We obviously tried for the fast moving line. We obviously didn't see that you needed credentials for the line...if you had a medal you went straight in or if you showed your Olympic credentials it took maybe five minutes. The doorman turns to us," oh are you athletes?" Huh...sure? After a little waiting and a couple new friends later we were in...and we were definitely part of a minority. And I don't mean because we're American...we were literally apart of the handful of people that weren't Olympic athletes. We all assumed athlete aliases and joined the party (I did shot put). We danced all night with our new athletic friends and after a few too many worried calls from our mothers we made our way home...around 4 am. Yes this seems late...but it's Europe, we were obviously jet lagged, you can't leave an Olympian hanging it would be unpatriotic/rude and our late night tirades would later prove very beneficial later.
The next day was pretty mellow, no games for us. We relaxed, toured London, hung out in the Hilton Honors Club with the USA women's gymnastic team (I met Gabby Douglas in the elevator I was way too embarrassing/shy for meeting a 16 year old...whatever), and my mom and Trisha were randomly given tickets to attended the USA men's indoor volleyball match. That night we decided to go back to China White...same story, we were yet again part of the minority. Now we had gotten into the bad habit of strolling home in the wee hours of the night and our mothers weren't too happy about it (to say the least). However, lucky for them, just as we were coming home last minute tickets for the games were also being released...and who got tickets to the men's championship basketball game (rows from the court) hours before the match. USA v Spain...epic doesn't even begin to describe this event. The USA men's basketball team is really the only team(/sport) that has a global following and this game was packed (not to mention one of the first games to sell out).
After the USA collected another gold the crowd and the team went wild...and who do I see mobbing the celebration crowd (same row...seats away from me) none other than Vin Diesel and Tyrese Gibson (they were filming Fast 6...if you haven't seen it I don't know you. A good friend of mine described it as either "the greatest movie in human history or the greatest event in human history...and I happen to whole heatedly agree). So we joined them and after a few pictures, Tyrese accidentally mistaking my mom for his wife and a medal celebration later we were on our way to the Closing Ceremonies.
Opening ceremonies were weird. Closing was one of the coolest events I have ever attended (in general our "Olympic Journey" was out of this world and this finale definitely topped what seemed like an unstoppable trip). Literally every major British musician performed (past and present), the light shows were unreal, the processions were unforgettable and the company was extraordinary...750 million people from around the world tuned into it. I probably should have brought my inhaler I lost my breath so many times...that was lame but seriously when you see One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Russel Brand, Jessie J, Tinie Tempah, Taio Cruz, Muse, Queen, the Spice Girls, The Beatles and The Who on one stage...words can't properly capture the moment.
On our way home we were packed like sardines on the tube...what first appeared to be a painstaking journey turned into quite the networking tool. We happened to sit next to the son of the US team's diving coach and he told us all about his cool experiences in the UK...our long haul into the city turned into a piece of cake with our new friend. After exiting the tube and making our way to the streets we were pretty exhausted. We trudged back into our hotel to find that team USA was having a closing party at our hotel in the Dream Suite. Lets see how far our good luck (and all the Olympic souvenirs from the Closing Ceremonies)could get us?
Guess who walked past security and into the party...a perfect last night.
