Today was my first day as a London Ambassador and, while I thoroughly enjoyed it, my feet are going 'ow, ow, ow' from walking up and down London's Southbank seeing what I could do to welcome the world to London. There's so much going on on the Southbank - we have the London Eye, the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the National Theatre, art installations galore, pop-up restaurants and bars, the roof garden on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Fisherman's Wharf, Jubilee Gardens... so much there and so much going on.
I met some lovely people - my fellow Ambassadors amongst them - who seemed really pleased that there was someone to give them a map of London and answer a few questions. Our job is to make visitors visits better, whether they're from elsewhere in the UK or around the world, and I hope we did that. I got slightly distracted on occasion by all the street artists along the Southbank - well, you've got to watch and enjoy!
I had three, small, personal highlights. Firstly being stopped by a woman from Holland who said she's been in London for two days and was thoroughly enjoying herself and that all the volunteers need to keep their energy levels up and be positive. Secondly by a bloke who asked what all the pink and purple shirts meant and was impressed that we were all volunteers and doing it for free. And thirdly that I met one of the planners of the Marathon who showed me her maps for road closures in exchange for one of my Olympic maps.
The whole time was positive, smiles everywhere and even my fellow cynical Londoners smiling and saying 'no thank you' when offered a map. Well, some Londoners look like tourists too. I didn't hear a single negative comment.
There was a single major sadness. I approached Russian and Canadian Olympians (there seemed to be a lot of them about) and none of them wanted a map. My challenge over the next week is to persuade an Olympian that they need one of my maps. Whichever team it is, they will be a star and fully deserve a Gold medal.
Watch out for the pink and purple shirts on the Southbank... it might just be me!
I met some lovely people - my fellow Ambassadors amongst them - who seemed really pleased that there was someone to give them a map of London and answer a few questions. Our job is to make visitors visits better, whether they're from elsewhere in the UK or around the world, and I hope we did that. I got slightly distracted on occasion by all the street artists along the Southbank - well, you've got to watch and enjoy!
I had three, small, personal highlights. Firstly being stopped by a woman from Holland who said she's been in London for two days and was thoroughly enjoying herself and that all the volunteers need to keep their energy levels up and be positive. Secondly by a bloke who asked what all the pink and purple shirts meant and was impressed that we were all volunteers and doing it for free. And thirdly that I met one of the planners of the Marathon who showed me her maps for road closures in exchange for one of my Olympic maps.
The whole time was positive, smiles everywhere and even my fellow cynical Londoners smiling and saying 'no thank you' when offered a map. Well, some Londoners look like tourists too. I didn't hear a single negative comment.
There was a single major sadness. I approached Russian and Canadian Olympians (there seemed to be a lot of them about) and none of them wanted a map. My challenge over the next week is to persuade an Olympian that they need one of my maps. Whichever team it is, they will be a star and fully deserve a Gold medal.
Watch out for the pink and purple shirts on the Southbank... it might just be me!
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