WE WERE THERE!

Life does not always deliver what it promises, but yesterday was an exception.  I had so looked forward to my day in the Olympic park & stadium & everything, completely everything was perfect. The weather was dull and overcast & warm, but not too warm, the tube arrived without a wait, the journey was fabulous, altho I felt a tad silly with all the London set dressed up for work & me in my flag and Union socks & Olympic pink hat! Quite a sight.



Statford station, busy, vibrant & very exciting

Walking through the shops, the volunteers were magic, all day long, happy, informative & fun with their huge huge hands and microphones and cheering everyone along with have a lovely day

This certainly sums it all up, just how we felt

As you will all have seen countless images of the stadium, track, athletes etc, I thought Id show you some creative pictures, starting with the Orbit from inside the stadium, a bit awe inspiring, Kapoor certainly did a great job the design was fabulous.  Not a lover of heights unfortunately there was no way I would have gone up it, even if I had had a 15 quid ticket

The flame - oh the flame, it looked magical, very emotional, so near to where we were sitting, when I took this I could feel its heat, I felt such a part of the whole story
We were very near to the back of the stadium, in the removeable seats, 64 rows.
Trudgeing up was okay but after the usual loo stop, I thought it was Everest & couldnt speak let alone shout.
When my voice returned - shouting, screaming, waving of the Union flag, we watched Goldie sayers not qualify which was a shock, but she was obviously injured very poor throws.  We watched Phillips Idowo not qualify, my husband, the triple jumper, snuck around the other side of the stadium and managed to watch one jump before being moved along
We were told that on Saturday night, super saturday, the isles and the walkways were 10 deep they could do nothing about it, everybody wanted to be there

The structure of the stadium was astonishing.  Look how packed it was, altho there were empty seats.  The soldier who frisked my husband told us that he managed to get a seat on Saturday night, I said good for you, the soldiers were lovely, they were in their desert outfits, I was very proud of them, everyone was so happy, I have never ever been to such a happy place

Says it all

Union & Olympic flags side by side, view from my seat!

Look at the heat haze, at the end we were all allowed to move near to the flame & all helped each other with photos, such a happy happy event, all different nations all coming together, I guess that I will never experience this unity again

Arty shot of the Orbit, stomach turning.  We saw Usain Bolt run the 200 metres, the crowd was so loud, he is mega.  We saw Yohan Blake who looked so small in comparision with (in Colin Jacksons words) the B I G man lol
We watched false starts, our lad crashing out, someone rolling off the hurdles onto the infield & so emotional liu xiang crashing into the first hurdle & then hopping down the straight to the second from last hurdle, kissing it and then being helped by our hurdler Andy Turner (who won his heat) & another man, the crowd went wild & well you know what I did, I cried.  So many tears throughout the day.  Spotting the stadium for the first time, walking into it, bumping into the wonderful bloke who gave us the tickets int he first place, totally unexpected & buying him a chocolate muffin which cost £2.80!  Meeting the volunteers & spending a happy half hour chatting with a lovely man from Newcastle telling us all sorts of secrets lol

Sitting in the sunshine by the wonderful meadows of flowers alongside the river, this is the water polo arena.  The aquatic centre was huge and such a beautiful iconic structure

The Royal barge, I think, fromt he Jubilee, sorry if I am wrong but it looked magnificent, this one is for Carolyn x

We sat on wooden steps eating a McDonalds, such a treat, such a slick operation, there must have been a quarter of a million people in the park, but it was so wonderful, I felt completely safe, there was no rubbish anywhere, big re-cycling bins, lots of volunteers, bands playing, a group of Dutch people dancing around, people dressed up in flags, but it was all so tasteful.  It sounds too god to be true, but it was just as I have said.  The BBC TV box was hysterical it was made of huge containers, the sort that fit on the back of lorries, such a good removeable idea, made me laugh.
My husband walks much too fast, and I stop here and there to take photos, good job he is very tall & very patient I might add.  I have 400 photos, dont worry I wont post them all on here!! There is a video of the crowd which  I might post another time.
We got back to my daughters at 5 pm after getting a seat on the tube again & had a lovely meal with them before heading home, we had  a rainbow on the way down on Monday and a beautiful sunset on the way home.
Now its back to normal, watching the athletics this morning seemed so very odd to see exactly our day again lol
So today, shattered, sore throat, very stiff neck (heavy bag & camera duh), had to have a sleep, gosh I am so fit, what did my husband do this morning, went for a run.  Memo to self, get fit!!
I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings.  I am now a part of history, what I wanted, I know that I am so very lucky to have experienced yesterday.  My son managed after trying for days to get tickets to the BMX this afternoon, so he will experience the park atmosphere as well.
I am so happy x