London 2012: Beach Volleyball

Yesterday Rob, the bump, and I went to the Horse Guards Parade to enjoy some beach volleyball. We tried to get tickets over a year ago back in the first wave of tickets sale but we failed. Back then, we applied for many tickets but we only got two for the Women's Volleyball Quarterfinals. Nonetheless, we felt quite lucky. When I was younger (and fit!) I played volleyball and beach volleyball, so for me these were the two disciplines to watch. 

A few days ago we found out that every evening new tickets are released. We have tried a couple of times but without success until we finally got two tickets for beach volleyball. If I wasn't in my ninth month of pregnancy I would try to get tickets for every single event, I am really loving the Olympics this year! I suppose it's different when your hometown is hosting them! But I am every day slower and slower and more out of breath, so more than often it is sensible to just stay at home.

I don't mind telling you, it was a bit of a struggle for me to get there yesterday, despite the fact that we booked a car; however, as soon as we entered the stadium and we sat down I started feeling better and I truly enjoyed the games and the entertainment. 

The location is simply stunning, right next to St. James's park, Downing street and with the London Eye in the background. The park was packed. We strolled a bit and admired the statues and the sand sculptures before entering the actual stadium. 

The atmosphere in the stadium was glorious. All the flags were on display, good music was being played and the crowd was really into it, singing, dancing and playing with the waves! 

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see either Italy or the USA; the first match we saw was the men's where Germany literally destroyed Latvia. The second game, the women's, was a bit more entertaining, with Check Republic sending Brazil home.

Overall, we had a blast. I am glad we went, I had fun watching the games and really enjoyed the dancing parts! Now we are off to see some good Volleyball on Tuesday. Stay tuned.

London 2012 - Olympic Park

Today Rob and I ventured to the Olympic Park. Last week we got tickets to go and visit the park; I was a bit skeptical at first as I thought it would be rather stressful in my condition (I have just entered the ninth month!) but now that we went, I am so glad we did. The only sport event we have tickets for is volleyball which is not played at the Olympic Park, so if we didn't visit it today, we would have not had the chance to see the village otherwise. And it doesn't happen every day to live in a city that hosts the Olympics. So, even if I was a bit tired and out of breath this morning, we left our flat around 9.30am and headed to Stratford. I have to say, I was impressed at how smooth the journey was. The tube was crowded but definitely not overcrowded and once we got there there were so many people helping and directing the crowds that I really didn't feel stressed at all. 

I loved the Olympic Park, I think the Brits did an amazing job. The architecture of every single arena and stadium was simply stunning. Too bad the weather was so crappy today that the pictures don't really give justice to the site. Anyway, here are some of the best pictures we took.

My belly attracted quite a few comments. Everyone was super sweet.

Water Polo Arena

Olympic Stadium and Orbit in the background

Park Live: where you can watch live sport. The hills were packed!

Definitely tired. But happy!

Coca-Cola Beatbox

Velodrome

And we even caught some American TV live. Rob got super excited!

And American medalists being interviewed (Also, Giuliana from E News was there!)

All in all we had a blast. I got home exhausted and had to rest in bed with my very swollen feet up for a couple of hours to recover but it was worth it! We visited an Olympic Park, saw athletes wandering around, had a delicious pork sandwich, and even managed to do some shopping! I would do it again. Brasil 2016, we are coming! That would be nice...

Your Olympic Games Tickets

This morning we were just about to sit down to have breakfast when the door bell rang. Delivery. There are several packages we expect to be delivered these days, mostly baby stuff (e.g. changing table and storage boxes, changing mat, baby clothes) and a few other things (e.g. gifts for upcoming friends' birthdays, shoes for me and some other stuff for the house) but we were definitely not expecting this! And you can imagine our excitement when we opened the package and saw what was inside:

A year ago when the first round of tickets went on sale, Rob and I applied to as many tickets we felt comfortable with. At the beginning you could just apply for tickets, hoping to get something. Millions of people frantically visited the London 2012 website that day and so did we and many of our friends. Naively, we thought we were going to get something but then with time we realised how hard that would be. A few months went by and one day I received an email with the notification that we had been allocated two tickets for the Women Volleyball Semifinals! I was so happy as this was one of my favourite events to attend. Having played volleyball when I was younger and being a big fan of the sport, this was a special event for me. Unfortunately, not all our friends have been lucky getting tickets, at least not at the first round. So we feel blessed.

Now the *problem* is the game will be on August 7th, just three weeks before my due date. Will I be able to go? How big will I be then? London will be a mess to get around those days and I will certainly be less tolerant than usual. However, as of right now I still plan to go, it doesn't happen every day to go to an Olympic game and I would hate to miss this experience. And who knows, perhaps baby O will get so excited, will let me enjoy the game, and then will try to come out a bit early! Everybody wins!