A no cloud in the sky kind of day

I have a pretty good (or bad, depending upon how you view it!) track record with having adventures on trains and, true to form, even before 9AM today I was managing to keep up that tradition pretty well. For future reference, you will neither be kicked off the train nor have to pay £150 if you have an off-peak ticket for a peak-time train, as long as you have a Student Railcard. I say this because my morning seemed to consist of running off trains, running down platforms and then running along trains, all with a suitcase the size of a small house in tow. Also, for future reference, I much prefer the 'tickets please' announcement, as opposed to 'ladies and gentlemen, please prepare for a full ticket examination'!

Anyway... I arrived in London safely, left my suitcase at the flat where I will be staying for the majority of the Olympics, and then decided to be a right keen-bean and make my way back to central London. I was a proper Brit and graced Trafalgar Square with my M&S meal-deal and, continuing with the adventurous theme of the day, I ate with my feet in the one of the fountains (sorry, patrolling council lady) and then climbed Nelson's column (sorry, health and safety). Unfortunately for me, a lot of this experience (with particular emphasis on the sandwich eating part) was filmed by a Spanish film crew... I am blaming the ginger hair and traditional lemonade combination.

It was as much as I could do to make myself budge from my spot in the shade on Nelson's column, but I did want to go to the 'Road to 2012' exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, so I eventually motivated myself to move.

The exhibition was fantastic, in particular the way that they had included the stories of the athletes as well as just their portraits. I managed to tack onto the back of a tour of the Gallery as well, so I felt sufficiently tourist-y and well informed too. I am, however, still slightly confused about how Kate Middleton made it into the athletes section of the exhibition. Although I'm sure Marlborough were a good hockey team.

I then walked around Leicester Square before meeting my dad for tea. Along with the shrine to T-Rex's Mark Bolan practically on his doorstep (which I knew about), the visit back to his contained three exciting discoveries:

1. There are parakeets in his garden. I do not understand how this works at all.

2. Richmond Park is huuuuge, could quite easily be a safari park, and contains deer and a heck of a lot of cyclists. (Also, today I was able to apply the knowledge that a doe is a female dear, thank you Julie Andrews).

3. Dad is quickly becoming Jamie Oliver. Complete with commentary.

I am now safely in bed after having enjoyed a very lovely evening sat outside in the warmth under the stars on the balcony (please note: I here place emphasis on the 'warmth' part) (please note also: it didn't rain!).