London, episode 10. In which we let the games begin.

As you might have guessed, there is a (very) long story behind this favorite travel photo. It actually began in 1976 if you can imagine that far back.

Although I like to imagine I am the most famous product of New York's Sleepy Hollow High School, that is far from the truth. At the time of the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, and even today, that honor likely rests in the very capable hands of the Olympic gold medalist today known as Caitlyn Jenner. Jenner attended Sleepy as a freshman and sophomore, before moving away from the area about the time I was born in September of 1966. Nevertheless, when Jenner won Olympic gold in the decathlon (crushing the previous record), the young athlete known as Bruce Jenner made it a point to celebrate at his former childhood home. Shortly after his win in July, I remember meeting Jenner as part of a large crowd assembled in Patriot's Park, adjacent to the Warner Public Library in Tarrytown, where an appreciative assemblage of locals gathered to celebrate Jenner's Olympic victory, his personal success, as well as our own small town pride.

Spectating (via black & white television) the Montreal Olympics that July is the first memory I have of experiencing the passionate excitement and poignant suspense of an Olympic Games. Those early emotional memories and my hometown pride in Jenner's success, along with similarly spectacular accomplishments by athletes the world over including Romanian gymnastics legend Nadia Comăneci (then only five years older than my nine-year-old self) planted early seeds in the part of my brain devoted to travel planning that began taking further hold in 1988 when Rosa Mota would earn Portugal's first ever (female) Olympic gold by winning the women's marathon in Seoul after having earned the bronze in LA in 1984.

It was an ardent combination of childhood memories and national pride and my love of all things British that merged in serendipitous synthesis when Mari and I took that meanderingly long walking tour along the Thames after our sensational orbits aboard the London Eye. Among the casual pedestrians and fellow travelers who greeted us along our ramblings that day was a spirited group of young British gymnasts exhibiting their skills and talents as they sought public support and advertised the upcoming (still five years away but "upcoming" nevertheless) summer Olympics. I remember telling Mari that day, still just a few days into our first London visit, that we should come back for the Olympics, that I had always wanted to attend an Olympic Games in person.

I didn't really know it until that moment, I suppose. I had never really imagined myself as part of such a large spectacle, but memories of past Olympic highlights suddenly filled my brain and the travel bug that had finally led Mari and me to our first trip abroad together clamored for further attention (and another sampling of Nando's).


The photo above outside Wembley Stadium was taken early in the morning the day prior to the Men's Football (soccer) finals. The following afternoon there would be no time (nor space) to stop for a photo as nearly 90,000 fans flowed towards the stadium for an experience I will never forget (more on that colorful event in a future post).

No, this photo happened early on Friday as we made our way to Wembley arena (at left) for a preliminary round of rhythmic gymnastics when we actually had time for a bit of a breather and were stopping for a selfie when we met one of the thousands of local volunteers who were strategically positioned along spectator routes to provide information and direction to tourists and wayward sports fans.

Friendly and more-than-helpful as we had come to expect, our photographer was an older local gentleman who was proud to volunteer his time to help make London2012 a successful experience.

He volunteered also to take a souvenir photo of us and even lent us his foam-finger directional pointer which was being used by all the volunteers to help keep the spectator traffic flowing smoothly.

While there is always a story behind every photograph, I promise not to get (too) carried away over the next few weeks as I reminisce and share our London2012 experience.

I hope to inspire you and provide some practical planning tips should you have your own Olympic inclinations.

Remember, the countdown to LA2028 has already begun!

la28.org

Be sure to visit (or revisit) my previous Olympics special to brush up on some of the planning logistics. Click on the "Summer Olympics" label in the right-hand column to go directly to my May 2, 2015 post.