It was just past three in the afternoon when my sisters and I decided to head to Oxford Street, one of the most prestigious shopping districts in all of London—home to designer names and brands known all over the world. Located 10 minutes away from Horse Guards Parade (where last you left us), we quickly arrived in the main square of Oxford Street and began walking around.

Due to our bold outfit choices (bright red and white Canada sweaters) we stood out in the crowd and were quickly mistaken as actual Canadian Olympic athletes competing in the London Games! It wasn’t long until we were stopped by a Spanish television station. It was quite entertaining because we kept explaining that we weren’t Olympic athletes but clearly the overzealous reporting and insurmountable language barrier proved to be a bit confusing. Oh, well—definitely flattering, to say the least.

We continued to walk around London and take pictures with people who mistook us for Canadian athletes. Oops!

We finally headed back to Horse Guards Parade to line up for the beach volleyball event. As soon as we arrived back on location, the amount of people had multiplied by thousands and were getting ready for the volleyball games. It was so exciting because everyone was rowdy and extremely energetic as they prepared to cheer on the different countries. It was completely unreal—something that I had never experienced before.

Surprisingly, it only took us 15 minutes to get through security. They had it fast-moving with hundreds of military and volunteers at hand. It felt like I was going through airport security, as they had the exact same type of security created for the Games. You were not allowed to bring full water bottles into the park, although you could have an empty bottle and fill it up once in the stadium. You were also limited to a specific size bag to hold all your belongings.

Right outside the beach volleyball stadium in Horse Guards Parade! IT WAS HUGE!

Sisters outside the stadium

Keep posted for pictures from the game!

Victoria Mintz is a Canadian student at Canisius College in Buffalo and is serving as Buffalo.com’s eyes and ears at the Olympic Games in London.