Olympic Womens Volleyball

Several months ago, we really didn't think we had any chance of going to the Olympics. We had missed the lottery in England, and it looked like only people who had previously applied could get any tickets that were becoming available.  Then we saw that the London 2012 website was releasing tickets to anyone in the UK and tickets in volleyball and many other events were becoming available at fairly reasonable prices.  We were so thrilled to get Womens Volleyball tickets in mid June. 

The day finally came, and yesterday Sean, Avery and I got up at 4am to catch the train to London from Derby. The girls weren't too interested in spending a long day watching volleyball, so they stayed behind with some good friends. The train ride to London was super fast...less than 2 hours! So we could take our time making our way to Earl's Court where the games were to start at 9:30am. 

 The Pool B Score Board.

 Avery posing with a Wenlock mascot.

Our seats for the first two matches were on one end of the court, which is where I like to be (as a coach).  You get a nice view of the blockers and also how the serves are moving as they come in.  We watched 2 exciting matches:

China vs. Turkey, China won 3-1...25-20, 25-20, 29-31(exciting!), and 25-22
Serbia vs. Korea, Korea won 3-1...25-12, 25-16, 16-25, 25-21

Then we took a break from the gym for a bit and got some sunshine and pizza outside.  When we returned we had tickets for the next two matches on the same side of the arena, but more in the corner of the court.

The first match of this session was Dominican Republic vs. Russia. Russia won, but it was another exciting 4-set match: 25-23, 25-15, 24-26, and 25-22.  Unfortunately, this 4 set match put the next match (USA vs. Brazil) behind schedule.  So we knew at that point that we would only be able to stay for 3 more sets...if it went to 4 or 5, we would have to miss the end so we could catch our train home.

The stands definitely had more fans for Brazil and they were very loud.  So it felt a bit like Brazil was the home team.  They would make lots of noise while the Americans were serving to try to create distraction.  As I watched team USA come onto the court, I just got the sense that they were a more mature and experienced team than the others that we had watched earlier in the day.  Though Brazil also had a similar presence, as the number 2 ranked team in the world.

The United States really dominated the first 2 sets.  It was quite impressive to watch...and kind of fun to see the Brazilian fans quiet down a bit.  I was excited because it really looked like we might get ot see the USA win this match before we had to leave for the train.

But then came the 3rd set, the US got down by a few points early on and then were able to tie it up at 15-15.  Unfortunately though, Brazil held onto their momentum and were able to win the third set 25-22.  As you can imagine, the stadium was ROCKIN!  Like every other match that we had watched that day, it was going to a 4th set. I was confident that the US would win the 4th as all the other teams earlier had done, but unfortunately, we had to leave.  We were in St. Pancras Station when we found out that the USA had won the 4th set and the match at 25-21.  Though I was a little disappointed to not see the end, I was so thankful that I was able to see them play at all and thrilled that the US had come out on top.

Alnwick Castle

We decided at the last minute on our last day in Edinburgh that we would drive a little bit out of our way on the way home to see Alnwick Castle, about 2 hours from Edinburgh, 4 hours from Derby. Alnwick Castle is where many scenes, especially outdoor scenes were filmed for the first 2 Harry Potter movies. I was so happy that we went. I think the Castle has become my favorite, even above Warwick, in terms of its beauty and arrangment. I loved that it is still used a family home for part of the year. We took a tour that described all the scenes from the movies that were filmed there along with some interesting facts and stories that happened during the filming.

When we arrived we were greeted by a dragon!

Almost immediately we were able to see the location where the first flying lesson took place.  Unfortunately, we arrived too late for the kids to take a flying lesson themselves.  I suppose that's a reason to go back for a second visit.

 In this big yard is where the fist flying lesson took place along with some quidditch scenes.

 Hogwarts Castle from a distance doesn't really look much like Alnwick, the distance view is all computer graphics, but the scenes from within the castle are definitely recognizable.

Sean got caught up in a Jester show.  I am so glad that I didn't get picked...it was a bit embarrassing, he handled it so well!

After the Jester show, we went over to the Knights Quest area where the girls decided to get all dressed up in lovely costumes.  Avery isn't really into the dressing up thing, but there were lots of fun games for the kids to play too.  There was more for us to see there that we just didn't have time for so maybe will make it back next year.

It was so fun to come back home and watch the Harry Potter movies again and recognize all the places we had scene in Scotland and at Alnwick.  Visiting the Castle was the perfect way to end our holiday.

Scotland Tour: Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland...and it's pronounced "Edinbura". It's funny because Brits that come to the US and visit Pittsburgh would say "Pittsbura"! After spending a couple days in the Highlands, we traveled to Edinburgh for a day in the city.  I found it to be a very comfortable and safe city.  We stayed in an apartment right on the "Royal Mile" which is a road a little over a mile long between the Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.  We didn't actually go in the castle or the Palace, but caught some views from the outside and checked out the shops along the way.  I always enjoy perusing the royal gift shops with Queen Elizabeth merchandise.  Somehow though when my husband is with me I don't spend as much money!

 The view from outside the Castle, in the center of the arena where they are getting ready for the Edinburgh Military Tatoo, an annual August military performance.

 While on our way to the Palace, we reached the "world's end".  The alleyways between buildings are called "closes" and Sean stood in the World's End Close.  Just outside the close is where the original wall of the city was, and so for the residents of the city that was "the end of the world."

The view of Holyroodhouse Palace, a royal residence.  I would have loved to go inside, but the kids were a bit exhausted from a day of walking in the rain. 

This is St. Giles Cathedral, just outside of our apartment.  We took a little walk through at the beginning of our day and saw the Thistle Chapel, which is a small chapel in the corner which seemed to be entirely constructed of wood carvings.  It is in the Thistle Chapel, that Prince William was inducted as a Knight of the Order of the Thistle on July 5th.

Our apartment in Edinburgh was just lovely and in a perfect location.  We lived on the 3rd floor of this building above.  The rooms felt old with huge, thick doors, enormous windows and cathedral ceilings. After spending 2 of the previous nights packed into a single hotel room, the space felt really nice!

Scotland Tour: West Coast Railway

The next day in Scotland was a drizzly day...not uncommon, I'm told. We road the West Coast Railway on a train that goes over the Glenfinnan Viaduct, made famous by the 2nd Harry Potter Movie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This is the scenic route that the Hogwarts Express takes to get to Hogwarts.  Just after the bridge, the train stopped in Glenfinnan, where the children got to try riding a broom stick.  Avery actually had a bit of success and got airborn. 

It was a beautiful ride to Maillag, where we found some lunch and then hopped on the train again to ride back. Maillag felt like a small fishing village with a bunch of restaurants to feed all the tourists that come on the train.

 Some views from the train....

 

One of the cars on the train, was arranged with "Harry Potter Style" cabins.  We wished that we could have ridden the whole way in one of those, but at least we got to sit in one for a few minutes.

Scotland Tour: Fort William

Last weekend we took a short break to Scotland.  Our first stop was Fort William, which was about 7 hours north of us.  Some of the draw to this area is the scenic West Coast Railway, made famous in the 2nd Harry Potter Movie.  We also wanted to see the beautiful scenery that Scotland has to offer. 

So on our first full day in Scotland we did some more driving to see a few sites.  Our first castle was the Eilean Donan Castle, which may seem familiar because it has been in lots of movies since the mid 1900s, most recently "Made of Honor" in 2008.  The castle was very picturesque, out on it's own peninsula, with a bagpiper playing out front. 

This castle has its origin in the 13th century, but was destroyed in the early 1700s and wasn't rebuilt until the early 1900s.  It is a relatively small, romantic castle, and the first one that I've been in that feels like a real home.  We explored the castle and then enjoyed the scenery outside.

On our way to see Loch Ness, we stopped on the side of the road to see a local war monument and spotted some Highland cows.

For those of you who don't know, "Loch" means lake, so there are many Lochs in Scotland.  I found that this area of Scotland reminded me a lot of the Adirondack lakes surrounded by mountains.  It didn't take long for us to get to Loch Ness, a very large and deep lake.  We pulled over and went to the Loch Ness Centre, which does a nice job of sharing all the monster stories, the hoaxes, and all the investigations that have been done to explain the sitings.  It's pretty amazing the amount of science that has been done in the loch to understand what lives there and what doesn't.  Unfortunately, we had no sitings of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster while we were there.

Althorp

For my last outing with the American wives before the Summer Holiday, we went to Althorp, the family home of Princess Diana.  The home is currently lived in and run by Earl Spencer, Diana's brother and his family.  We found the home to be very nice, and the tributes to Diana were breathtaking.  There were some beautiful displays including items from her childhood, her most well known dresses, her wedding gown, and one of the most moving displays...the condolence books that were sent to the family from around the world.

After seeing the house and enjoying lunch together, we made our way to Diana's memorial.  What I didn't realize is that Diana's resting place is on an island in the middle of a pond on the estate.

The visit to Althorp was a very special one, I'm so glad I was able to make the visit.

The Cotswolds

A few weeks ago we took a day trip to the Cotswolds to see what it was like and visit "Shakespeare Country."  We found Stratford Upon Avon, where the birthplace of Shakespeare.  We walked around the streets and soaked up the atmosphere.  Had a nice lunch outside and took a walk along the Avon river.  

A nice Olympic display on one of the roundabouts.

 The kids pose in front of Shakespeare's birthplace.

After some fun shopping in Stratford, we drove to a neighboring town called Chipping Campden.  We just walked around this quaint town and enjoyed its simple beauty.  It's one of those towns that seems like it would be so lovely to grow old in.  What I remember most is the smell of roses in the air.