Greetings from an olympic ready london! Most of you probably heard of the torch relay which, of course, is now ending in london.
I live in islington and the torch passed here this morning at 8am. Always ready to bring you the latest coverage, today was no exception.
The weather has been glorious all week and londoners are getting all psyched up for tomorrow’s opening ceremony. The atmosphere this morning was truly electric. Sun beaming, people cheering just before going to work. It was another proud moment of living in this great city.
I’ve been thinking. If all fails, i can always try and make it as a paparazzi photographer. What do you think?
All right, we know you have to be vigilant but please smile for a change!!!
Ok, are you ready? Are you really ready? Here it comes……..
Well, did you think this was the end of the post? Ah, wait, let me show you the atmosphere on upper street in islington that time of the morning.
Off i went back to do some work only to get back on my scooter at lunchtime. This time i travelled down to wandsworth, where my lovely neighbour elaine was one of the torch bearers. Yes, folks, elaine, optometrist extraordinaire and torch bearer, recently cycled from lands end to john o’groats for fun. The journey was 920 miles and took ten days. Raising money for vision care for homeless people gave her an added incentive to get through those long days and big hills. VCHP, which elaine helped to set up 8 years ago, currently has 4 clinics running, three in london and one in birmingham. For every £5 raised a homeless person will have a free eye examination and a pair of spectacle.
Friends and colleagues cheered her on.
Here she comes, no less in the bus next to joanna lumley and jennifer saunders.
Ah, meet elaine
And off she goes……
Well, i’m torched out myself! I had a great day and let the games begin. Pray for good weather people!
What are you up to during the olympics? Are you going to any events, planning to watch it on tv or simply ignoring it all? Whichever, have fun!
24 Comments
Well Tina… it may come as no surprise that I plan to ignore the Olympics as much as I can. I really just don’t care and still see it as a complete waste of money. But that’s my opinion… I also genuinely hope that those interested get what they want from the games and have fun.
So I will ignore, avoid and try to get on with life in London… everyone else enjoy 🙂 xx
Well you know I felt about the Opening Ceremony. Truly magical!
Go on cynic…..you might surprise yourself…….:)
London seemed like a ghost city over the weekend. Interested to see what happens in the week x
It’s always interesting to me how having a negative opinion or different opinion of something that everyone else loves is seen as a bad thing or slighted in some way… your “cynic” and Annie’s “Oh bah humbug Gerard”. I genuinely don’t care about he olympics and think it’s perfectly fine to say so. Just as it’s perfectly fine for someone else to love them. Difference makes the world a more interesting place 😉 x
Gerard, you’re taking this far too personal my love! Nothing is meant by my ‘cynic’, or Annie’s comment, I’m sure of it!
Always feel free to contradict, speak out and voice your opinion. It’s just a bit tongue and cheek, that’s all!
Totally agree that ‘Difference makes the world a more interesting place’. Always appreciate your comments xx
I think the Olympics are great events like this take peoples minds of economic woes for a while and brings everyone together. I’ll be watching on tv..although the opening ceremony is on at 5.30am here Saturday..I’ll catch that on repeat! Praying for great weather for you there in London and a peaceful games. Catherine x
Hope you enjoyed the repeats of the Opening Ceremony. So far we started well. Silver and bronze medal in the bag xx
Gorgeous, effervescent coverage. And yes, you would make an awesome paparazzi.
iI love the energy you have, Elaine sounds amazing. Hoping the weather is wonderful! Enjoy!!
Oh, Thanks:) Not sure I would want to… follow all those hollow people!
Elaine is pretty amazing. x
Oh bah humbug Gerard!
Amazing photos that you got. It looks a lot busier than the Roundhouse at 6.45am yesterday surprisingly.
What a fantastic venture to help homeless people. I can’t imagine how emotional it must be to carry the torch.
I’ve been really cynical about the torch, I think it’s really dumb, but then you see the faces of the people carrying it and realise it’s not about a stupid flame, it’s about the recognition of years and years of tireless charitable work and service to their communities that all of these people have given.
Islington was incredible. It was early in the morning, sunny and I bumped into so many shop owners who were there before opening. Great atmosphere!!
I’ve never seen Elaine beaming so much…..yes, she’s very good. One year, when she volunteered at Crisis for Christmas, I helped with making appointments
for the homeless. Elaine worked out of a trailer and it was fascinating to see them come out, have new glasses on and able to see for the first time in years.
Really moving!!
Well said Annie Bird!! x
As I was scrolling down from the beginning of your post, I could’t help but think that you would be amazing at documentary photography … and then came your next paragraph about making it as a paparazzi photographer, ha!!!
Your pictures are so amazing, Tina, and I’m so grateful for them because they make me feel a bit like I was there 😉 The power of images, eh?
That’s really awesome about your neighbour Elaine. How inspiring!
Wonderful post in so many ways.
I am not huge into the Olympics, but I will be watching swimming tomorrow. On tv. 🙂
Have a great Olympic Friday. Xx.
It was only a joke:)
I haven’t heard from you all weekend so imagine you’re not really into the Olympics?
Did you see the Opening Ceremony? Oh no, don’t tell me you’re being Mrs Grey? Another thing you two have in common!!
Ta, love x
Great coverage Tina! I went to watch at Ally Pally and the atmosphere was electric there too, and I felt very proud to be a Londoner.
Ally Pally sounds fun. Great that the atmosphere was electric! I also felt very proud of being a Londoner….
Hi Tina- fabulous photos capturing atmosphere as ever!
Saw the flame leave Hampton Court Palace and onto the River on the Gloriana this morning to go down to Tower Bridge, wonderful!
Then did 3 minutes of bell ringing for Martin Creed, obviously xxx
Ha. Can you believe I didn’t hear them? What a shame!!
So nice to hear of everyone be somewhere and see the flame move towards it’s last destination…. I’ve loved following everyone on Twitter and hearing
where people pitched up to see the torch bearers.
xx
As I type, the kids are on the Wii playing the London 2012 Olympic games – I attempted it yesterday and proud to say I came 1st in the 100m race! We are all looking forward to the opening ceremony. Your pictures are lovely. Enjoy the games.
Ha. I’ve never played anything on Wii but imagine it being fun! Well doe you for coming 1st in the 100m race.
Gosh, do you think I could win too???
I hope you guys enjoyed the opening ceremony as much as I did. It was totally amazing and I celebrated well into the night!!
Thanks Geraldine and enjoy the games too:)
Hi Tina! Thanks for the great Olympic flame post. How wonderful what that woman is doing! I’m going to miss the opening ceremony here in the States tonight because my daughter and I are going to a play. What timing! But we’ll be watching … Enjoy, and keep us up on it! N.
What play did you see?
Am sure you can catch up, right? Did you manage to see something of the opening ceremony???
Thanks Noreen. Glad you enjoyed the post.
Wonderful coverage and photos, Tina! I felt like I was (almost) standing there next to you. (If only.:) Elaine’s cause and torch story is really wonderful. As I mentioned to Annie, I’ve been enjoying seeing all your Instagram photos of the opening ceremony. It’s all quite festive…I can feel the excitement, energy, and pride.
Have a wonderful weekend, Tina!
Thanks T. Oh, I’m sure you were all sick of us on Instagram.
I’ve never tweeted so much. I think I managed to tweet and text for over 3 hours. I was so surprised my iPhone’s battery held out:)
It was such fun and I’m hugely proud!!!
How lovely for your friend, she looks so happy and radiant and sounds like an inspiring lady.
I’m really disappointed I didn’t get to see the torch relay, I wasn’t really interested in it till I saw everyone’s photos and I just missed it as it came down Oxford street.
Love your photo of the women on the bike, you have captured the moment perfectly 🙂
As you know I will be off In America for the duration of the Olympics, but part of me is quite sad about missing everything and I’m proud of what a great job our country is doing of it. I look forward to seeing it through your eyes 🙂 x
I know, I was late in getting excited about it too. Sometimes, a crowd can make something infectious…. I caught the bug!!
Oh, enjoy the States and your great plans. There’ll be so much coverage for you to follow once you’re back, don’t you worry.
We’ll fill you in x