Paralympic Day!
On the third day in England I had planned (back in July) to go and see some of the Paralympic events and I was so super excited. Going to the Paralympics and the Olympic Games is on my bucket-list and now I can cross off the Paralympic Games :) I had planned on meeting some people who had also purchased tickets ahead of time and Danielle, Sarah and Amy decided to tag along to see if they could get in as well. We meet up with Eugene (one of the boys who got a ticket early) and headed over to the Excel center(no not the one in MN), one of the Olympic/Paralympic Arenas but not the main one where they held the opening/closing ceremonies. Anyway, we headed over there and were very excited by all of the people who were surrounding the stadium creating a tunnel of energy before we had even entered. Danielle managed to scalp a ticket from someone near the gate but the other two couldn't find anyone. We were trying to figure out what to do when one of the volunteers came over and asked if we needed tickets. She brought us over to a man (her husband?) and he pulled two tickets out of his vest and just handed them over, free of charge! He said, "These are 18 and under tickets but I have given some to people older than you and they haven't had any issues so you should be fine. Go have fun!" They were super nice and we thanked them at least a hundred times before making our way into the stadium.
Inside there were five big arenas spread out along the length of a giant hallway that extended farther than we could see. There were bright orange and teal banners hanging from the ceiling and logos and the weird little mascot guy were everywhere you looked. Everyone there was exuding energy and excitement and soon we were practically bouncing where we stood repeating, "I can't believe we are here right now, I just can't believe it." The first event that we went to was wheelchair fencing, the opponents wheeled their chairs into these contraptions on the floor and the officials strapped them in, ensuring that they were the correct distance from each other in order to make the fight fair (sorry I don't know much about fencing so if I use the wrong terminology I apologize). The opponents sat sideways and with one hand they held onto their chair and with the other they would fence. It was amazing to watch and I was awed by how intense the match was as I have never watched fencing before.
After wheelchair fencing we headed over to Table Tennis as we had tried to see Boccia (not entirely sure what this is) first but unfortunately could not get in. Table tennis was very cool to watch and we were interested to see how the players would strategize their game seeing as it was not as easy for them to jump around the table. Most of the matches seemed slower paced than the Olympic Table Tennis matches but that did not make them any less fun to watch. There were four matches going on simultaneously and it was hard to watch all of the action at once but we tried our best. There was one match, though, between China and Germany that was fast and intense and just captivating. Everyone kept trying to move or crane their necks to see it so they ended up putting it on the video monitor so that everyone could watch that match as well as the ones in front of them on the floor. It was close but if I remember correctly Germany pulled it out.
Our final event was sitting volleyball and that one was by far the most exciting! The match was between Rwanda and Morocco and the stands were packed full of people, there was a line outside the arena almost the entire time because people were trying to get in to see even part of a set. We were lucky enough to get in fairly early on and watched the first two matches (it was best of 5) before we had to leave. The GB fans were mostly cheering on Rwanda so we supported Morocco (plus we are going there so we felt we should cheer them on). The announcer was very animated and kept playing "We Will Rock You" to keep everyone pumped up! Oh yeah, I should probably explain what sitting volleyball is...sorry. Basically the net is the same size (I believe) as a regular volleyball net but is positioned about 8 inches above the floor. The court appeared to be the same size as well but everyone played while sitting or kneeling or some combination of the two. Most of the players were missing part of a leg and some were missing both below the knee. They were all very good and there were so many amazing digs that we were constantly gasping, groaning, cheering and clapping--it was absolutely amazing to just be there and to feel that energy.
We all felt very lucky and blessed to have had the opportunity to see the Games and everyone back on the ship was super jealous :)
After we left the Excel we went to see the Olympic/Paralympic Stadium where they held the opening and closing ceremonies. We could not get in without tickets but we did take pictures of the outside. Then we walked over to the wrong Abby Road, because apparently there are two Abby Roads in London (what is up with that) and had to get directions to the real one. On our way we stopped by Kings Cross to take a trip on the Hogwarts Express (Platform 9 3/4) and Baker Street (Sherlock Holmes house). Oh by the way did I mention that one of my friends on the ship is actually named John Watson (hehehe). Anyway we finally did find the real Abby Road and along with numerous others almost got run over trying to take a picture but oh well, I suppose that's part of the experience :)
That's all for now
~Colleen
P.S. I tried to upload some videos for you but its not working--sorry :(
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