So this year was the year the Olympics and Paralympics came back to London for the third time, the only city in Olympic history to host the games three times. While many have moaned, the majority have been excited for this once in a lifetime opportunity to attend!
Well our family was no exception! Over the past month and a half, me and my family have (between us) attended the Olympic Torch Relay, Football, Hockey and Handball at the Olympics, the Paralympic Torch Relay and Swimming and Athletics at Paralympics. My daughter and I have also done all six of Discovery Trails put together by The Mayor of London, on which different types of Wenlocks and Mandevilles have been placed. We have even been to see some local gold postboxes! You could basically say we have Olympic/Paralympic Fever!!!
Let's start with the Olympic Torch Relay. There is definitely an advantage to living in London, considering the Torch was not due to come through our area until the beginning of the Summer Holidays, meaning none of my children missed out on seeing it. The disadvantage, how big the crowds would be. Luckily I stumbled across the map provided by our local council and discovered that there was a disabled area. I contacted them promptly to check was it for those in wheelchairs only or for anyone with a disability. Mattie is autistic and I wanted him to feel comfortable while waiting. The reply I received granted us permission to use the area so Mattie could see, which I really appreciated. We arrived an hour before the torch was due to come through and it was already packed. It made me relieved that we were able to use the disabled area. Sadly, some people directly next it blocked our view on the torch's approach and while it bothered me at the time, I am now not (and you will find out why later in the blog). The kids were very well behaved despite the long wait and dancing along with the music as each vehicle came along as part of the proceeding procession! The best part about where we were, was the fact that a changeover was to take place there. It was on the other side of the road but the fact we got to see it was still amazing. The kids had a great time, loved the freebies and cheered really loudly when the torch came past. They even got to wave to Sir Patrick Stewart as he went by on the Torchbearers' Bus!
Next up in our Olympic schedule was the Women's Football at Wembley. I had booked these tickets nearly a year before the groups were drawn and matches announced. So it was pure luck that I had managed to get tickets for the final game of the group for the Women's Team GB squad, which was against Brazil! It meant I had one very pleased husband. As getting a babysitter, proved impossible, I asked my Dad if he wanted to go. He jumped at the chance as he had never been to new Wembley and this gave to chance to finally go and be part of the Olympics. They both had a great time especially as Team GB won 1-0!
Next was our first of four trips to Olympic Park and to see the Hockey at the Riverbank Arena. Now I will say this, in the months proceeding the Olympics, TFL had been warning passengers to leave extra time for travel as it would be busy! I can safely say our tube was near empty, but perhaps it was because we were travelling to the Park for one of the first events of the the day and perhaps because the Athletics had yet to start. Either way, we had an easy and smooth journey up to the Park. We arrived with plenty of time, but still arrived after the start of the match as it was a bit of walk from the entrance of the park to the entrance of the arena. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the hockey, despite only watching one out of the two matches in our session. They loved being able to play it even more. The Riverbank Arena was the only venue that provided a chance for children to try out the sport they were there to watch! We ended leaving half way through the second match, which ended up being good timing as after leaving the souvenir shop, we were lucky enough to meet Nicole Cooke, a cyclist for Team GB! To top off our great day at Olympic Park, we headed over the Royal Opera House in Covent Gardens to see an amazing exhibition, The Olympic Journey! The children were fascinated by the story of the Olympics and loved seeing all the previous torches and medals. At the end we had a family photo with the London 2012 torch.
A week later, I was back at Olympic Park with my Dad for the Handball at the Basketball Arena. I had never heard of the sport until I came to book the tickets and I had read that I should just pick a team and start shouting for them! We had arrived early so that my Dad could get a chance to see the Olympic Park and when we finally started walking over to our venue, we discovered just how much the Europeans love Handball. The Norwegian fans were dressed up in the colours, chanting while shaking cow bells (don't ask, I have no idea either) and it really caught the crowd's attention, with many people asking to take photos. Once we got in there, it was so loud that you could tell how much their love this sport. The match we were seeing was the Women's semi final, Norway versus South Korea. If they hadn't got the Koreans to cheer, I doubt we would of known they were there. Handball is a fast, rough and crazy game! I loved it and really do hope the sport catches on in this country! The game is only made up to half an hour halves, but it goes so quickly! We had such a great time that I will probably watch this sport again given the chance!
The day after, I took Mattie on a search for the Gold Postboxes near to where we live. These postboxes had been painted gold in honour of every Team GB Olympian who won their event. The first we visited is no longer there as it was painted in the wrong place but we took advantage while it was there! Joanna Rowsell's first gold postbox was near Carshalton Ponds and her second one is in Cheam Village, down the road from the High School we both attended. Then we shot across to Wimbledon to see Sophie Hosking's, which is near Wimbledon Station and Andy Murray's second one by Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club! It was a long afternoon for Mattie but he loved seeing all the postboxes! I am planning on taking Owen around London to see other gold postboxes painted for both Olympians and Paralympians!
To keep the Olympic spirit alive, Rachael and I undertook five out of the six Discovery Trails. These are trails located across London, set up by the Mayor of London, to give people a chance to discover different areas of London, while finding different types of decorated Wenlocks and Mandevilles along the way! We begun with the Purple Trail, which gave us a chance to see Piccadilly and Oxford Circus with its amazing architecture. Next up was the Red Trail, a walk giving us the chance to see Westminster and the South Bank. Then came the Blue Trail, which us around some the London Bridge area, allowing us to see some important areas of our British history. Next was the Pink Trail set in the heart of Theatreland and finally the Yellow Trail, a chance for me and Rachael to finally discover the East End. For someone who has lived in the London area all her life, I never realised just how little of London I had seen!
On our first trip to London to do a discovery trail, we were lucky enough to meet a Spanish Olympian, who had competed in the Rhythmic Gymnastics. As Jon's side of the family has Spanish Ancestors, whenever Team GB were not competing, Rachael would cheer on the Spanish instead. We were lucky, that despite their basic English, they agreed to have a photo with Rachael, which she was happy about!
Finally, it was time for the Paralympics. This was really important to me as I wanted Mattie to experience it as much as he could. Mattie was diagnosed with Autism back in June 2010 and I want him to understand that no matter the disability, people can achieve great things and their own dreams! So to begin with, we went to the Paralympic Torch Relay. Originally we had planned to go to Westminster to see it past but the relay was around two hours behind schedule and as Rachael had a dentist appointment in the afternoon, we had to change our plans. After a quick calculation of where we could get to in time to see it and still leaving enough time to get back, we settled on Regent's Park. We could not of planned it more perfectly. Once we had found where needed to be and still having time to waste, we started walking further up along the route. We had barely walked five minutes and after speaking to a Policeman, spotted the proceeding Police Escorts! The warm up vans were coming along and the next five torchbearers were dropped off barely a few metres from where we were stood! We walked down to get photos and were given the chance to hold the torch ourselves and get photos! Mattie and Rachael were so happy with that and to get see the changeover again as well was truly amazing! We discovered later on that the gentleman who had given us his torch to hold and kindly taken a photo of us together was Patrick Jarvis, one of the governing board members of the IPC. We are grateful for his generosity and kindness in helping make the relay an unforgettable experience for me and the children!
Finally it was time to revisit Olympic Park for the Paralympics with the chance to visit the two main arenas. First up was the swimming at the Aquatic Centre. It was incredibly hot that I am now not surprised the children started arguing! But for the hour, they just about managed in there, they did enjoy. We got to see a number of Paralympics GB qualify for the final of their events! Luckily Daddy turned up to take the boys out towards the end so me and Rachael got to enjoy the final few races. After that, we went across to Regent's Park for the final Discovery Trail, which the boys thoroughly enjoyed. My only moan for that day was the shock of a long queue for the javelin. We had no trouble during the Olympics but as it turns out around half a million were expected to travel through London that day alone for numerous sporting events taking place!
Our final trip was to the Olympic Stadium to see Athletics. Sadly the day starting with a few annoyances. Being advised to go a different route to which I planned, which I ignored and the one and only buggy area being a long walk from the entrance which then had a long queue, which I proceeded to jump as I needed to avoid a meltdown from Mattie who hates waiting! We finally got into our seats around half an hour after the start of the session and amazingly managed to survive till final race! I knew we were in higher seats, so thought our view would not be so good, but it was! The stadium has been well designed so that no matter where you are sat, you can see what is going on, especially when directly in front of your block! Mattie was fascinated by all the different types of disabilities racing that day and was so delighted to be able to see Aled Davies win Gold in the discus, which happened to be located in front of the block we were sat in! The roar in the stadium when it was announced, even before his final throw, that he had won was incredible. You can only truly grasp and understand the atmosphere from being there in the stadium as it is nothing like what you see on TV. Despite that, Owen still managed to have a nap after having a good nosey at the those light things attached to the seats! If you didn't get to go to the Olympic Stadium, it is a shame as it is really a once in a lifetime experience! But luckily, it will be hosting the World Athletics Championship in 2017, so take advantage!
Now if you have not spotted the recurring theme with my kids, then let me remind you! They seem to have uncanny knack for being in the right place and at the right time resulting getting to meet people that you would not normally have the chance to! Well it happened again on leaving the Olympic Park on our way to catch the DLR! We saw two Polish athletes being interviewed while wearing their medals! They were very kind to allow photos with them and to let the kids hold the Gold Medal (my camera died before I could get a photo!) The kids were fascinated by them especially by how heavy the gold medal was! They were even filmed by the camera crew! So chances are they have been on Polish TV by now!
To finish off my London 2012 experience, I will be attending the Team GB Parade in London on Monday with Owen, Charlie and Jon. So keep an eye out for the next blog!
I left my house with my son, Owen at 8am and after a couple of minor issues getting up there, managed to find my way to Queen Victoria Street by 9am, four and a half hours before the parade was due to begin! I had convinced myself that when I got there I would either be the only one stupid enough to arrive that early or there would be loads of people to stop me getting a front row view! I was so wrong! There was a handful of people lurking about but not too many to stop me getting a great place to view the parade. I chose a spot opposite the junction with Poultry (yes that is the name of the street!), right on the edge of the pavement, with a good view of the corner from which the parade would begin!
Four hours sped by! Keeping Owen occupied was easy and he didn't even watch the parade in the end! I chatted to a number of other fans and even gamesmakers! Slowly throughout the morning the crowd began to swell! I breathed a sigh of relief when Jon and Charlie turned up as not long after the crowds got crazy! On the lead up to the parade, the crowds would cheer everything going past, from joggers to the police riding past on their motorbikes! Charlie got a cheer when he ran down the road back to Daddy! He loved it so much, he kept on wanting to going running back and forth! A Paralympic Torchbearer had brought his torch and ran along and allowed people to have photos with it! And a Policeman even did Usain Bolt's famous pose! And we even got an impromptu performance from some of the Olympic Ceremonies performers! It was hard to get bored in those four hours! Though the funniest moment came from our Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who came cycling down the road to huge cheers, then stopping to speak a policeman, who seemed to be pointing him the way!
Finally it was time! Led by the Police on motorbikes and horses, the parade began! Two huge Lions' heads, similar to that of the Chinese Dragons began to move dancing to the music of the amazing band, playing "London Calling". Then the huge floats arrived, with the athletes with had been waiting for! 21 floats, arranged in alphabetical order by Sports, with around 700 athletes! 
It only took fifteen minutes for the floats to go past us but it felt so much quicker! The crowds went crazy cheering for the athletes, some going as far as screaming out their names just so they could get a photo! (I was not one of them but I got a couple of photos thanks to those people!) Charlie was waving to each athlete and luckily some waved back which made him so happy! Just as we thought the parade was over, a small group of Gamesmakers came marching up behind and from what I found out later, the number swelled as the parade progressed. They were given as big a cheer as the athletes did!
My early start and long wait was well worth it! We had a great spot and got to be part of what was the biggest parade in the history of London, if the numbers they reported are to believed (and I do believe!).
