Two of my three or four (if I’m
lucky) days off seem to be Olympics-related.
I’m literally living, breathing, eating and sleeping Olympics at the
moment. In the mornings I write my diary
from the day before, I invariably leave early for work (in case there are
delays). Being in Olympics uniform,
there’s rarely any 1h40 journey that goes by without a question about my
job. Then I go to work, come home and
sleep, where I dream about the Olympic village.
And I love every moment. I mean, how many people really have to
privilege of knowing the Olympic Village so well they dream about it at
night? I love my job very much.
So today was my first day
off. It was great to have a rest, but I
always caught myself wondering what was going on all those miles away.
After a lazy morning we headed
to Falconwood Harvester to spend time with Matt’s family because his brother is
on leave from Afghanistan. It was great
to meet him, see his photos and hear his stories: a very unique experience and so great to finally meet one of Britain's heroes. Harvester was good, as always, but, as
always, I filled up too much on the free salad!
Following that, Matt, Maxine
and I went back to Bexleyheath – to Danson Park to see the Olympic torch
arrive. There was a great party, with
free Coke and Nature Valley bars (as if I don’t get enough of those at work). There was music and entertainment on the
stage as well with, according to statistics, 20,000 spectators watching and,
like us, lining the route the torch would take.
The sun was shining brightly – a welcome release after months of
rain. It was great to be able to sit and
soak in the sun whilst waiting for the torch to arrive.
About ten minutes before the
projected time, everyone stood up, and the day turned from a lazy Sunday
afternoon in the park to a once in a lifetime opportunity. The park was buzzing with excitement, the
atmosphere was electric, the people were cheering anyone walking past. Suddenly, a wave of louder cheers could be
heard in the distance and before long we saw it: the legendary flame on the
golden torch, being carried proudly by Lennox Lewis. As he strode past it was clear how proud he
was at being involved in this inequivocable moment.
A great moment but a quick
one. Lennox climbed onto the stage and
lit a cauldron for everyone to see, and everyone cheered again, much much
louder than before. Not for the first
time this week, and definitely not the last the month (I hope) I felt so proud
of my country. I’d missed the
opportunity to see the flame in Birmingham and Hastings, missing it both times
by just a few days, so it was great to be given the honour of being able to see
it before it reaches London next week.
Following this we rejoined
Matt’s brothers and friends at the pub.
It was great to meet everyone.
One guy told me he’s putting up the parents of a Danish rower – his girlfriend’s
Danish and this was part of a scheme Denmark had set up to avoid the
extortionate costs of London’s hotels.
It was so great to see this side of the Olympic spirit, right here in
Bexleyheath.
So, it was a busy day off in
the end, but a lovely one, meeting some lovely new people and basking more in
the Olympic fever that’s becoming more and more evident here in Britain’s
capital.
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