Olympic Fever

After going to Spain, Florence, and Budapest all within a month, I was wanting a weekend in Geneva to relax, but Travers and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to fly to London for the weekend and get our fill of Olympic Fever!  The final weekend of the Olympic games had London packed with people and we were two of them. We flew in on a Friday evening and were really excited to be able to take part in all the festivities that the city had going on for the games. The first night we met our friends Jasmine and Chris Hodges, who had just moved to London from Geneva (they are originally from the Seattle area) in Hyde Park, where the city had set up several large screens, and food and drink vendors lining the park. We caught up with the Hodges, watched some Olympic games on the big screen and enjoyed some tasty food and beer.

In the Hodges yard!

The next morning, we were blessed with a sunny beautiful day. We met Chris and Jasmine near their house and went grocery shopping to make some tasty mexican carne asada tacos. They live in a cute part of town where you can walk down one street going from the butcher shop to the veggie market, to a normal grocery store, picking up everything you need on the way and we did just that. We saw their new apartment, and sat outside, enjoying the sun, eating tasty mexican food and drinking bloody marys.

Jasmine in lavender

After lunch we began our wander through the city. With Chris and Jasmine as our guides, we went from one place to the next, catching glimpses of the Olympic games on every tv in every bar and in every restaurant. On our way from one place to the next we saw a beautiful field of lavender. We were all feeling very happy, with the sun and the nice fragrance filling the air, so while Travers and I took some self-portraits next to the field, Jasmine was so enticed by the field that she decided to dive into the lavender and really take it all in!  To her dismay, she couldn't easily get out and Chris proceeded to tickle her feet as she was completely helpless laying face first in the flowers!

London Bridge behind us

As the day went on, we stopped by a birthday party for a colleague of Chris'. Then in the evening, we walked towards London Bridge and Potters Field, where the city had set up another large screen where they were showing the games.  When we got to Potters Field though, they weren't letting anyone else in as it was too full! We stood around wondering what to do, when we decided to just walk to the nearest pub and see if we could watch some of the games as it was one of the last days and a lot of the final rounds of the games were on.  When we got to the nearest pub, The Bridge Lounge, it was quite empty, but Travers noticed an upstairs area. He ran up there and waved for us to join him as there were nice big couches, a huge tv and several people up there.  We got some beers, sat down and were able to watch some of the final track and field games.

Holding the Gold Medal!

A little time passed and Travers slowly started to notice that the others in the room with us were Americans because they were cheering for the American track team. As he looked around a little more closely, he thought he recognized one of the girls. He leans over to us and says "Guys, I think we are in the presence of greatness. Some of these women might play on the US Women's Olympic Soccer Team!" Jasmine and Chris are huge soccer fans, and Jasmine turns around and sees Megan Rapinoe, one of the more recognizable soccer players. Then she sees Heather Mitts, and Christie Rampone, the captain!  She walks up to Megan Rapinoe and says "Are you who I think you are?" And Megan replies, "yep". They start talking and Megan introduces her to Heather and Christie. Heather then shares her Gold Medal (that they had just won the night before) with Jasmine who immediately puts it around her neck! Next thing you know, Travers gets up and introduces himself and is able to hold the gold medal too!  We couldn't believe we were hanging out with these amazing women and their friends at this random bar that we almost didn't go into! After we went our separate ways, the four of us celebrated the rest of the night dancing at nearby club, still in shock and awe that we had just partied for a few hours with Olympians.

With Olympian Christie Rampone

With more Olympians!

The next day, Travers and I went to the Borough Market, one of our favorite places to eat, as they have tons of unique food vendors, and got a tasty duck sandwich for lunch. Then we finally made it to Potters Field where we sat on the grass, watching the final games on the big screen and enjoying the sunny day. Our flight back to Geneva was that afternoon and we were still on our high from meeting the soccer team. We were both so happy we decided not to rest in Geneva and got our fix of Olympic Fever plus a great story we never would have imagined possible.