London - Day 8, 9, & 10

I realized keeping up with a blog is a lot of work.  Especially when I have the large readership and the tons of comments I continue to get (note the sarcasm), so I decided to take a hiatus from writing the blog for the weekend.  (Actually I realized I wasn't getting much sleep and it was starting to affect how I was feeling during the day and compound that with no one is really commenting, I felt like a few days wouldn't be missed.

So now you are left with what I will call the USA Today of a blog - A weekend's worth of coverage, leveraged into one blog.  Here goes....

Old Church and Graveyard in a park near Octagon

Friday - Day 8

We made our way over to Octagon, which, along with IMG, is the biggest Sports, Marketing, and Entertainment Agency in the world.  If you don't believe me, take a gander over to the site and check it out.  The athletes and entertainers they represent is enormous.  We got to listen to their pitch about how they do business and what their corporate goals are locally, regionally, and worldwide.

Honestly, I came away feeling a bit cheated by what I saw.  It all felt very homogeneous to what IMG is about as well as other sports agencies.  I really wanted to know what set them apart from the others and all I got was the line, "we believe we are the biggest and best because we do it this way...."

What was interesting about their presentation to us was they kept asking us how their presentation was.  The lady, who had a thick Aussie accent, stated at least three times that she hoped their presentation was the best of what we had seen.  Of course we said yes and while there were a few people that came away amazed at the dog and pony show they gave, the large majority of us came away thinking it could have been much better.  The biggest thing I think I missed hearing was where they were wanting to go globally with the Olympics coming up in London.  Not a word about it.

View of Putney River

Buckingham Palace - Changing of the Guard

Saturday - Day 9

Today was our first "free day" of the time we have been here.  A group of the folks I've been running with decided they wanted to use the day to catch all the major sights of London.  Therefore, we got up and headed out around 10am to head in to the city.

Westminster Abby

Big Ben

First up was Buckingham Palace and watching the Changing of the Guard.  I've been around long enough to know that when you are in peak tourist season, going to a popular event, and add on a additive to that event, that it will be a mass of people (If the Peabody Ducks draw a stupidly large crowd, then this is going to be insane).  I tried to explain this to the folks I was with and quickly remembered that I've also been around long enough to know that when women set their mind to something, they're doing it.  So I trekked with the gang over to try and get a glimpse of the spectacle.  Oh, did I mention there was a 70% chance of rain?  Yeah, well, we got their and it began to pour.  I'd say cats and dogs, but this was more like lions and wolves...it was miserable.  I did however act as a fullback blocking for nine running backs and make my way through the masses to catch the changing of the guard.

Second up was trekking through the monsoon and going to Westminster Abby and see the church that the royal couple got married in as well as stop to get some cover under a building.  One person checked on how long we'd have to stand in line for a tour of the building but it was an hour or more so we decided to venture elsewhere.

We then made our way over to look for the Imperial Museum and find out how much of the English influence has actually had on the rest of the world.  We walked around in circles for about an hour and realized it was across the Thames River, so we trekked over the bridge next to Big Ben and Parliament (Que Chevy Chase).  Walking by Big Ben is something to admire.  It is massive.  I can't think of anything more noticeable in London than Big Ben.

View of St. Paul's Cathedral and other buildings - Looks like one is melting

We then grabbed a bite to eat and decided that some folks had different agendas with where they wanted to go.  So the guys split with the girls and we headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral.  Up to this point, Big Ben was the coolest thing I'd seen up close.  Then I went to St. Paul's Cathedral.  Something about being on the grounds of St. Paul's was spiritual.  You could just feel the hands and prayers of the people that had come in and out of that place over the years.  We walked all around that place and then walked inside right before a mass/service.  I really wanted to stay and listen but we had to get to another location.  In a word, Beautiful.

We then headed to a place called Monument, which is dedicated for the Great Fire of London in 1666 that destroyed most of the city.  It was built as a way of showing the city was rebuilt and has been a popular tourist attraction ever since.

After that, we headed back to the dorms and got cleaned up.  At this point my feet were killing me and I wasn't really interested in going back out.  However, I needed to take an item back that I had purchased, so I came back to the craziest part of London called Piccadilly Circus, which I call the Times Square of London.  It's just a mass of tourists, consumerism, and advertising.  We then grabbed dinner at a really good restaurant and headed back to get some shut eye.

Sunday - Day 10

Today was the day I'd been looking forward to for quite some time.  One of the things I really enjoy is going to sporting events that have a huge significance in their respective field.  Today was the final day of the British Open at Royal St. George's in Sandwich, England.  Sandwich is located on the eastern coast of England.  We took a 2-hour train ride there and jumped off ready to catch the event.

Side note: I was a little worried about whether I would be allowed in the event since I purchased tickets that were marked for 16-21 year-old.  Back a few months ago when I knew I was going to England, I went to purchase the tickets but all that was left were this type of ticket.  Regular tickets were 55 pounds and these were 25 pounds.  So while it was a gamble, I at least knew I wouldn't spend as much in the long run if I wasn't allowed in.  I came with my student ID in tote and was determined to talk my way in (I had a handful of strategic ways to make it work, but you'll have to ask me in person for those).  Much to my surprise, they didn't even budge or look at the ticket when it was scanned.

So we had a thirty minute walk from the train station to the golf course and when we got in, it was something to be seen.  From talking to a local golfer there, the course is ever changing because of the conditions of the weather.  It was extremely windy and raining, so the course erodes quite often and thus maintenance is always at a premium.  I've had the pleasure of being on a lot of golf courses in Memphis and around other parts of the south and I've never seen a hillier course than this one.  It was a workout just walking from one section hole to another.

We decided we would walk the whole course and check it out, then go and sit on 18 and watch the finish.  The most impressing hole was the 4th.  It was a 495 par 4 with two bunkers that is inset in the ground facing you.  Put it nicely, if you hit it in the bunker, you would almost surely have to hit your ball to the side or backward.  Pictures don't do it justice, it is a huge bunker.

After making our way around the course and seeing the large following that Rory and Sergio had, we decided it best to head to the 18th and sit in the grandstands to watch the final hole for all the golfers.  This was the point that Phil Mickelson began to make his charge to the top and ended up tying Clarke for the lead.  Then the rains came.  What was a light drizzle before turned into a downpour.  Fortunately for me I have rain gear supplied by the U of M Soccer team that is rain PROOF, unlike the many around us that wear flimsy rain resistant jackets and pants.  Not a bit of me was soaked other than my shoes.  Only problem is that everyone turned up their umbrellas and you couldn't see anything.  So we would wait out the rain and it would get sunny again and everyone would clap when it happened.  Then 30 mins would go by and it would pour again.  This happened about five times and every time, the leader board would change - all with Phil dropping in the standings.

We stayed to watch Phil make it in and decided with the winner already decided, we'd head back.  The largest ovations in this order were: Tom Watson, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, & Sergio Garcia.

All in all it was a great event and I am so very blessed to have seen it.  As someone told me, it was a Bucket-List type of event.  I'd say, I agree.  Check.

Only downside is they do not allow cameras for the event, so we didn't get any pics of the golf course.  Stinks, I know.

Panoramic of Buckingham Palace

Action shot of the Changing of the Guard

Jumping Pic

Beautiful Cloud Covering at St. Paul's

Charting Cross Train Station

Beautiful Cloud Covering at St. Paul's

So that does it for now.  Sky Sports is up next.