What a great last day in England! We saw the whole city - Parliament (day & night), Big Ben, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, London Bridge (which isn't falling down), & alot more. We had lunch at Hard rock. Jessie's aunt came. Chrissy (British Disabilities Team) rode the train 2 1/2 hours from Crewe to have lunch with us. Gizela & her family (from Slovakia) met us at Hard Rock. We had a great party! Yesterday was Gizela's birthday & the day before was Paulette's. We celebrated together - I got to be Paulette, complete with whipped cream on my face. After our tour, we had dinner & did some shopping at Covent Garden. There was an opera singer, several musicians, a magician, & lots of people to watch. Then, we divided into our groups & headed for the theater. Now we're packing to come home. We'll fill in all the details when you see us.
Oh - did I mention that we lost Dr. John today? He can explain that one! Let's just say Katie let him have it!
See ya in the USA!
Lila ate 3 desserts last night, but who's counting?
Hope your feet feel better than ours do right now! We have walked & walked & walked today. It's so windy that sometimes the girls have been blown backwards as they walked down the street. Great when we have tail winds though!
We were sad to say good-bye to the Highpoint Conference Center in Leicester. Everybody did a great job loading the bus. Except for Danny, we were 10 minutes early. He was right on time & nobody knows how he does it since he doesn't have a watch. We drove an hour to Stratford-on-Avon and have been on the go all day. First, we visited Ann Hathaway's Cottage. She was Shakespeare's wife. It's a beautiful thatched roof farm house with gardens, fruit trees, and a statue garden outside. We learned alot about Shakespeare's life and how people lived in the 1600s. There were 10 kids in Ann Hathaway's family & they all lived in 1 little room. We are so spoiled! Next, we toured Shakespeare's birthplace and learned more history. We saw alot of the original furniture in his house, and even some clothes that he might have worn as a child. In his day, many baby boys died and people thought the devil was taking them, so they dressed the boys like girls until they were 5 or 6.
Of course after all the history lessons, we were starved, so most of us went to Barnaby's, a fabulous fish & chips shop. YUM! We shopped in town for about an hour & spent most of our time & money in the British equivalent of the Dollar Store. We met on the lake front & walked to the church where Shakespeare & his family are buried. It's beautiful!
Now, we are relaxing at out hotel - the Holiday Inn - how original. Soon, we are going to dinner at a famous pub, where all the actors go. The sign on 1 side says it's called the Black Swan & on the other side, the Dirty Duck. After that, Danny, Joey, Jessie, Karen, Ana, Lani, the Kludts, & I are going to a play at the Royal Shakespeare theater. The play is Cardenio, & it was Shakespeare's last play. Will report on that later.
As promised, here are stories from the Gymnaestrada. For every story I will tell, there are 5 more waiting to be told when we return home.
First, let’s talk about the trading. Today, on the Gymnaestrada Boulevard at the venue, half the people had set up shop along the sidewalk, with all the things they wanted to trade laid out. The rest of the people walked around holding items they wanted to trade. About 15,000 bargain hunters on the prowl! When someone saw something they wanted, the negotiations began. The trading continued all through Closing Ceremonies & many people got last minute bargains.
Remember how badly Charlotte S. hated our hair ornaments (OK – they were the centerpieces at a prom recycled into hair ornaments). Well, Charlotte traded her hair ornament for a pair of Swiss pants!
We performed in Closing wearing PAGU (Pan American Gymnastics Union) t-shirts. As soon as we finished, Ana traded her shirt for a volunteer shirt. Lani stood on one side of her holding a jacket & I stood on the other side with a jacket to make a tent so she could trade. Remember – there were 25,000 people in the stadium & we were sitting on the front row!
Someone traded a pair of pants with a Dutch guy & he debated awhile before he pulled down his shirt to cover his bootie & took off the pants. Yes – in front of 25,000 people!
Kiki traded for a pair of shorts that were so big that she & Alex both got in them. We have pictures to prove it!
On the bus, Lani traded shirts with a Japanese lady. They apparently are more modest than a lot of people here. The Japanese ladies opened their umbrellas to make a dressing room.
Kelli was trading pins with the Japanese ladies & looked at one and asked “Are you from France?”
Dana changed shirts in the dining hall – small crowd there, probably only 3000 people.
Joey took a group to the cathedral this morning. A Swiss family came up & told the girls how touched they were by our performance. They said they loved the surprise at the end of the routine when everyone brought out their candles again. (You will understand when I finally post on YouTube) And they really loved the colorful mismatched socks! They gave Joey a Swiss warm-up suit & all the girls t-shirts. Emily got a kiss, too!
Samantha was supposed to meet a Swiss girl at Closing to trade warm-ups. Of the 25,000 people, she saw everyone but that girl. No worries – she got an Australian jacket! Robin had to trade her whole warm-up & a shirt to get an Australian hat.
OK – it’s not trading, but might as well be. Ana negotiated with the Gymnaestrada photographer & got the whole CD (100 pictures) of our group for the price of 10 pictures. The man was at Gym for Life 2 years ago & knew he would lose all negotiations with Ana. He remembered her well!
A group of gymnasts from some country – hard to tell which one because they had on clothes from at least 10 countries – came by at Closing & asked all the Special Olympians to autograph their t-shirts.
The girls have been looking really good this week. A 4 year old French boy walked by & said “Ooo la la!” Lindsay got a love letter from the security guard at the school (delivered by Robin, so don’t fret). A guy in purple jeweled tights, no shirt, & a fancy sombrero walked by at Closing & danced with Danielle, Mandy, & Dana. Danny’s looking good, too. Someone told him he looks like Paul Newman when he has on his sunglasses, so Danny has worn them full time – even at night & during the evening performances.
Katie K. had a rough start to her day. She didn’t drink enough water & passed out on the bus (in the middle of 250 of her new friends on a max. 50 person bus). She was fine as soon as she got some fresh air & water. Then, she got locked in the bathroom at the venue. The handle broke & it took 5 security guards to rescue her. If you had seen her dancing at Closing, you wouldn’t know she had drama earlier in the day!
We didn’t get a banner for the gym, but we did get a poster! We were having our last scoop of Swiss ice cream outside when a lady from Brazil came by & autographed her picture on the Gymnaestrada poster that hung on the hotel wall. As soon as she left, Dede & I got a chair & proceeded to take it down – right on the street in front of everybody. Steve, head of the US delegation, walked up & shook his finger at us. He said he had never done anything like that (joking) & I said neither had I – Arnetha usually did it!
We have seen a lot of the British Disabilities Team this trip. Krissy is one of the gymnasts who visited us in Atlanta several years ago. You know how I save pop tops from soda cans for the Ronald McDonald House? Well, Krissy & her “mates” have been saving them for me since her visit. She said her suitcase was too full to bring the pop tops to me at Gymnaestrada but told me to bring a big suitcase when we go to England in Sept. so I can bring them all back.
Do you want to hear more about the food? We bought a pack of cookies today – looked like Oreos on the package but were called Black Fives. Inside, there were Oreo like cookies packaged in fives. Cute, huh?
At the grocery store, Dean, the head of the school, bought a disposable hibachi & grilled sausages for dinner.
Now – a few random stories.
The parents sewed pockets in their jazz pants so after the first part of our dance, they could put the candles in them. Well, yesterday, Arnetha missed & her candle fell down her pants leg!
Ariel’s dad came yesterday. When we were on the metro, he reached over to zip Ariel’s backpack. Mary F. hadn’t met him, thought he was a pickpocket, & pushed him away.
Debi, Neil, & Charlotte took a short cut to the venue yesterday & walked an extra hour to get there. The Journey of 1000 Miles! I hear that’s a family joke anytime Neil says “I know a short cut.”
I think the main story to tell from the 2011 Gymnaestrada is how our team touched so many people. At our last performance, I stood on the top row of the bleachers to video – along with 5 other people who are not from our team. One lady was watching the video during the break between our performance and the next one.
At every performance, people were clapping, cheering, laughing, & crying – all at the same time. I can’t tell you how many people left the hall wiping tears from their eyes.
A Swiss lady who had met Emily & Mary B. came to our performance twice. The last day, when we finished, they came down on the floor to say congratulations & give Emily a present.
Tonite at the ice cream stand, a Japanese man came up to Janet & Dana. He had seen our team & was trying to find the words to say how much he liked the show. He touched his heart & said it made him happy. And that pretty much sums up our whole experience here in Lausanne at the Gymnaestrada. Our hearts are happy, too!