The next day, I decided to go into Central London and check out some of the festivities surrounding the Games. At Hyde Park, there’s a huge section carved out for “London Live” which has Olympic events playing on large video boards. I had actually tried to get into London Live the day before, but the line to enter was 25 minutes, even though the park looked a little empty. This time, the line was only 10 minutes through security, and the park seemed even emptier. Bad carnival food lined the venue along with an assortment of sponsor tents and one area where kids could pretend to fence.

One woman told me that after a good first day, business had been terrible and she hadn’t done enough sales that day to give me change (she wound up asking found other food vendors before she could break that 50-pound note. They didn’t take credit cards).

I had been told that hospitality houses were a cool thing to visit during an Olympics. While they are scattered all over London, there are a few near Hyde Park. Earlier in the week, I read an article about a display for Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic Bid at the Japan House. I went down to check it out and was subsequently told that I needed an invitation to enter. I then headed over to the Africa Village in which seemingly every African country had a booth. Some countries went with a display selling art from their home nation, while others turned their booth into a tourism agency.

So if you’re in London and you want to buy Rwandan art, then head over to the Africa Village.

Later, I wanted to walk over to the Russia House where I was told there would be a display for Sochi, which is hosting the 2014 Winter Games. I found a Sochi 2014 Expo Hall, and when I tried to walk in, a security guard told me it was too expensive to buy to a ticket to go inside and insisted it wasn’t worth it. He told me I’d be better off going to the Russia House for free. He tried to direct me to it, but I got lost in Kensington looking for it, and wound up needing to head back.

more>>