After another restful sleep (thanks to my late run the night before), I woke up with plenty of spirit and energy, ready to see what this day would bring. My event for the day, beach volleyball, was not slated to begin until 2:30 p.m., so I used the first part of my day to catch up on some of my blog entries (I need the time; as you can tell, my entries are very long and detailed). It was about 12:15 or so when I finished. After showering, I donned my church clothes, preparing to leave volleyball early and locate this church that I have done research about. It was going to be another eventful, action-packed day in London.
I took my ticket and travel pass and headed over to the metro station. I made sure to eat before I made it to the station, so I would not have to pay for the expensive food at the event. Therefore, I grabbed some delicious Subway and rolled out. I asked the volunteers where I should go, and told me to make my way to the Green Park station. There, I would be a short walk from Horse's Guard Parade, where beach volleyball would be contested. After riding the Victoria line trains, I emerged from the station into a new part of London. I gazed at the shops, took more pictures, and dodged traffic en route to the park. Once I finally got there, I really, really had to use the bathroom. I asked about ten volunteers until I found the nearest one, which was nested in a bustling city block called Trafalgar Square. This is one thing that has annoyed me about London thus far. In addition to the lack of water fountains, there are not very many public restrooms (or toilets, as they prefer to call them). Anyway, I took lots of pictures of the square afterward, including one of a huge electronic sign that tells the time of the day and counts down the days until the start of the Paralympic games.
I managed to get through security pretty easily and eventually found myself staring at the mass of metal that made up the beach volleyball stadium. It looked like an unfinished stadium from the outside, but the venue was actually pretty nice. I sat pretty high up, so I had a terrific view of the ferris wheel in the middle of the city and a tiny glimpse of Big Ben. The match I got to see featured the Netherlands against Venezuela. Unlike the quiet atmosphere of Wimbledon, beach volleyball was chock full of entertainment! They played music between just about every point, including some famous American songs like Back in Black from AC-DC and Party Rock Anthem from LMFAO. During timeouts, they would either bring out some dancers in beach attire to entertain the crowd, or they would bring out the sand raking team. This was my favorite part because every time they came out, the stadium started to play the Benny Hill theme. It was totally British. I also loved the fact that before certain points, the stadium would play this short southwestern tune, after which the crowd would cheer, "Ole!!!" I watched the end of the first set, which the Netherlands won. The Dutch players had a clear size advantage on the two Venezuelan players. Venezuela was scrappy, however, and they were very good at defense. They got off to a quick start in the second set and managed to hold on and win, sending the match to a deciding third set. However, the sun had faded at this point, and it begun to rain. It was funny seeing everyone scramble to put their ponchos on or break out their umbrellas. It all looked very rehearsed, as if this always happens in London (which, believe it or not, it does). I just brought my umbrella, so I opened it to protect myself. However, due to my height, I had become a burden for the people behind me, who complained that they could not see anything. I tried crouching with the umbrella, but it was very uncomfortable for my back and my back was getting poured on. After a couple more points in the third set, I decided that I had my fill and left the stadium. I stuck around for a little bit to see if the rain would subside, but with no end in sight, I began to head downtown.
Before I headed back, I wanted to make sure that I would get to see the Westminster Abbey. I meandered in that direction and managed to find Big Ben, staring me right in the face. It was the second Big Ben that I've seen in person in my life (the first being Mr. Roethlisberger). I took a couple of pictures and some pictures of the Westminster Abbey before the rain started to pick up. Thankfully, there was a metro station nearby, so I made my descent toward the train system.
After navigating through the system, I was back at good old Clink 261. I waited until about 5:20 p.m. to see if Leslie Greer would show up because she seemed interested in attending church with me. In the meantime, I spent time talking to Laura Jack, who had been out and about exploring. She then left to go find chocolate, and I decided to take off and find the church early so I would not be lost. After taking a couple of twists and turns throughout the streets of London, asking for directions along the way (some lady tried to tell me that the church was in a children's hospital...), I came across St. George's Holborn Church. The exterior and interior were designed like an old-fashioned church building, but the service was actually more in the contemporary fashion. The songs were very familiar to me, and the lesson was empowering (it was in the theme of the Olympic games: 2 Timothy 4: 6-8). The people were very friendly and very spiritual, although not as ethnically diverse as what I am used to. Still, it was a wonderful blessing to have found such a great church in the middle of London!
As I was walking back, I stumbled upon a fancy-looking restaurant called Steak +. Actually, it did not look that fancy from the outside, but the inside was a different matter. White table mats, wine glasses, fancy menus; I thought the place was going to be very expensive. I was able to get an appetizer and a main course for about 10 pounds, though, and the white wine wasn't very pricey either. The food was SUBLIME. I had some crisp asparagus with a sweet-tasting sauce and a piece of lamb steak with mushrooms and a grey sauce with a rich texture. It was, by far, the best meal I've had in London. The service was excellent, too. This sweet girl named Anniku was my waitress. She was from Hungary, so she had a pretty thick accent. She was a chatterbox! She talked to me for about 25 minutes straight. She seemed so excited when I told her I might come back later in the week. I left her a nice tip and I left the restaurant, full and happy.
I made it back to the hostel and blogged some more in the basement. There were a number of us down there watching swimming on TV. We saw the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay final, which featured the United States. Phelps and Lochte teamed up to try to earn the US some hardware. Phelps raced second and gave the US a decent lead over the rest of the pack. Lochte was the anchor, but he got caught right at the end. Therefore, the US won the silver medal, with Phelps now 0 for 2 in going for gold. Bonnie had come down during this time and told us about our agenda for tomorrow. We would be volunteering in the Olympic Reunion Center with impoverished children in London, AND we would be treated to a fancy banquet afterwards. Unfortunately for the guys, that meant going out to Oxford Circus tomorrow to buy dress clothes. I also learned that some people in the group were thinking about visiting Oxford University on Tuesday. I thought it would be an amazing (and pretty inexpensive) opportunity, so I committed to going along.
Following all of this, I headed up to the room, finished my personal bible study (i.e. the purple book), and finished Exodus in the bible before going to sleep. Another busy day awaited tomorrow morning
I took my ticket and travel pass and headed over to the metro station. I made sure to eat before I made it to the station, so I would not have to pay for the expensive food at the event. Therefore, I grabbed some delicious Subway and rolled out. I asked the volunteers where I should go, and told me to make my way to the Green Park station. There, I would be a short walk from Horse's Guard Parade, where beach volleyball would be contested. After riding the Victoria line trains, I emerged from the station into a new part of London. I gazed at the shops, took more pictures, and dodged traffic en route to the park. Once I finally got there, I really, really had to use the bathroom. I asked about ten volunteers until I found the nearest one, which was nested in a bustling city block called Trafalgar Square. This is one thing that has annoyed me about London thus far. In addition to the lack of water fountains, there are not very many public restrooms (or toilets, as they prefer to call them). Anyway, I took lots of pictures of the square afterward, including one of a huge electronic sign that tells the time of the day and counts down the days until the start of the Paralympic games.
I managed to get through security pretty easily and eventually found myself staring at the mass of metal that made up the beach volleyball stadium. It looked like an unfinished stadium from the outside, but the venue was actually pretty nice. I sat pretty high up, so I had a terrific view of the ferris wheel in the middle of the city and a tiny glimpse of Big Ben. The match I got to see featured the Netherlands against Venezuela. Unlike the quiet atmosphere of Wimbledon, beach volleyball was chock full of entertainment! They played music between just about every point, including some famous American songs like Back in Black from AC-DC and Party Rock Anthem from LMFAO. During timeouts, they would either bring out some dancers in beach attire to entertain the crowd, or they would bring out the sand raking team. This was my favorite part because every time they came out, the stadium started to play the Benny Hill theme. It was totally British. I also loved the fact that before certain points, the stadium would play this short southwestern tune, after which the crowd would cheer, "Ole!!!" I watched the end of the first set, which the Netherlands won. The Dutch players had a clear size advantage on the two Venezuelan players. Venezuela was scrappy, however, and they were very good at defense. They got off to a quick start in the second set and managed to hold on and win, sending the match to a deciding third set. However, the sun had faded at this point, and it begun to rain. It was funny seeing everyone scramble to put their ponchos on or break out their umbrellas. It all looked very rehearsed, as if this always happens in London (which, believe it or not, it does). I just brought my umbrella, so I opened it to protect myself. However, due to my height, I had become a burden for the people behind me, who complained that they could not see anything. I tried crouching with the umbrella, but it was very uncomfortable for my back and my back was getting poured on. After a couple more points in the third set, I decided that I had my fill and left the stadium. I stuck around for a little bit to see if the rain would subside, but with no end in sight, I began to head downtown.
Before I headed back, I wanted to make sure that I would get to see the Westminster Abbey. I meandered in that direction and managed to find Big Ben, staring me right in the face. It was the second Big Ben that I've seen in person in my life (the first being Mr. Roethlisberger). I took a couple of pictures and some pictures of the Westminster Abbey before the rain started to pick up. Thankfully, there was a metro station nearby, so I made my descent toward the train system.
After navigating through the system, I was back at good old Clink 261. I waited until about 5:20 p.m. to see if Leslie Greer would show up because she seemed interested in attending church with me. In the meantime, I spent time talking to Laura Jack, who had been out and about exploring. She then left to go find chocolate, and I decided to take off and find the church early so I would not be lost. After taking a couple of twists and turns throughout the streets of London, asking for directions along the way (some lady tried to tell me that the church was in a children's hospital...), I came across St. George's Holborn Church. The exterior and interior were designed like an old-fashioned church building, but the service was actually more in the contemporary fashion. The songs were very familiar to me, and the lesson was empowering (it was in the theme of the Olympic games: 2 Timothy 4: 6-8). The people were very friendly and very spiritual, although not as ethnically diverse as what I am used to. Still, it was a wonderful blessing to have found such a great church in the middle of London!
As I was walking back, I stumbled upon a fancy-looking restaurant called Steak +. Actually, it did not look that fancy from the outside, but the inside was a different matter. White table mats, wine glasses, fancy menus; I thought the place was going to be very expensive. I was able to get an appetizer and a main course for about 10 pounds, though, and the white wine wasn't very pricey either. The food was SUBLIME. I had some crisp asparagus with a sweet-tasting sauce and a piece of lamb steak with mushrooms and a grey sauce with a rich texture. It was, by far, the best meal I've had in London. The service was excellent, too. This sweet girl named Anniku was my waitress. She was from Hungary, so she had a pretty thick accent. She was a chatterbox! She talked to me for about 25 minutes straight. She seemed so excited when I told her I might come back later in the week. I left her a nice tip and I left the restaurant, full and happy.
I made it back to the hostel and blogged some more in the basement. There were a number of us down there watching swimming on TV. We saw the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay final, which featured the United States. Phelps and Lochte teamed up to try to earn the US some hardware. Phelps raced second and gave the US a decent lead over the rest of the pack. Lochte was the anchor, but he got caught right at the end. Therefore, the US won the silver medal, with Phelps now 0 for 2 in going for gold. Bonnie had come down during this time and told us about our agenda for tomorrow. We would be volunteering in the Olympic Reunion Center with impoverished children in London, AND we would be treated to a fancy banquet afterwards. Unfortunately for the guys, that meant going out to Oxford Circus tomorrow to buy dress clothes. I also learned that some people in the group were thinking about visiting Oxford University on Tuesday. I thought it would be an amazing (and pretty inexpensive) opportunity, so I committed to going along.
Following all of this, I headed up to the room, finished my personal bible study (i.e. the purple book), and finished Exodus in the bible before going to sleep. Another busy day awaited tomorrow morning
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