The end of August was pretty quiet for Josh and I. We just enjoyed the beautiful weather and relaxed at home when we had the chance. For Josh's birthday, all he wanted to do was stay at home and do "nothing". I honored his request and we puttered around the flat all day. I spent most of that day in the kitchen cooking up his favorite foods. The menu was bratwurst, homemade baked beans, creamed corn and peanut butter chocolate brownies. Not healthy at all, but you only turn 32 once! The day after Josh's birthday I declared our self imposed sequestering over so we rented some Barclay bikes and headed off on a trip across London to Notting Hill for the
Carnival.
The Carnival was...not my cup of tea. Josh and I really didn't know much about it going in, just that it was a street party celebrating Caribbean community and they had jerk chicken food stalls...mmmm....I love jerk chicken! My first impression upon arriving at the Carnival was "holy cow there are a ton of people here". Literally, there were people everywhere. Just a huge mass for block after block after block. Where there wasn't people, there were food stalls and where there wasn't food stalls there was trash. Huge piles of trash, in fact, I didn't see one trash can the entire time we walked around. I'm assuming this is to prevent terrorism, but it just grossed me out and made me rethink buying that jerk chicken I really wanted.
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| Huge pile of trash at the Notting Hill Carnival |
I was expecting more entertainment but there were only a few bands playing. Mostly it looked like people were just out to drink, eat and smoke (not just cigarettes!) And this was "Family Day"!!! After about an hour of wandering the many streets Josh and I headed out, thankfully, back to our nice quiet flat.
The weekend after Josh's birthday we had tickets to the Paralympics. I was really excited to finally get into Olympic park and watch more sporting events. Our tickets were for the athletics events at the main stadium. The Paralympics have been very well attended here in London, over 2.5 million tickets have been sold for the events!
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| Olympic Park in Stratford |
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| Josh and I in Olympic Park |
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| The Orbit thing...still think it is ugly! |
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| For Dad :) The huge McDonald's! |
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| Josh having a cookie :) |
Josh and I brought sandwiches and snacks with us to the park and found a nice spot to enjoy our dinner before the athletic session started.
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| Olympic Stadium |
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| Inside Olympic Stadium, waiting for the games to start. |
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| The Olympic Flame! |
I was really excited to see the Olympic flame, we were pretty close to it! The atmosphere at the stadium was great. There were a lot of Union Jack's being waved around and the stadium was close to full.
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| Josh the Olympic Stadium |
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| Shotput. Each athlete has their own special seat to throw from. |
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| That little car is run by remote and takes the discus back and forth. |
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| One of the cycling races. |
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| One of the medal ceremonies, a lady from Great Britain won gold! |
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| Runners with Cerebral Palsy |
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| The orbit again...looks much cooler lit up! |
At our athletic session we saw a large range of people with different disabilities compete. There were people who were missing limbs, people paralyzed from the waist down, people with cerebral palsy and people who have dwarfism. They are all incredible athletes and I was truly impressed by their dedication and strength. Josh and I really enjoyed our night out at the Paralympics!
Rachel x
3 comments:
That trash is gross!! We had an anti terrorist brief at security forces yesterday, I never thought about England as being a high threat for terrorists but it is and apparently we cant do or show that we are Americans over there, especially in london, guess we better master an accent quick. I am glad Josh had a nice relaxing birthday and a wonderful wife to bake for him! The Paralympic's looks really awesome and those athletes are inspiring! Glad you got to experience it! Love you and see you soon!!!
Love,
Amanda
Really? I see people wearing the American Flag all the time. I've never had anyone say anything negative to me. London is very diverse. I really don't think you would have a problem here. Only 16 more days!
Kind of late but finally got to read this blog and as usual a job well done. First the carnival would not be my bag ( but what is for me now a days? ) The trash would of turned me off instantly but the amount of people there was worst Whew! Smelly armpits? Glad to see there is a Micky Dee's there for your dad and mom. You know when she comes to Darby's, she has our coffee, but then has to run to McDonalds for her speciality?
I don't see it but apparently they do. The stay at home day sounded like my kind of day! Hope Josh enjoyed and had a good birthday! Sam & Amanda are stopping by to see my Sunday, September 9th. Said something about lunch but they don't have to do that. Just stopping in and saying hello is good. Yes, I read about London and terrorist all the time. Shame. I know when Dave was in Iraq I was told not to put an American Flag Stamp on my letters Silly but guess safeter. Great blog. Won't be long Mom & Dad will be there. Be prepared, your mom is a go go go person. Doesn't let any grass grow under her feet. lol Gotta love her though! Love to you and your handsome husband, Grandma D
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