At the Paralympics

We failed to get tickets for anything at the Olympics, but Kims friend who runs a Guide group had managed to get a load of tickets for the Paralympics. Jenny is  quite amazing at her ability to get hold of cool things. Train ride there and back and entrance for £10! We watched the Wheelchair Basketball at the North Greenwich Arena, Team BG ladies were playing amongst others. It was quite a spectacle to see them bashing and crashing and hurtling up and down the court. The icing on the cake was the free tickets a couple gave us to walk round the Olympic Park later in the afternoon. It was a long day but I'm glad we finally made it there.

Trip to London

We've been meaning to go to the London Aquarium for ages and finally had some time to do so. Letting the train take the strain we ended up on the South Bank with a sleeping Lily in her buggy. Luckily the Olympic mascot displays are still around. There are several tours around areas of London with painted Wenlocks and Mandevilles lining the route. This one was Underwater Wenlock, stood opposite the Houses of Parliament and right outside the Aquarium itself.

Ironic sponsors

There are many companies that are the "official ......" of the Olympics, but the most ironic two are McDonalds and Coke. Are Team GB really munching Big Macs and downing pints of soft drinks in the build up?

Chalking it up

After a morning at the local green fair we came home for a well earned rest, laying on the sofa watching yet more Olympics before heading into the garden for a play. Lily was let loose with some chalk on the patio and I created a patriotic slab as well as an air-cooled masterpiece.

Olympic lights

A bit of a cheat here. On the spur of the moment late on Thursday, we made are way up to Windsor. With Eton Dorney and the rowing not far away they were celebrating the achievements both past and present with a massive slide show. Projected onto the three towers of the Lower Ward of the castle it didn't start until almost 10pm. We bundled a sleepy Lily into the car and drove up to the rowing lakes for a look round before parking in the town and joining the hundreds of revellers as the show began. The images filled the tower walls and changed every few seconds for about 10 minutes before repeating. Having watched it for a while we slowly headed home, rolling into bed not long before midnight.

 

Few days late

We never managed to get Olympics tickets, despite bidding for loads in a couple of the rounds nothing came our way. I was a bit disappointed as it would have been great to get to a venue and say we had been there when the greatest sporting event came to London. I've been trying to make up for it by watching as much as I can on TV and popping by some of the sites before or after the events. Today I was in Surrey and was close enough to drive part of the route used by the various road cycling.

Welsh Olympics

A trip to the capital of Wales shows that its not just London thats getting into the Olympic spirit.Outside City Hall in Cardiff I spotted this massive set of rings. We escaped the city just before it was locked down for the football at the Millennium Stadium.

Long range Olympics

With the Olympics well under way now I managed to get another glimpse of the park, this time from Highgate, several miles out!

ART DRIVE!

In the build up to the Olympics, the London 2012 Festival is putting on a massive cultural celebration all over the place. From plays and family days to art exhibitions. I'm not normally one for galleries, but when they are built inside an old multi story car park and the works on display are 16 of the 17 BMW Art Cars that are rarely together at the same time, I make an exception. I read about it on Retro Rides and as I had to drive through London to get from Greenwich to Watford I would be passing right by the door. I afforded myself half an hour off to nose around. Really I could have done with a few hours to take it all in but it was enough time to be amazed at seeing these masterpieces in the metal.

Is there some sporting event on?

After yesterdays barge full of rings I thought I better give BP a nod for this monster hoarding, spread over half a dozen billboards at Earls Court Corner and normally reserved for massive films, its truly epic with a massive torch making the centrepiece.

Olympics are getting everywhere!

With only a few days to go till things kick off at London 2012 the trip through London to our site is getting more and more Olympified. Floating in the middle of the Thames near Battersea we spotted these massive rings.

Collecting together

Eleven weeks ago I decided to start collecting the BP Royal Mint Medals. Each week you buy a different legend from Team GB for £2 in the petrol station. It came with a free folder to keep them in with some information along side. The first one I brought home with the folder caught Lily's eye (its shiny, she's a magpie!) and she helped me clip it in place. Now every week we have the ritual unwrapping and clipping in the folder, each week she will hold the medal and exclaim "wow" then once its in place she carries it to Kim for inspection. One more week and our countdown is complete.

Anyone for tennis

Another bit of LEGO foolery. I had to Paintshop the tennis ball as I couldn't find Lilys one in the house so I may revisit the photo another time.

Olympic lanes

Just recently new signs have been sprouting up all over London and finally today the first of the special lanes reserved for Olympic cars was opened on the M4. Will there be traffic chaos? If today is anything to go by then no. It was even quieter than a normal school holiday monday morning. I was in to Central London in a little over an hour!

Olympic torch relay visits town

The London Olympics are nearly upon us. With a couple more weeks to go the 70 day torch relay has finally arrived in Reading. It was passing within a few hundred yards of my office at about 6pm. Kim left work a bit earlier to collect Lily and we parked in the carpark and walked up to London Rd. Finding a good spot opposite the Royal Berks we waited. After about half an hour the tension was building and the first of the convoy drove past, soon there was a cheer and the torch came into view. Ducking down I fired off a few shots and took in the fantastic atmosphere as thousands of people waved it through. We were lucky enough to be right at the front and the bearer could only have been six foot away. All too soon it was over and the crowds dispersed. Quite a memorable day.