Beach Volleyball

Dave and I made our way to Horse Guards Parade so we could see some beach volleyball.  Yesterday, the weather was perfect for some beach volleyball...unfortunately, Tuesday was chilly and rainy.  The weather didn't deter us or the other 14,999 spectators from heading out.  We got there in plenty of time and were greeted by tons of friendly volunteers and very few long lines.  While wandering around the area, we saw the Band of Blues and Royals and Kerri Walsh--she was much taller than we expected!

The Band of Blues and Royals getting ready to entertain the masses

Kerri Walsh was HUGE!

 When we finally decided to head into the arena, we were directed to our seats and were pleasantly surprised by how good they were!

Getting the court all set up

A look at our surroundings (not many people had shown up yet)

Millennium Wheel

Arial view of the stadium which was right next to the Parliament and Downing Street 

The Horse Guards Parade dancers who entertained us between games

We got to see two women's matches and two men's matches.  The men played first and we I was highly disappointed in Brazil who came out dressed for a snowball fight.  I agree that it was a little chilly out and it was raining off and on, but the people came out to see half-dressed volleyball players!  All of the men wore shorts and jerseys, but the women came out in their skimpies.

The boys of the Czech Republic who beat the boys from Japan

The boys of Brazil who beat the boys of Switzerland

The girls of Spain beat the girls of Argentina

The girls of Brazil beat the taped up girls from Germany

The final match of the day (Brazil vs. Germany) was definitely the most intense of the day.  The two teams were so perfectly matched up that I wasn't sure if we would ever get a winner.  The games usually play to 21 points (15 if a third is necessary), but at one point we went way over 30 points.  The crowd was on its feet for quite a while cheering on the girls.

At one point during our beach volleyball adventure the sun even came out.  I even had to put on my sunnies for a while!  The announcer did a great job of getting the crowd riled up and got everyone excited despite the weather.  He had us clapping and shouting "Olé" and doing the wave all around the stadium several times.  The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, even made an appearance--I think he heard the Ameri-Mulleys were going to be there and wanted to see us.

Boris searching the crowd for Dave and I

The thing that has driven me crazy while attending some of the games is how so many people will swing their flags about when nobody from that country is even participating in the event.

I might be able to give the Brits a break...since they are hosting the Games

Australia....not playing beach volleyball that day!

USA...not playing and we certainly don't display our flag that way!

We also happened to be seating by some of the most obnoxious American's in England.  The guy behind us insisted on using the words "cheeky" and "brilliant" at least 10 times in each sentence.  He didn't seem to care that he was using both words incorrectly-he just kept doing it.  I wanted to turn around and say, "You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means." (name that movie).   We also had a group of four Americans who came in way late and proceeding to chug beer--probably to live up their homemade shirts which read, "USA Drinking Team".  In a matter of about 15 minutes, one girl consumed a pint of beer and then two more bottles of beer.  Along with their homemade shirts, the group had painted what I can only assume they thought were American flags all over themselves.  Little did they know, they actually painted French flags all over their flesh.  No, I did not take a picture of them.  I didn't want to encourage them anymore than everyone else already was.  It's people like this that make everyone hate Americans!

Tomorrow, we are all headed to indoor volleyball!