For the swimmers... THE DINING HALL

Well for all that build up, the food really isn't that great.  They have too cook for a lot of people so quality isn't their first concern.  But it's great cause you can go to the dining hall as many times a day as you like and at any hour of the night that you may get an odd craving.  The place is HUGE and it has different types of foods from all over the world.

That was the main dining hall, but they have food all over the village as well.  They have fruit and bars and cookies at every training facility and there are people walking around the streets with trays of desserts... Am I sensing sabotage?

They've got these nature valley bars EVERYWHERE and they're so good!  They've even got the logo of the games on them so I'm going to see if I can bring some home for everyone :)

Also, I finally got a real roommate!! Her name is Annabelle and she runs track for Mauritius.  Our apartment is in the perfect location.  We're right next to the dining hall (most important) and the bus stops to training and competition facilities.

This is our building with a banner on the front: TEAM MAURITIUS.

Our apartment is in the 'Verna House'.

A tour of the apartment.

This is the 'flag garden' which is just across the street from our apartment. It's a great view to wake up to every morning!

Mauritius is the very first flag!!

I hope the videos work for everyone!  Let me know if you guys like them - if so, I'll take some more of the other facilities! :)

241 Countries. It's a BIG village.

Productive day so far:

1. Went to the competition pool and swam in the warm-up pool a bit.  It's been a busy day, so I didn't have the energy to venture off and find the ACTUAL competition pool within the building.

2. Scheduled my nail appointment for Wednesday.  These people are WAY over-booked!  You can get free nails (of your countries flag painted on), free hair and make up for the ceremonies and whatnot, and free facials.

3. Looked through all of the apparel at the store - man there is a lot of cool stuff in there!  It's pretty expensive, but if anybody wants me to get them something and just pay me back when I get home I'd be happy to do so!

4. Ventured out of the apt with one of my new roommates.  Here is what we saw:

Me and one of my roommates Marie-Christianne under the Olympic Rings in the village.

The London Games logo!

This is the athlete 'hang-out'.  It has free refreshments and lots of entertainment (Wii, XBox... or FIFA or whatever game has that old school controller, pool, foosball, a theater, live music, the WORKS!!) <--but if you ask me... the best part is the life-size game of Connect-4 they have outside :)  Yesterday, I played pool with one of my teammates (Elodie - beach volleyball).  We ended up playing with a guy from Slovenia and a guy from Italy.  It's amazing to be able to meet people from all over the world!

At the store in the athlete village, there is this giant map where people can write notes to the athletes to inspire them.  Since it's still early, there aren't too many up yet....

But Mauritius had one!! It reads: "Good luck Team Mauritius TO LONDON 2012 from a MAURITIAN in Heart - Living and Working as a coach in RSA" Too sweet. <3

Exploring was a lot of fun, but the village is HUGE and it gets pretty tiring so I'm exploring it bit by bit.  I'll be sure to take pictures the whole way and share with everyone! Best of luck to those going to state and to those who have 1 day left of sections.

NOTE TO ALL OF MY HAWKEYES: My hawkeye mesh bag is a hit!  I was about to get on the bus to go to the pool when a lady stopped me: "Wait!! Hawkeyes!?!" "YES! Do you know someone who is a hawkeye?" "No, well I'm from Iowa!!" #HawkeyeNation baby - even in London. GO HAWKS!

BLOODY HELL, I'm in London

Title Credit: Amelia

Well, finally here!  And by that, I mean it took a full hour just to get to our apartment after entering the village because of all the security checkpoints.  On the bus on the way in, I rode with a fencer from Canada and the Mexican swim team.  I have some video footage, but I won't be able to upload it for a while.  The bus got it's own 'Olympic lane' - the streets were literally paved with the rings.

We were able to see all of the sites on the way in, but I was too busy taking it all in to take many pictures!  Hopefully I will have more time to explore later.  But for now, this is what I have:

A famous store (don't remember the name - sorry)

A famous church in London

A London telephone booth!!

Big Ben

Don't remember the name of this one...

 Okay, so note to self: try to remember the names of some things...

Now once I got into the village, there was also a lot to see.

All of the bedrooms look like this.  We get to keep the Olympic quilt at the end, so I am excited for that!

Sunset in the Olympic Village - these are some of the apartments that teams are staying in.

McDonald's in the Olympic Village Dining Hall..... no comment.

The view from the courtyard balcony.

After getting settled, I was oh so very grateful, to get the opportunity to swim 5200m after an 8 hour flight.  However, the practice pool was amazing!  It's right in the village and there are 3 Olympic sized pools in a row as well as a water polo pool right next to it.  I have yet to see the competition pool, but I'll post pictures as soon as I can!  Hopefully I will get a chance to take some video as well!

I'll have a lot more time to explore today so I'll try to get some better pictures.  Hopefully I'll be able to post more today!  Good luck to everyone at their swim meets!
-Heather