If you had asked me a year ago what I thought my first trip to London would consist of, I probably would have answered with “the usual touristy stuff.”
You know, Big Ben, the River Thames, the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, London Bridge… All the “must see” things that London has to offer.
I probably would never have answered with “seeing the Olympics.”
But, as it turned out, my first trip to London was completely different than what I was expecting it to be. Instead of cruising the Thames at night, I spent time watching the Opening Ceremonies from a London flat where we could see and hear the fireworks. Instead of visiting museums, I ended up hanging out with other travel bloggers at Olympic team houses.
And, instead of simply watching the Olympics on television, I got to see them live in person.
I got to experience London in perhaps one of the most unique ways imaginable. I was there when the city was absolutely electric with an energy and spirit that can only go hand-in-hand with an international event like the Olympic Games.
I was in London when the city came alive.
I've heard conflicting opinions of London before — people have said it's big and loud, boring and unfriendly. “Grey” is often how I've pictured this world capital.
But London was anything but in the 6 days that I spent there.
The streets were packed with people from all over the world, dressed in colors to support their countries and athletes. Colorful pink signs and purple-clad volunteers adorned street corners and Tube stations to help event-goers find their way. And, everywhere, people were smiling.
I don't think I could have chosen a better time to visit London, even if I never got in all the “typical” sightseeing.
To me, I saw London at its best.
A bucket list dream come true
You hear lots of people talking about dreams and bucket list items. Among travelers, these lists usually consist of things like summiting Kilimanjaro or exploring Laos on a motorbike or riding the Trans-Siberian railway.
For me, though, one of my top bucket list items has always been “Seeing gymnastics live at the Olympics.”
After devoting countless hours and plenty of blood, sweat, and tears to the sport myself for 8 years, Olympic gymnastics has always been the event I most look forward to at the Summer Games. And it's always been the only sport I've ever wanted to see live.
It wasn't an item I thought I would be crossing off my bucket list in my 20s, though. Maybe not even in my 30s. I figured I would have to wait until the Summer Games came back to American soil before I'd have any prayer of getting a ticket and being able to afford to go.
So imagine how surreal it was for me to step into London's North Greenwich Arena on July 29, ready to see some Olympic gymnastics happening live in front of me.
It wasn't the team final, the individual all-around, or even an event final. The only ticket I could get was for a qualifying round of women's gymnastics. But it didn't matter. It didn't matter that I wasn't seeing any medals handed out. It didn't even matter that I wouldn't even be seeing Team USA compete. It was enough for me to just be there.
That's how I felt about being in London for the 2012 Olympics overall — it was great to just be there.
I felt like I was a part of something. Something big.
And that's really the whole point of the Olympics, isn't it? To bring the world together for 16 days of friendly competition and good spirits.
I know I'll never forget my first Olympics experience. Thanks, London, for showing me a great time!
What sort of London 2012 experience did YOU have? Would you ever want to go to the Olympic Games?
Amanda Williams is the award-winning blogger behind A Dangerous Business Travel Blog. She has traveled to more than 60 countries on 6 continents from her home base in Ohio, specializing in experiential and thoughtful travel through the US, Europe, and rest of the world. Amanda only shares tips based on her personal experiences and places she's actually traveled!
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Looks like you and I have one of the same life goals…you’ve just done it already! I was a gymnast my whole life and pushing for 2016 in Madrid or my native Chicago. I do have sister-in-law who is Brasilian, though!!
I hope you can make it to Rio in 2016, Cat! Going to the Olympics was seriously one of the coolest things I’ve done so far in life.
Love this post, so nice to read about London 2012 from a spectator’s point of view. I was there as a journalist and like you, it was my first time in London, first Olympics, and it was one of my biggest dreams that I never thought would happen in my 20s. I was speaking to one of the veteran journos and he said, “It’s so nice to see the Olympics fulfilling not just the dreams of the athletes, but people like you too.” and that’s what I thought of when you said seeing the gymnastics crossed an item off your bucket list — so congrats on that! Great photos too 🙂 See you in Rio?
Very cool! I think it would be fun to go as a member of the media sometime, too.
And who knows, you just might see me in Rio!
These are wonderful photos Amanda! You really captured the Olympic spirit. I’m dying to check out the Winter Games in Russia for 2014 🙂
Thanks, Samuel! I’m more of a Summer Games fan, to be honest, but I would definitely suggest going to ANY Olympics you possibly can! It was SO much fun, even on my own.
Amazing!! I’ve never even been in a room with so many people, let alone see them jump in the air in a world-hugging event! This was never on my bucket list before, but it sounds incredible!
It WAS incredible! Such an exciting vibe – I loved every second of it, and was craving more by the end!
Amazing! I would love to see Olympic gymnastics someday–it’s such a beautiful sport! And how fun that you got to see it in such a beautiful city too 🙂
It’s my very favorite sport, so yes, it was so fun to see it in person! And London couldn’t have put on a better show.
Wow! it looks like you ha d a great time! I couldn’t go because of the pregnancy and doctor had advised me complete bed rest for a month because of some complications. I couldn’t really visit.. My husband had gone there with some of his friends and they were all praises for the event.!
Aww, it’s too bad you weren’t able to go! It really was amazing.
So happy that it went that well and you could cross one more thing off your list.And you got to hang out in the Kiwi house! I’ve heard so many good stories how London transformed itself for these games. Hopefully it will lose it’s title of the grey city, but somehow I doubt it. I imagine at some point we’ll have to give it another chance 🙂
That final shot on the balance beam is such a good capture. And that flying Swiss gymnast – your photo makes it look like it could be a painful landing, but I’m guessing it wasn’t 🙂
London really did seem transformed – I hope the atmosphere sticks around for a while, because I absolutely loved it!
I took SO many photos at that event (had my camera set on sports mode, so it just took bursts of shots). I definitely got some cool ones, though! And yes, the Swiss girl landed beautifully. 😉
Amaaaaaaazing! I went to the Atlanta Games and I’ll never forget them. AWESOME shots!!!
I remember my cousins got to go to the Atlanta Games, and I was SO jealous. Now, though, I feel like I definitely made up for it. London was amazing!
I am soooooooooooooooo jealous! This would have been my dream trip of a lifetime. Of all the things you’ve done and all the places you’ve been, this is the one that I would given anything to experience myself.
You got some great pictures. Wow. What an experience!
If our roles were reversed, I think I would feel the same way!!! Going to the Olympics has been such a huge dream for me for so long that it’s still kind of surreal that it happened!
First up…”boring”?!?? WHO would call London boring?! London may be a lot of things, but boring is one word you could NEVER use to describe the city.
Anyway, patriotic ramblings aside. This. Looks. AMAZING! I’m so bummed out that I couldn’t be in my home country for the Olympics and, like you, gymnastics is the event I’d have gone for! It’s the one I always watch, even more so than the athletics. I watched it on TV here in Korea, but it just wasn’t the same. Your photos are great, by the way 🙂
Who knows, maybe the UK will host the Olympics again, when I’m around 100 years old…
Aww, too bad you couldn’t be there! The energy was so amazing. The UK should be very proud!
Yes, London is big and loud; but I consider those positive attributes! (But then, I live in Manhattan, so . . .) 🙂 I will say that if someone calls London boring, that says much more about the commenter than it does about London.
You definitely made the right choice in how to spend your time; London will be very easy for you to get back to (and it’s one of those cities that no matter how many tourist attractions you take in, there’s always more to return for anyway). Your photos, especially of the gynmastics event that you attended, are amazing (looks like a very quick shutter release). What kind of lens were you shooting with?
And I highly recommend Rio, although I obviously didn’t see any international sporting competitions when I was there. 🙂 It has one of the world’s great natural harbours, and is just a beautiful city.
Now I really want to get back to London, though! I loved it. Sure, my opinion was probably colored by the Games, but still. I want to explore it more soon!
And I was just shooting with my Olympus E-PM1 and a 40-150mm lens. Nothing fancy at all, but I’m really happy with some of the shots I got!
We’ll have to see about Rio… I’d love to go!
I purposely wanted to avoid London at all costs because I’m not a huge fan of crowds and the Olympics hasn’t been a major draw for me, until I was traveling through Eastern Europe during them and it seemed to bring tourists and locals together drawn to the television cheering on their respective countries. For me it put a whole new perspective on the event, glad you had so much fun!
There were definitely some crowds, and there were times when riding the Tube was not fun… but honestly it was all worth it! The atmosphere was amazing – definitely something I’d love to experience again!
I’m so glad you got to experience the Olympics! One of the best experiences we’ve ever had was at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. It’s hard to capture the energy of the Games with words, but it’s an experience we’ll cherish forever. We now plan to visit the UK for the 2015 Rugby World Cup!
Yeah, it’s definitely hard to describe that atmosphere in words (or even photos, for that matter). But I definitely will never forget it!
RWC in the UK in 2015, eh? Hmm. I’m going to have to keep that in mind!