Day 5 (Our last shift): "what's happening over there?"

Me at our pod, Southbank

So from applying in December 2010 our last shift arrived all too soon.  What a great day to end on, though.  The last day of the Olympics meant people were out on the Southbank trying to soak up the very last drops of this amazing couple of weeks.  Plus it was super hot and sunny, as it has been every day of our London Ambassador shift (my fleece has remained firmly in its box).  To cap it all, as we looked across the Thames from our post outside the National Theatre, across to Victoria Embankment we could see the crowds lining the route of the Men's Marathon. The early questions today all concerned what route the marathon took and where the best viewing place was.  There was also quite a few people who stopped to ask "what's happening over there?"  ......and, of course, the usual "how far to Tower Bridge?"

I can't really put into words just how much I have loved my time as a London Ambassador.  I adore London and in particular the Southbank, and even more so now. The Olympics has been incredible in so many superlative ways and it was my pleasure to be a part if it.  What has really made it special was the public reaction.  So many  people came up to us just to say we were doing a great job or just to have a chat about how great the Olympics has been.    We've spoken to lots of people who hadn't got tickets but had just come to London to "be part of it".  Even before we got on the tube to head to our shift we had cyclists shouting "go volunteers!" and two lovely Australian women who had just arrived in the country that morning asked if they could take our photo.

The comments in the media have also been hugely positive about the work all the volunteers have done. For my part it was an absolute pleasure, and the special treats such as the opening ceremony rehearsal were just brilliant bonuses.  People were suggesting it would be great to have volunteers in tourist areas like the Southbank every summer. I think this a great idea and I'd definitely put my name down. However nothing will quite be the same as this magical summer.  But don't forget my brilliant fellow London ambassadors will remain around the city til the end of the Paralympics.  But, for my part, as I sit at home ready to watch the Closing Ceremony, with tears in my eyes at all the BBC montages, that is the end of my role in a Summer Like No Other.  And wasn't it just fab?

"One day we will tell our children and our grandchildren that when our time came, we did it right" -Seb Coe

“The doom-mongers said it couldn’t be done. Well they were wrong. It was done, it was stunning and it will live long in the memory.” -Boris Johnson

Shift 4 (Saturday): "how far to Tower Bridge?"

Tower Bridge copyright @elmurphs on Instagram

My most common question of my time so far has definitely been "how far to Tower Bridge?"  Or quite often London Bridge, but I'm pretty sure it's the usual tourist mistake and they really do want Tower Bridge.  Today I got asked this question several times and always try to guesstimate based on my assumption of their walking speed.  Consequently my answers have varied widely but generally from our post at the National Theatre I reckon about 30 minutes, Google Maps reckons around 40.  I like pointing people down that way though as there's so many things to see on the way.

It has been very busy and such a great atmosphere on the Southbank all week but as this was our first weekend day it was even busier and bustlier (if that's a word).  We were also treated to a great flashmob outside the National Theatre.

My favourite question(s) today was from a group of Spanish (I think) young people.  They got one of our maps and asked me what they should see in London.  Their enthusiasm to see everything important and giving me a chance to wax lyrical on how great London is was the vision I had when applying to be a London Ambassador.  Together we worked through the map as they circled everything they wanted to see.  Their conclusion in the end was to circle the whole map, "everything!" They were also thrilled that so many things were free, they were very happy when I told them the British Museum had no charge.  Isn't London brilliant?  I sent them away a happy bunch who were off to walk to Tower Bridge and catching Tate Modern and the Globe on the way.  Followed by the British Museum, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery & portrait gallery, and Covent Garden.  Then over to Knightsbridge for the V&A, Science and Natural History museums.  Followed by an evening in Camden.  Or, thinking about it, they may have to spread it over a couple of days.....

Similarly we had a lovely American tourist who wanted to check with us he had seen all the main attractions in London.  After reeling off a list of everything in any decent guide to London we were struggling to think of somewhere he hadn't been.  He also wanted to see Scotland Yard as he said that's the image they often see on their TVs.  Of all the famous places in London.......

Can't believe tomorrow is our last shift, and the last day of the Olympics.  We will miss it way, way too much.

PS don't forget that you can't watch the closing ceremony at Hyde Park unless you have tickets (now sold out), it will be on at the large screens at Victoria Park though!  We've been given the advice that the best place to see it is at home with friends and family.  I might just do that....

Shift 3 (Friday): "is the Thames masculine or feminine?"

Lego map of the World.  Festival of the World @Royal Festival Hall

Copyright @elmurphs on Instagram

Today we had a new location manager who was a bit more flexible in terms of not assigning us to a particular areas so we headed up to a nice shady bit by the National Theatre (it was hot again and those pink and purple tops don't exactly breathe).  This was actually a really nice area to be as the National Theatre has a series of outdoor performances so we were able to dance along to the music waving our Time Out magazines.

We were really put through our paces when a group of French kids came and asked for help with their questionnaire.  Having helped them with a couple of questions they turned their questionnaire over to reveal a whole page of unanswered questions about the Southbank and London.  I had to stifle a laugh when my sister mumbled despondently under her breath "oh, there's loads."  They were also properly difficult questions too, so I did exactly what I tell my students not to do....turn to Wikipedia.  Together we got there and sent them merrily on their way to have their photo taken outside Lambeth Palace (the last challenge on their questionnaire).  One we weren't quite sure on was "is the Thames considered in Britain as masculine or feminine?"  Literally no clue.  They said that it was feminine in French so we just went for that.....

Favourite question today #1: "Where can I buy flip-flops?"
Favourite question today #2 and possibly of all time, outside on the Southbank: "How do I get out?"

FAQ: Can I go to the Olympic Park without a ticket? (No, you need a ticket for the Park or an event taking place in the Park- tickets for events at other Olympic venues, e.g. Earl's Court, will not allow you into the Park).

After our shift we decided to walk to the BT London Live site at Hyde Park.  After a 5 hour shift on your feet in the sun, maybe the hours walk to Hyde Park was a mistake.  Nevertheless we got there, found a nice chilled out shady area near screen 5 and spent a very pleasant London evening sipping wine and then watching Feeder for free!  

Shift 2 (Thursday): where can I get a river boat?

Wenlock, near Charing Cross.  

Copyright @elmurphs on Instagram

Day 2 was the first really hot day of our stint and everyone wanted a river cruise.   Working out which boats go from where, when- not so easy.  I think by the end of our shift we’d finally worked it out…just.  We spent this day roaming too, which we liked doing as it means you get to wander around the Southbank rather than staying in one place; the downside is ferrying huge packets of Time Out between the London Eye and the National Theatre, getting down to the furthest reaches only to find your colleagues at the other end had once again run out of Time Outs. 

Another popular question was about the Wenlock and Mandeville trail- statues of the mascots have been placed around London and you can walk different trails to find them, while taking in the main sights and sounds of this fine city.  A lady and her young daughter were trying to find some, and wanted to know their locations.  Unfortunately our maps only show the trails and not the exact locations of the statues, but I was able to point them in the direction of our nearest Southbank ones (up near County Hall).  I also had my picture taken with the little girl and I am obviously much better than both Wenlock and Mandeville.  Our pod also has a list of all the ones near our location and you can find various blogs of people that have walked the trails too giving more details of the statue locations.  Not everyone is a fan though- as we found out on our way home- as we stopped to take a picture of Wenlock one lady stopped to complain about the mascots and how they did not represent London.  Chances are people taking photos of it are not going to agree with you….

After our shift we continued to practise what we preach.  We headed down to Leicester Square to the TKTS booth to get some cheap theatre tickets.  Having plumped for Blood Brothers we then went for a drink sitting outside in a sun-bathed Leicester Square, followed by a meal in Chinatown and then hankies out for Blood Brothers.  Did I mention I love London?

Shift 1: done!

After registering in December 2010 my first shift was finally here.  And it was everything I could have possibly hoped,  Southbank was definitely the best choice location.  After debrief and meeting the rest of our lovely team we were let loose between the London Eye and the National Theatre.  It was a bit quiet to start with and I was a bit worried no-one would come and talk to us but after my first question (Where is Tate Britain?) the enquiries flowed.  It was our job to rove up and down the Southbank and replenish our fellow ambassadors' stocks of free maps and Time Out magazines. This was a great way to mingle amongst the question-laden public and to soak up the atmosphere, which, incidentally, was fantastic.  At the end of the shift in our debrief we were asked for common questions but actually there wasn't one common question, it was all very varied, from 'what's that building over there?' to 'is there a good family pub for food?' plus the ones we anticipated in training: 'where's the nearest toilet?' and 'can I have my photo taken with you?'.

Today's difficult question: "where's the nearest payphone?" (we guessed Waterloo station, but who uses payphones these days?!)
Today's best question: "Is there something going on on the river?  Why are all these people here?" (answer: 'no, this is just what the Southbank is like at its best, followed by me gushing about how great the Southbank is).
Today's loveliest people: (apart from our team) were probably the policemen also roaming up and down.  Particularly the ones that stopped to ask my sister if she thought she was wearing sensible shoes for the job and questioning the heel height.  Haha.
Today's less than lovely people: the people from a very famous cola brand who were transferring their guests from their hospitality area to a bus to take them to the handball.  They told us to move as they were trying to guide masses of people past where we were (a very open area near the National Theatre and 'masses' turned out to a few groups of no more than five people), and told us not to hand over Time Out magazines to their guests (who were asking for them) as it was slowing them up (even though they were still calling people from the hospitality room).  They were less than friendly and bordering on rude to lovely volunteers who were just trying to help members of the public.
Celebrity spots: Jim Rosenthal......some of our fellow ambassadors saw some of the American athletes.  I'll let you decide which is better.

After our shift we decided on a busman's holiday and explored the Southbank for ourselves.  So many amazing things going on- we watched the South African singers and dancers in "Ekhaya - South Africa's Olympic Home" at Queen Elizabeth Hall, salivated over the food at the Real Food Summer Market round the back of the Southbank centre, had a look round the Priceless London Wonderground, marvelled at the maze of books at aMAZEme, had our passport photo taken for our World Passport as part of the Festival of the World and had bubbles and sushi overlooking the bustling and sunny Southbank.

Looking forward to what tomorrow brings.....

Timber Robots climbing up the side of the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre.  

Copyright @elmurphs on Instagram

Volleyball-istic

 Copyright @elmurphs on Instagram

Having not got any Olympic tickets from the first ballot I decided in the second ballot to just go for anything I could get; I just wanted to be able to say I went to the Olympics.  And thus it became so that Family Murphy got Men's Volleyball tickets at Earl's Court.  The only time I have encountered Volleyball was at school when we played it for one Games lesson.  I remember it for the simple fact the teacher asked my friend to throw him the ball; she promptly threw it vertically straight up in the air, and at her second attempt, threw it directly behind her.  That is my sum total of my Volleyball anecdotes.  So, clueless would be an accurate word to describe my knowledge of the game, and what to expect, when we rocked up at Earl's Court on a drizzly Sunday morning. 

Firstly I want to heap special praise on the Army, who not only jumped into the breach Olympic-security wise but who also provide a superbly welcoming greeting to the Games.  Every single person that we met on the security checks and in the (very short and efficient) queuing time was so lovely and so welcoming it definitely got the day off to a great start.  And my umbrella did not seem to pose the same security threat it did at Hyde Park. 

Earl's Court certainly won't be winning any prizes for the most attractive Olympic venue, but we had a good view so I could forgive walking round, in what felt very much like a circle, the glorified internal car park to get to our stand.  The MC/host/presenter (?) kept re-iterating that Earl's Court was the most family friendly and interactive of all the venues and he certainly kept us all amused while we waited with games and video clips to help us understand what we were about to see (Australia vs Argentina and USA vs Serbia).  I felt very much like I was at an American basketball game, complete with cheerleaders, video screens showing shots of the unsuspecting crowd and hi-fives at any given opportunity (even on lost points).  In the same vein, after ever single point that was scored there would be a blast of pop music and the cheerleaders would pop up from the side of the court to whip up the crowd, who, if they were anything like me, were still trying to work out why that team had scored a point.  As my mum put it "it's a good job the matches didn't both go to five sets or it would have killed those cheerleaders".  More to the point if I had heard the same 5 seconds of Tinie Tempah's Pass Out for 4 extra sets I might have killed those cheerleaders.  Only kidding, they did a great job, it's just I would have preferred a slightly broader range of music......

The atmosphere was great and it was a really fun event, I came away even more enthused about the Olympics, if that was possible.  Argentina beat Australia and USA beat Serbia, both in 3 sets but I can't really comment on the sport as I'm still not convinced I totally understood it.  Everytime I thought I'd got it I would be totally baffled as to why the team I thought had lost the point had actually won it.  Nevertheless I am a Volleyball convert.  Not in the sense that I will be taking it up (I think I might have to be a bit taller...) but in the sense that I came away thinking that it was a brilliantly exciting game, and as far as my untrained eye could work out USA looked pretty darn good at it. 

"I love this city tonight, I love this city always." Hyde Park, Friday.

Red Arrows@ Hyde Park Opening Ceremony Concert

Copyright @elmurphs on Instagram

As Eddie in Absolutely Fabulous had so brilliantly put it "Well darling - it’s been everywhere for 5 bloody years, hasn’t it?! Will we, won’t we? Will it be built, won’t it be built? Will we win, no we won’t. Darling, excuse me if I missed it actually starting - it’s been like tinnitus!"  Finally, after the tinnitus of the last few years for us Londoners, the day had finally arrived.  To describe my state of mind on Friday as excited would be underplaying it slightly. London had worked itself into a frenzy of Olympic proportions (see what I did there?) and now we were ready to party.  So with an afternoon off I made my way with an excitable skip in my step to Hyde Park to join that particular party with a few thousand friends.  I'd booked the tickets a while ago vaguely thinking that it would be a great opportunity to see Stereophonics & Snow Patrol live but mostly because I wanted to be with London on this memorable day.  My state of frenzy on the day also had a lot to do with the fact that I had seen the opening ceremony and I couldn't wait to share it with everyone else.  

The level of security was mind-blowing.  I had a full body pat-down, followed by a full body scanner, followed by a hand-scanner over my body, followed by a full bag scan, followed by a bag-search.  My umbrella apparently caused some concern.  Little did this deter us from settling down on a well-chosen spot (right next to the path to the toilets and wine bar) and soaking in the atmosphere (and the now flowing wine and cider).  The music was great: Duran Duran's Ordinary World had me singing at the top of my lungs and into the woman next to me's ears in an attempt to get her to move on to another part of Hyde Park, their set also being punctuated with the Red Arrows- always a marker of a great celebration; Stereophonics playing a set of their truly best stuff had me reminiscing and jumping around the park and into the women next to me in an attempt to get her to move on; Snow Patrol finished off the night with a magical set, interspersed with images of the GB team at the parade and the lighting of the torch which brought all my (wine enhanced) emotions to the fore. And Paolo Nutini. (Sorry Paolo, not a massive fan, and was that event really the best time to sing some "new stuff"?).  Plus the opening ceremony shown on the big screens somewhere between all that.  It was great to watch it with a massive crowd and see what went down well (huge laughs for Rowan Atkinson, big cheers for Becks), but I think if I hadn't seen it already I would have been a bit disappointed- it's not very easy to watch a show like that on tip-toes trying to see above people's heads and held-aloft iPads (do you really want to film it off the big screen?  Can't you just record it off the TV?).  But to soak in the atmosphere of such an extraordinary night in the city I love, well, to quote a famous credit card company......Priceless.