Today began bright and early with a 6:30 in the morning run to get my mileage in for the day. I headed down Grays Inn Rd. to Euston Rd. and found a park about two miles down the way that was nice and quiet and had some okay walking paths that I was able to run on before heading back. Once done with that I grabbed a quick breakfast and headed off to watch some archery qualifying rounds while others waited for their tickets at CoSport.
Unfortunately, the Archery, which was billed as a non-ticket event, was not free to the public. In fact it wasn't available to the public at all and was held in private on the Lord's cricket grounds. So instead of stopping at archery we walked with the main group to CoSport and dropped them off there. Those of us not picking up tickets today then meandered our way through a bazaar, or market, and slowly made our way back to King's Cross Station. Once there we found platform nine and three quarters and snapped a picture before I headed out on my own to meet an old high school friend who is also in London.
My friend Jason went to high school with me and is currently a Senior at the University of Northern Alabama as a French and Education major. He has been in London for four weeks, doing research on the origins of Boy Scouts and how it has changed over the years.So I met up with him and he showed me some of the places he really likes, including the British Museum which features exhibits on everything from Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to Medieval Europe and the Americas as well as the Rosetta Stone. So we looked around that for an hour or so and did some shopping before he had to be back with his group for their Opening Ceremony festivities.
For the Opening Ceremonies themselves, Darci, Sean, Laura, and myself found an Irish pub a few blocks from our hostel and just set up camp in a balcony, getting food and drinks as we pleased. the ceremonies themselves were really good, I thought, and got me really pumped and excited for the games. In particular I liked how they lit the torch at the end, stressing the points of unity and peaceful togetherness which both go towards the goals of Olympism.
Unfortunately, the Archery, which was billed as a non-ticket event, was not free to the public. In fact it wasn't available to the public at all and was held in private on the Lord's cricket grounds. So instead of stopping at archery we walked with the main group to CoSport and dropped them off there. Those of us not picking up tickets today then meandered our way through a bazaar, or market, and slowly made our way back to King's Cross Station. Once there we found platform nine and three quarters and snapped a picture before I headed out on my own to meet an old high school friend who is also in London.
My friend Jason went to high school with me and is currently a Senior at the University of Northern Alabama as a French and Education major. He has been in London for four weeks, doing research on the origins of Boy Scouts and how it has changed over the years.So I met up with him and he showed me some of the places he really likes, including the British Museum which features exhibits on everything from Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to Medieval Europe and the Americas as well as the Rosetta Stone. So we looked around that for an hour or so and did some shopping before he had to be back with his group for their Opening Ceremony festivities.
For the Opening Ceremonies themselves, Darci, Sean, Laura, and myself found an Irish pub a few blocks from our hostel and just set up camp in a balcony, getting food and drinks as we pleased. the ceremonies themselves were really good, I thought, and got me really pumped and excited for the games. In particular I liked how they lit the torch at the end, stressing the points of unity and peaceful togetherness which both go towards the goals of Olympism.