London 2012

On my way to Ankara I was able to stop in London to see two of my best friends who had been biking from Berlin to London this summer. 

Bing and Daniel came to Paddington station (of Paddington Bear/commuting fame) to help me schlep all of my bags around.  

We stowed my bags at the cafe that Bing worked at when he lived in London and then were able to head to the Olympic Park. Through one of Bing's friends we were able to get tickets that allowed us into the park. 

Many of the buildings followed the imposing (maybe an understatement) style of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. You may know him from such things as: the Battersea Power Station, the building that houses the Tate Modern, and the ever iconic  British red-telephone boxes. 

 Some of them didn't. 

They set up a pretty neat system of mirrors that let you get your picture in front of the main stadium, but it cost money that I didn't have to spend, so we just took a picture of ourselves. 

Can you guess who didn't sleep on the plane? (Hint: see bags under eyes.) 

After the park we went to have tea with one of Bing's friends. We walked a block over after tea to stop by an area known locally as "the beach." To the British aggregate steps that protrude into a dirty river qualifies as a "beach." A nice old English woman walked over to us and said, "Pardon me, I hate to bother you gentlemen, but do you think that poor girl needs help?"

We looked over to see a girl (fully dressed) walk into the Thames and start to swim around. Within a minute she was yelling for help because the extremely fast tide had caught her. Bing and I can swim, but Daniel is a professional lifeguard. (He is a manager at the pool that the U.S. Olympic swimmers and divers trained at this summer.) So he shrugged his shoulders and stripped down to his boxers, and then dove in after the girl. 

Will and I ran down the side of the river in the direction they were being pulled. I was able to get access to a private dock and hurl Daniel a life preserver. I ran back to collect Daniel's clothes from the old lady who was watching them for us. Policemen were running towards the action as I ran to get his clothes from the old lady, so I pointed them in the right direction. 

When I got back Bing was being interviewed by ten policemen, and there were police helicopters circling. One of these boats was on the way:

(Not my photo)

The river pulled Daniel and the girl 1/3 or 1/2 mile down river in just a few minutes.

But Daniel had been fished out by THIS:

(Also not my picture)

That is the Thames Clipper. It is the overwater version of a bus, but way bigger. The pilot had whipped the clipper around against the current and backed up to them to help Daniel get the girl out of the water. Daniel immediately made sure that she stayed conscious while she asked him questions like, "are you Johnny Depp?" "Can we go get fish and chips?" etc. 

They gave him a jacket  and a cup of coffee to keep him warm. Seeing as none of us had phones we were unsure how to find him again, so the police transfered him to one of their boats and brought him back to us. 

Daniel was (and is) a hero. They told us that he certainly saved the girl's life. Everyone congratulate him when you see him. 

The next morning we went to go see the Olympic Triathlon in Hyde Park. It was really cool to actually get to see an event. 

Later in the evening we went down to Brick Lane (a really, really great part of London) for dinner with a friend we met in the hostel. We saw a new Banksy piece:

The next morning we took it easy and listened to music for a little while on the roof of our hostel.

(Soundtrack: Sigur Rós' Takk)

The rest of the day we just walked around. We went to the Tate Modern, and then had a late lunch at the Borough Market. If any of you go to London, the market is amazing. It is usually only open on the weekends, but this summer they made sure it was open every day. The foods and drinks were really, really good. 

The next morning Bing and Daniel saw me off again at Paddington and I continued my journey eastward.