Monumental Fortnight: The London 2012 Olympics

For two weeks this summer, the eyes of the world turned to London, as the Olympics took place in the historic capital. As you know, London is one of my favorite places, and since I have a fair amount of friends who live in the city, I made it a goal long ago to experience the 2012 Olympics there. I know I tend to overuse positive expressions when I talk about things I have done. I throw around a lot of “amazings” or “one of the best things ever” when I write. But being in London for the summer games was truly one of the highlights of my life so far, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the memories of August 2012. Voltaire once cautioned writers, "The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out." Well, I am going to totally and deliberately ignore his suggestion and include as many details as I can possibly remember from the experience, so that in the future, when I look back on this post, I can recall and relive every moment of this monumental fortnight.

I booked this year’s trip home to coincide with the Olympics. I connected in London on my way to the States in July, and the return leg of my trip back to Hong Kong included an Olympics-length "layover" in the Big Smoke. Around nine in the morning on August 1^st, a few days after the opening ceremony, I landed in Heathrow Terminal 5 about as excited as I’ve ever been. My old Hong Kong roommate Ally met me as I passed through customs.

Ally had a summer job teaching at an English language program in Oxford, and this was one of her days off, so she decided to come up to London for a day of fun. I was staying with two of my best friends from Hong Kong, brother and sister duo Alex and Amy, and they had booked a car to drive us from the airport to their new apartment in a part of London called Shepherd’s Bush. 

Alex was one of my oldest and best friends in Hong Kong when he left to go home to England last December. When I arrived in Hong Kong, he worked at the same company as my first roommate Julian. That first summer, Alex’s sister Amy came to visit him. She had arranged an internship and only planned on staying a couple of months. Hong Kong won her over, however, and she found a full time job and decided to stay. For the next two years, we hung out a lot and became very good friends. I was very sad when she, too, decided to go back to the UK after her contract expired. 

But it certainly was a joy to spend so much time with them in London. Alex basically took care of all the Olympics tickets, and that worked out very well for me. You see, as an American citizen, tickets were only available to me through limited channels, and I hadn’t made any effort to secure myself tickets. Being a UK resident, however, Alex could buy up to four tickets per event through the official London 2012 website, and since it was only the siblings and their mom Liz who planned on attending events, I had dibs on that fourth ticket. 

Shepherd’s Bush is a very cool part of London. It’s located in Zone 2, and it has a quiet, residential feel to it, with lots of family owned shops and restaurants, and of course, dozens of London’s iconic pubs. Alex and Amy live on a cute little street called Saint Elmo Road, and they had just moved in to this new apartment together about two weeks before I came to stay with them. 

When I landed in London, Alex, Amy and Liz were actually at a rowing event in Eton, near Windsor Castle. In fact, I flew right over the venue as we approached Heathrow, and snapped a photo of the crowd, so they’re down there somewhere!

Looking down on the rowing event at Eton, which Alex, Amy and Liz were coincidentally attending!

Flying over Windsor Castle

After showering and getting ready, Ally and I stopped for a quick bite to eat at a local restaurant. We then walked to the tube and realized we were only a couple of stops away from Kew Gardens. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is one of the few bona fide London attractions I had somehow not managed to visit on any of my previous trips. The last time I was in town, when I was working out of our London office for three weeks in 2010, I made it all the way to the front gates of the gardens, but the ticket salesman advised me to wait until I could come back another day, since there was only about an hour left until closing. He could have sold me a ticket, he said, but there was no way I could come close to getting my money’s worth in such a short amount of time. So I heeded his advice, and it took my almost two years to make it back.

The gardens were lovely and varied. They are spread over acres and acres, and the River Thames runs right alongside them. There’s even an old palace on the grounds, where monarchs like King George III once lived when Kew was a country retreat for English rulers. Although the day started out dreary and grey, during our stroll the clouds parted and it became bright and sunny. It was a great first couple of hours back in London.

The Palm House

Kew Palace, the smallest of the British royal palaces, once inhabited by King George III

After leaving the gardens, we grabbed a few pints at the pub next to the tube station while we waited to hear from Alex and Amy about dinner. I started with an IPA and followed it with a cider, and after an hour or so, we had made plans to meet the siblings near Notting Hill Gate. Ally had to catch a bus from that area in order to get back to Oxford later, and the neighborhood is dotted with many pubs and restaurants, so it seemed like a good bet.

Back when I first studied abroad in London in 2006, my dad put me in contact with a couple of his friends who worked for UBS. One night, I met them and their wives for dinner at a delicious gastro-pub in Notting Hill called the Ladbroke Arms. I remembered it as being delicious, and Alex and Amy had also been before, so we decided to go there for dinner. Everything on the menu sounded wonderful, but the waitress mentioned that there was a special that night—dover sole—and that there was only one left. It’s always been one of my favorite fish, and I quickly jumped at the chance to snap up the last one. Of course it was scrumptious, as were the starters and desserts, and I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect first dinner. Towards the end of the meal, one of Amy's best friends, Emily, joined the party. Sitting outside with old friends, drinking cider and eating great food—this is what London is all about. And you could palpably feel the Olympics fever in the air. I was getting more and more exciting for what tomorrow had in store. Of course, as it was my first night back, and as I hadn’t seen my friends in many, many months, there was a bit of revelry back on Saint Elmo Road. In fact, it turned out to be a pretty late night, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. We're all Hong Kong-trained troopers anyway, so we’re used to operating on minimal sleep! 

We had to wake up super early the next day because we had tickets for that morning's session of water polo. Quick geography lesson: Shepherd’s Bush is in West London while the Olympics Park is located in the east, so we literally had to cross the entire city by train in order to get to there. It took about an hour, and I can’t say it was a particularly fun train ride for any of us, but as soon as we got off at Statford Station, you could sense something unbelievably special surrounding us.

Entering the park was unreal. The crowds were all decked out in patriotic garb, including yours truly covered in his very own star spangled banner. And the wonderfully friendly and funny volunteers were doing their best to keep everybody’s spirits high. We walked past the Aquatics Centre and the iconic Olympic Stadium, snapping photos and soaking up the electric atmosphere.

Water polo is not a sport I know much about, but it sure was fun to watch Spain square off against Australia in my first live Olympics event. The second match we saw was Kazakhstan versus Greece. I was disappointed that the Kazakhstanis weren’t donning Borat-inspired swimsuits, and I was so tired I had to fight to keep my eyes open, but I will still always remember it.

Water polo! Spain versus Australia

After the matches concluded, we had plans to spend the afternoon in Victoria Park, where huge screens had been set up so everybody could watch the games in the open air. Our swimming tickets for that evening were for 7:30pm, and the water polo ended around noon, so we had a lovely afternoon lounging in the park. We rode the Ferris wheel, ate paella and I even had a sumo wrestling match against Liz, Alex and Amy’s mom. The UK triumphed over the US in that one, I’m afraid, but it was still a blast. 

A sumo match in Victoria Park

After riding the Ferris wheel, I also took a much-needed nap on one of the many grassy fields. Had I not, I doubt I would have made it through the rest of the day, but when I awoke, I was energized, rejuvenated and ready for an amazing night.

View of Victoria Park and the Olympic Stadium from the Ferris wheel

We re-entered the Olympics Park and made our way to the Aquatics Centre for that evening’s swimming showcase. As cool as water polo had been that morning, the swimming blew it out of the water—pun intended. I had been slightly concerned that I would have trouble following the action without the help of television commentary and those superimposed flags that indicate who is leading at each turn. But surprisingly, it was very easy to keep track of the athletes as the races progressed. Plus, Alex has been a swimmer for many years, and even swam at college at Kenyon, so he, his mom and his sister were all able to fill me in if I was ever confused. 

 

There were four final races, and thus four medal ceremonies, during our session that evening, and three of them ended in American golds. One of our first races saw Rebecca Soni set a new world record in the women’s 200 meter breaststroke! The next featured Tyler Clary winning gold and setting a new Olympic record in the men’s 200 meter backstroke as Ryan Lochte took bronze. And our third big race saw Michael Phelps, by this point the most decorated Olympian of all time, add yet another gold to his immense medal tally, besting Lochte, who had to settle for silver, in the men’s 200 meter medley. 

The start of a semi-final race

Rebecca Soni following her world record breaking win

Ryan Lochte makes an entrance

Soni and the other medalists parading in front of the fans

And although it was only a qualifying heat, Missy Franklin also flew down the lanes in the women’s 200 meter backstroke, for which she wound up taking gold in the following night’s final. I’d watched them all on television before of course, but to see these American icons in the flesh, racing their hearts out, was downright dazzling.

Bronze medalist Lochte gives an interview as Tyler Clary (gold) and Ryosuke Irie (silver) of Japan walk by

Lochte, sporting his bronze medal, speaks to another interviewer

Michael Phelps

After each race, the victors paraded around the pool, usually stopping to give interviews to the television cameras set up just in front of our seats. And I know it probably sounds corny, but hearing the Star Spangled Banner, watching our flag rise and seeing the blur of red, white and blue scattered throughout the stands was an overwhelming, eye-watering experience. So to have it happen three times in such a short time span was truly unforgettable. With my American flag draped over my back, I was supremely proud of all of our athletes.

The most decorated Olympian of all time!

Phelps being interviewed as the next race begins!

The next day, we didn’t have tickets for any actual events, so Amy and I just wandered to a local pub to spend the afternoon. That night, we went to an ale bar in Clapham to meet up with Amy’s friend Matt, whom I had met in Hong Kong. Matt and Amy went to college together, and he now lives in Bangkok. It was one of his last nights home before flying back to Thailand, so he invited a group of his friends to a sort of farewell party, and it was a very fun night.

Amy and Matt 

Saturday was another Olympics day. We had tickets to see Mexico play Senegal in soccer at Wembley Stadium. The crowd was decked out in sombreros and fake mustaches, and Mexico—the ultimate gold medal winner—defeated Senegal in extra time.

Mexico supporters entering Wembley

Mexico versus Senegal at Wembley

That night we went to see a concert in Camden, a very popular area of North London. The band was Fat Freddy’s Drop, a New Zealand-based group that combines jazz, techno and reggae in their music. I had never heard of them before, but Alex and Amy are big fans, and I’m really glad they suggested going. The venue was very cool—a renovated old theater—and I was instantly won over by the band’s unique musical style.

And of course we went out in Camden following the concert, as it’s one of London’s hottest nightspots. Alex guaranteed me I would hear at least one Amy Winehouse song that night, and you can believe the whole bar went crazy went Valerie came on!

Partying in Camden with Amy, her friend Emily and Alex

The next day, Sunday, I nicknamed “the Ultimate Day” because Alex had managed to secure tickets for the athletics session that evening, which included perhaps the single most anticipated event of the entire Olympics—the men’s 100 meter final! I couldn’t believe it when Alex told me he had tickets for the event, and I was even more surprised when I realized our seats were in row nine! Although they were expensive—ridiculously expensive if I’m completely honest—I know it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and there was no way I was going to miss my shot.

Amy and Alex walking towards to tube on "The Ultimate Day"

Patriotic Amy

Although that evening’s gallimaufry of assorted athletics didn’t begin until around 7pm, we headed to the Olympics Park in Statford early to enjoy the atmosphere and do some shopping at the Olympics Mega Store. I picked up a few assorted souvenirs, and Alex bought a special Olympics-themed version of Trivial Pursuit, which we promptly played on the sidewalk overlooking the venues of the park.

Before we knew it, the time had come to enter the stadium. Again, I was equipped with my American flag, and I had Amy paint a copy of it over my entire face. She did a great job, and I felt uber-patriotic and ready for one of the ultimate sporting events on the face of the planet.

Ready for the big event!!

On our way to the stadium, out of nowhere, a woman appeared who looked instantly familiar. She was maybe ten feet ahead of me when I caught sight of her, walking towards us surrounded by a small entourage of people. “Alex, that’s Kate Middleton,” I said. “Yeah, it definitely is,” was his reply. 

I was too flustered—and it all happened so quickly—that I didn’t even think about getting my camera out to take a photo. But I got chills as she walked by, smiling and laughing, looking like a million dollars. 

There I was, Paul Parisi from Old Bridge, New Jersey, and I was about three feet away from the future queen of England, walking towards the Olympics Stadium to watch the men’s 100 meter final! Somebody up there likes me! My hairs were standing on end, and I had to pinch myself to make sure this was all really happening and wasn’t just some incredible dream! 

Being inside that stadium was pretty surreal. We’d all seen it from the outside, and of course on television, but to actually walk inside and make our way down to row nine was another thing altogether. Each step brought us closer and closer to the track itself, and as funny as it sounds, simply walking from the entry gate to our amazing seats was something I’ll remember forever. I turned back to Amy and Alex as we made our way down: “Walk slowly, guys, and savor every step of this walk,” I told them.

There was so much going on—high jump, triple jump, hammer throw and, of course, the running. We saw heats and heats of the 800 meter hurdles and the steeplechase final. But all anybody could keep thinking about was that before the night was over, we would actually witness the 100 meter final live.

In fact, the semi-finals of the 100 meter were also run that same night, so we got to see three preliminary races before the real deal. Thus, we watched as Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Justin Gatlin all came in first place during their respective semi-final. The stage was set.

As the eight runners took their positions for the start of the marquee event, I took a couple of photos and promised myself that I would put the camera down as soon as the race started, snapping only one photo just as the athletes took off. It’s about a ten second race, and I wanted to actually watch it with my own eyes, not see it through the lens of my Olympus.

The one photo I took during the actual men's 100 meter final

It got eerily quiet just before the start of the race, and then in the blink of an eye, the stadium exploded in a raucous surge of cheers and applause. As you know, Jamaican Usain Bolt set a new Olympics record and took the gold. His compatriot Yohan Blake ran a new personal best, as did Justin Gatlin of the United States, capturing silver and bronze, respectively. And we had just witnessed in person a moment an estimated two billion people around the world had tuned in to see!

Following the big race, Bolt, Blake and Gatlin took their victory laps and engaged with the crowd. The bulbs flashing all over the stadium, the roar of the crowd, the Olympic flame burning, and the fastest men in the world only a few feet away.

To cap it all off, Sanya Richards-Ross, Christine Ohuruogu and DeeDee Trotter then took their places on the podium for the victory ceremony for the women’s 400 meter race. With gold and bronze going to Americans, and a Brit taking silver, the final medal ceremony of the evening was one to remember. Hearing our anthem again, this time in the iconic Olympic Stadium itself, was simply thrilling. To have experienced all that in one night made for just about as perfect a day at the Olympics as I could have ever envisioned. It was “the Ultimate Day” to be sure.

As the crowds flooded out of the stadium, Alex, Amy, Liz and I decided we wanted to enjoy every last second we could in the extraordinary venue. We knew we wouldn’t be back inside again and wanted to savor just being there. We posed for photos and made our way down so we could get as close as possible to the torch. While we were snapping pictures, a journalist came up to ask us some questions about the whole experience. We later tracked down the article he wrote, quoting us as we attempted to summarize what it was like to be there. 

The Olympic Torch 

(Here is the link to the published article that resulted from the post race interview, which I later found online: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/sports/article3733510.ece)

Alex being interviewed

At this point, I didn’t have any more tickets for Olympics events for the last six days of the Games. And I was completely fine with having athletics be my grand finale. The next day, Monday, I met my old Villanova professor, Dr. Peggy Chaudhry, to see Long Day’s Journey Into Night in the West End. Dr. Chaudhry coordinated my London study abroad program back in 2006, and I’d kept in touch with her over the years, so it was very nice to get to meet her for dinner and a show. Although depressing, Long Day’s Journey Into Night is one of my favorite plays, and the intimate theater and pedigree cast made for a great performance of Eugene O’Neil’s heart-wrenching drama.

Earlier that day, two of Alex’s American friends, Andrew and Thomas, identical twins from California, returned to town. You see, they had been in London for the first week of the Olympics, and then flew to Scotland for a couple days. Now back, they were also houseguests of Amy and Alex, so we had a packed apartment for the next week. Andrew and Thomas are semi-professional triathletes, and they were really looking forward to the men’s triathlon, which was taking place in Hyde Park the following morning. It was a low-key night back at the flat after the show so we could wake up bright and early the following morning.

The venue for the triathlon was Hyde Park, and the event commenced with an open water swim in the Serpentine, followed by a bike circuit around the park and capped off with a grueling run. We watched the swim from an open area overlooking the lake, then made our way to the bike path to watch the athletes ride by, and finally plopped down on a big grassy field in front of a massive television screen to watch the conclusion of the race.

A British athlete, Alistair Brownlee, took home the gold, and his younger brother Jonathan earned a bronze. The crowds loved these two brothers, and they went wild when they both earned medals.

After the race, we wandered down toward Royal Albert Hall and stumbled fortuitously upon USA House, the U.S. Olympic Team’s social and media headquarters. Inside, we saw old Olympics medals from the ’96 Atlanta Games, got to browse though official USA Olympics gear in the shop and even got to meet an Olympian. It was pure happenstance that we walked by this place, but it was super cool.

We were in my old neighborhood now, South Kensington. This was where I lived back in 2006 when I did my summer abroad program. And my old favorite bar, the Queen’s Arms, was just around the corner from USA House. Alex, Amy and Liz had gone to a special ticketed area to watch the triathlon, while the twins and I had stayed in the public viewing area. We all met up again at the Queen’s Arms, and it was just as I remembered it. We enjoyed a tasty lunch, washed down with cider and accompanied by all the great memories of the summer of 2006 flooding back into my brain.

My old local pub, The Queen's Arms, from my study abroad days... and still one of my favorites!

After a little while, Alex, Amy and Liz made their way back to the Olympics Park, since they had tickets to the diving that evening. Me, Andrew and Thomas hopped on the tube and headed to Leicester Square to hit up the National Gallery, one of London’s stunning free art collections in Trafalgar Square.

A patriotic Lord Nelson gets into the spirit of the games atop his eponymous column in Trafalgar Square!

Afterwards, we strolled up Saint Martin’s Lane, past the old office of my first internship, to a pub called The Sussex, where we met some ladies from Sheffield who had come all the way to London for the day just to be in the city while the games were going on. We also wound up talking with a model who coincidentally lives in Hong Kong, and her boyfriend, who in an even crazier coincidence, has actually raced against Andrew and Thomas in triathlons! It’s a small world after all!

Pints at the Sussex

When Amy and Alex were done with their diving event, they came and joined us (as did Emily and one of our Hong Kong friends named Johannes, who was also in town for the Games), and we had a big night out in Piccadilly Circus, capped off with some late night Chinese food and an Adele-fueled sing-along in the taxi back to Saint Elmo Road.

Alex, Johannes, Amy, Emily, Andrew and Thomas

On Wednesday, Courtney arrived in town, and Amy, Andrew, Thomas and I met her in front of the Tower of London. The twins went into the historic palace, while Amy, Courtney and I grabbed a coffee in the shadow of Tower Bridge and later found a table at a lovely little pub called the Dickens Inn situated on Saint Katharine Docks.

We stayed at the Dickens so long that eventually Andrew and Thomas, having seen everything at the Tower, joined us, and ultimately even Alex turned up. I’ve always loved that area of town, and with the beautiful weather, it was an ideal day spent outside enjoying crisp cider and traditional British pub food. We got there in the mid-afternoon... and wound up staying until closing time!

As we walked to the tube to go home around midnight, we strolled up the riverside past Tower Bridge, where the Olympics rings were blazing brightly in the night. What a special time to be in such a special city!

On Thursday, Ally was taking her students on a field trip to good old London town—first to the British Museum and then to do some shopping on Oxford Street. We had made plans to meet at the museum at noon, while the children were off exploring its collections. Ally and I strolled around the mummy exhibit and saw the Rosetta Stone, and we made a special stop at the Olympics display, which gave us an up-close view of actual gold medals for both the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

Olympic and Paralympic Medals in the British Museum

Ally escorted her children from the museum to Oxford Street, where they then had three hours to shop to their heart’s content. While they loaded up on London souvenirs, Ally and I walked around Marylebone and eventually made our way to the Wallace Collection, in my opinion one of the gems of London’s free museums. Of course, it being a nice day outside, we also grabbed a couple of pints of cider at an outdoor pub.

Ally put her kids back on their bus to Oxford but got permission from her boss to stay in London a bit longer, provided that she was back to Oxford for class the next morning. So we went for dinner at a Turkish restaurant called Sofra in picturesque Saint Christopher’s Place, just off Oxford Street. Again sitting outside to take full advantage of the pleasant weather, we had several jugs of Pimm’s to accompany our tasty food.

After dinner we made our way to Piccadilly Circus. I have a secret love for Cinnabon, and I had seen one near the tube station when I was in the area a few nights earlier. After settling my sweet tooth’s craving, we found yet another pub and enjoyed—you guessed it—a pint of cider while we watched Usain Bolt again dominate his race, this time in the men’s 200 meter final. Though it obviously wasn’t the same thing as seeing it live, the mood was electric inside the pub, and I'm glad I got to experience the event in a charged setting. Following the race, I walked with Ally along the floodlit, flag-lined thoroughfare to her bus stop so she could head back to Oxford for tomorrow’s early morning start.

Friday was yet another action-packed, glorious day. Amy and I met Courtney at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. I used to be able to look out of my bedroom window and see the magnificent structure, so I always love to go back there when I find myself in London. There was a special exhibit on called Animals Inside Out, which was fascinating. It dissected all sorts of creatures and displayed them in such a way so that you could see the veins, muscles, arteries and internal organs, and thus better understand the similarities and differences between various species.

The Museum of Natural History in South Kensington 

We even ducked into the Science Museum, just next door, to spend a fun-filled hour playing science-themed games and exploring the space exhibit, which displays the original lunar module from America’s first manned trip to the moon.

The lunar module in the Science Museum

Amy and I then had to trek to ExCeL, in the Docklands, because we had tickets to see Taekwondo that evening. There were only three tickets for this event, and originally, Alex, Liz and Amy were going to go, but at the last minute, something came up and Alex and Liz could no longer attend. I jumped at the chance to fit one last live event into my time in London. One of their family friends, Johnny, took the third ticket, and, to my surprise and delight, Taekwondo was a really fun sport to watch. And the crowd was really into it. 

One of the bronze medals was awarded to an American, to boot, so I got to see the stars and stripes flying in an Olympics venue one final time.

Friday was also Thomas and Andrew’s final night in London. Early Saturday morning they were flying to Amsterdam for the next stop on their European adventure. Amy and Alex chose Fez as the location for their farewell party. Located in Putney, where Alex and Amy grew up, Fez is a Moroccan-themed club with a light-up dance floor. Courtney and her friend (another Johannes) met Amy and me at the tube stop, and we walked over to Fez together, where we met up with Alex, Andrew and Thomas. It had to be one of the most fun clubs ever, blasting tune after sing-able Top 40 tune. It was so ridiculously fun, in fact, that over a week later we decided to celebrate my own final night in London at the same club.

Post Fez

Saturday was a madcap, hilarious, crazy day, to put it mildly. Our initial plan was to head to a museum near London Bridge that preserves an old operating theater from the pre-anesthesia days of yore. Every Saturday at 2pm, there is a special talk and demonstration about what surgery was like back in the good old days. Unfortunately, we got off at the wrong tube stop—on the wrong side of the river, in fact—and decided to postpone our museum visit till the next weekend.

Fun fact gleaned from an ad on a tube stop platform that morning

Instead, Alex, Amy, Court and I walked across one of the many bridges spanning the river and strolled along the beautiful South Bank of the Thames. It was yet another spectacular day, and we were bent on finding a pleasant al fresco spot for lunch. We stumbled upon one called the Wharf, overlooking the river, and although we had to wait about twenty minutes for an outside table, it was definitely worth it. It was a touristy spot, make no mistake, but sometimes that's exactly what you want. In the end, all four of us wound up ordering mussels in white wine and cream sauce—and several bottles of white wine to accompany them. I don’t remember ever laughing so much in my life. Even now, writing this, I can't help but smile at the memories.

Lunch at The Wharf

We continued wandering along the Thames after lunch, passing Shakespeare’s Globe and the riverfront pub the Anchor, where we stopped for a drink (and to watch the men’s 5,000 meter final). We walked back down towards the London Eye and eventually stopped at an Italian restaurant called Strada, where we had some more food and perhaps a bit too much limoncello. There’s a temporary carnival set up just behind the London Eye, and we spent some time there after dinner before visiting at a nearby makeshift bar where we danced and partied some more. 

And then we took what just might be my favorite city walk anywhere in the world—up past the London Eye in the moonlight, crossing Westminster Bridge, passing the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, and then happening upon the stately towers of Westminster Abbey. All the structures are beautifully lit up in the nighttime, and it’s truly a magical stroll. We caught a black taxi outside the Abbey and made our way back to Saint Elmo Road.

Sunday was the final day of the 2012 Games. The marathon was taking place during the day, and the Closing Ceremony would officially draw the games to a close at 9pm that evening. My day started bright and early, as I had plans to catch a train from King’s Cross to go out and spend the day with Kevin’s dad, brother and sister in Potter’s Bar, about thirty-five minutes outside of London. It was beautiful countryside around there, and the area where Kevin grew up is very quaint and quiet. It’s hard to believe such a peaceful, pastoral locale is such a short distance from the bustling metropolis. 

Kevin’s dad picked me up and drove me to the family home. I got a grand tour of the house, and played with their dog Rocky, as we watched the men’s marathon snaking its way through the streets of Central London. Kevin’s brother Ryan and sister Sarah came home not too long after I had arrived, and it was really nice to chat with them. I hadn’t seen them since their last visit to Hong Kong over a year before, so it was a good reunion.

That afternoon, Kevin’s father and I walked up to the local pub, had a few bottles of wine outside and had a really good chat about the Olympics and my imminent move to Singapore.

Before I knew it, it was time to catch my train back. Ryan and Sarah drove me to the station, and I took a much needed nap for the thirty-five minute ride back to King’s Cross.

I had plans to meet up with my friend Harriet to watch the closing ceremony at a bar called Walmar Castle in Notting Hill. Harriet was one of my first friends in Hong Kong, and she finished her internship here in March 2010. She and her boyfriend David now live near Notting Hill, and it’s hard to believe time has gone so fast! Alex and Amy joined to watch the concluding spectacle of what had turned out to be an incredible Olympics. I’m already looking forward to Rio 2016! And who knows? Maybe I’ll get my wish and be working in Brazil when those games take place!

I killed another week in Europe after the Games, catching the Eurostar to Paris the day after the closing ceremony. It was great to be back in the city where I studied abroad five years ago, and especially nice that my first night there, I had a sort of five year reunion dinner with Abby and Melissa, two of my friends from that semester whom I’ve kept best in touch with over the years. We all knew we’d be back in our beloved Paris around the same time, so we made sure we had at least one night of overlap in our itineraries.

St. Pancras International Station, London

Gare du Nord, Paris

Our night didn’t quite work out as planned. I walked from Gare du Nord to the restaurant we had selected for our grand repast. Réstaurant Perraudin was a favorite of both Abby's and mine back in 2007, but it didn’t occur to either of us to call and book a table. What fools we were! Like practically all of Paris, Perraudin was closed for the summer. So, after a great stroll passing some of my favorite Parisian monuments, I arrived at the shuttered restaurant without a cell phone and a bit worried I wouldn’t be able to find my friends. I grabbed a spot at a café near le Jardin du Luxembourg, ordered a kir and took advantage of the free wifi to send emails and Facebook messages to Melissa and Abby. And not having heard anything back after a good twenty minutes, I decided to head back up to the restaurant to see if they were waiting on the sidewalk there.

Jackpot! Melissa had just seen my message and was heading down to the café when she saw me and cried out my name. A bit different than I had expected our reunion to be, but definitely welcome!

Instead of immediately choosing another spot for dinner, we wound up at the American bar just across the street from Perraudin. There was a pub quiz taking place that night, and we stayed for it. We weren’t so hot, but it certainly was a great couple of hours. And afterwards, we had a late night outdoor meal before crashing at Melissa’s old host mother’s apartment, where we had enjoyed our first dinner party as new friends back in 2007, at the very start of our semester abroad.

My good friend Gauthier lives in Paris, and he graciously invited me to stay at his family’s home in Boulogne-Billancourt for the second night of my visit. I hung out with his brother Matthieu quite a lot when he interned in Hong Kong, and when Gauthier decided to move here himself, we became close friends. So it was so nice to see them both again, and get a taste of their French life.

Gauthier met me with his car at Melissa’s, and the three of us had small breakfast at a place near the apartment before heading to his home. I spent the afternoon at the Musée Marmottan before taking a leisurely walk around Paris, eventually making my way back to Gauthier and Matthieu’s. Their father invited me to join for dinner with him and his sons that night, and one of their friends, Adèle, came too. He took us to a nearby restaurant, and we feasted on oysters, steak tartare and one of the best baba au rhums I’ve ever had. In fact, they simply put the bottle of rum on the table and let you add as much as you wanted to your dessert! My kind of restaurant!

The garden of Matthieu and Gauthier's home in Paris

Afterwards, Matthieu, Gauthier, Adèle and I headed to Saint-Michel for a night cap in the Latin Quarter. Matthieu was leaving for Brazil the next morning and Gauthier had driven his car out that night, so we only had one drink before heading home. I loved driving back through moonlit Paris, past the illuminated monuments of a city that takes up a very special place in my memory. We stopped at a local grocer to stock up on some beer, and then we had nightcap numéro deux at the house.

Parisian pastries and coffee made a perfect breakfast the next morning. I had to catch my train back to London early that evening, so I wanted to relish my remaining hours in Paris. After all, I have no idea when I’ll get the chance to go back. First I hopped on the métro to Saint Mandé, the suburb where I lived during my semester abroad. I hoped to catch my host family at their home, but they were on vacation. Still, I got to chat with my host mother’s brother-in-law who lives next door and remembered me as “the one who used to play the piano” at the house! And just being in Saint Mandé, grabbing a drink at my old favorite café (le Royal Comptoir) and strolling my old neighborhood streets and squares made me extremely happy.

The house on the left is where I lived during my semester abroad in 2007.

Home, sweet home...

A visit to my old local café in Saint-Mandé

I walked to Place de la Nation and hopped on the métro there to the Musée Rodin, a gem-of-a-museum that I hadn’t previously visited. And then I walked past l’Hôtel des Invalides and under the Eiffel Tower, caught another métro back to Gauthier’s and packed up my stuff. We grabbed one last drink at an outdoor bar near Gare du Nord with Adèle and a friend of hers, and I had to book it to avoid missing my train! But I made it just in time, and off I was, back en route to London. I love that Eurostar! What an incredibly easy and efficient link between two of my favorite places on earth.

Place de la Nation, one of my favorite squares in Paris

The Thinker

Garden of the Rodin Museum

La tour Eiffel 

Back in London, I soaked up as much of the town as I could for my last four days and especially enjoyed spending time with Alex and Amy. I visited Hampton Court Palace and got to do another pub quiz with my friends, a throwback to the old Hong Kong days when we met regularly on Thursday nights at a pub called the Chapel for the weekly trivia contest.

Hampton Court Palace

And on Saturday, we finally made it to the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret, had a repeat lunch at The Wharf and revisited the carnival on the banks of the Thames. Alex and I rode a really nifty attraction that twirled riders high above the fairgrounds, with a beautiful view of the city. And somehow we lucked out by being placed in the one pair of seats with the Union Jack attached, making it very easy for photographeuse Amy down below to keep tabs on us. 

 

We even did my favorite walk again, as a perfect day melted into my last night in London... and another great night at Fez.

Unavoidably, Sunday came and my vacation was nearing its end. I said goodbye to Saint Elmo Road, and spent my last couple of hours at Hambro House, where Alex and Amy grew up and where Liz still lives. My friends drove me to Heathrow, we shared a few farewell beers in the terminal and then I said goodbye to London. Owing to the insane lack of sleep I’d had over the past weeks, you can imagine how fast the flight went by, with me sleeping nearly all the way through.

Amy posing outside her childhood home

You see? I wasn’t exaggerating when I said this trip was one of the highlights of my life. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance to attend an Olympics again. But I do know I’ll never get to experience my first Olympics a second time, so I’m glad that this one turned out pretty much perfectly. Thanks to all my wonderful European friends who were a part of the adventure, I can safely say that August 2012 is fire-branded into my brain for all eternity. Now it’s time to enjoy my last months in Hong Kong before I have to leave this incredible place!