Olympic Fever!

I am not a fan of big crowds. They make me feel claustrophobic and anxious. Thats why I said I wouldn’t go anywhere near London during the Olympics. In fact, we made sure we flew into Manchester just to avoid London.
But, like everyone in England right now, we were bitten by the Olympic bug. Watching it on tv, and listening to the excitement of the commentators as the Brits continue to surpass all medal expectations has been an experience in itself. So much so, that a solo trip for Dev down to London to watch the triathlon became a three adult, four kid excursion which included me.
We started out at 5am, and were in Hyde Park by 10, ready for the start of the swim. We drove (and when I say we, obviously I don’t actually mean me) as far as Swiss Cottage on the outskirts of the city, then took the tube from there to Bond Street, and walked to the park. Easy Peasy.
There were 80,000 people in Hyde Park, and the atmosphere was amazing. And I coped quite well with the crowds, relatively speaking. I only counted the kids every 10 seconds, and I was hardly neurotic at all most of the time.
After the start, we headed into the BT Live area and watched the rest on the big screens. Again, a great atmosphere – very exciting when the Brownlee boys crossed the finish line. Of course, we were rooting for the Canadians too, but there’s certainly something about watching two Brits win medals while surrounded by thousands of other Brits!
At the end of the day, I’m glad I went, but I think Darragh said it best on our way home: Well, it was a good experience, but I think next time I’d rather watch it on tv with popcorn!