Our First View of the Olympic Park

Thursday, 2 August

Today was the day of our first visit to the Olympic Park with tickets for Handball this evening. Susan and Cato entered in the early afternoon, followed by a set of ecstatic Facebook messages from Susan, so when Bob and I entered later in the afternoon, I was primed and pumped. And wow, it is overwhelming. So overwhelming I forgot to take photos. When I took stock of what I had on my camera, most of the photos were of fields of wildflowers (spectacular) and of one building (the Velodrome). Oh well, I have one more chance tomorrow. The park is huge. It sweeps around in curves, and suddenly you look back and realise how far away from the entrance you are. The River Lea winds through the site with walkways verged by wildflower meadows.

Scenic walkways, wildflower gardens,
and the Olympic Stadium in the distant left.

Wildflower meadows were chosen as a Green Olympic measure.
The months of soaking rain have made them a spectacular choice.

The Velodrome in the back, and the little egg in front is a bandshell for entertainment

The Basketball Stadium

The world's largest McDonalds. Griping in the press led us to believe it was the only food venue available.
In fact there was a very good food kiosk area where we had an excellent dinner of
stir fried prawns served at a very reasonable price.
Nevertheless the only beer available is Heineken. Sigh. 

Our sporting event was a Men's Handball Preliminary. Like Beach Volleyball, a sport I have no familiarity with. Susan pointed out it was much like basketball with a football goal and lots of physical pushing and grabbing. The first match was Denmark and Serbia, with lots and lots of Danish support in the seats. Denmark won narrowly, but the game wasn't very exciting. The second match between Sweden and Iceland was much more interesting. They were both very fast and aggressive, with the lead passing back and forth regularly. Iceland clocked up a few extra points near the end of the game, but Sweden came roaring back, and nearly tied it up, but Iceland was still ahead by one point when the clock ran out.

A beautiful breezy evening greeted us as we left the Park at 11 pm.

Yes, that is a full moon adding an extra light in the sky

The BBC still at work in their media centre

The BBC interview/commentary studio. Can you see the Olympic Flame on the screen to the left.
There is a controversy over leaving the Torch inside the Stadium so only visitors with tickets to
Stadium events can see the legendary Flower Petal Torch.