I must confess that I have had my doubts overturned. The run up to the Olympics were a bit of a nightmare as to what living as close as I do, was going to be like. Although I would be working from home, I was dreading it. I have found that the anticipation of how it was going to be was a lot worse than how it actually was.
For a start, we didn't get the traffic chaos that was predicted, the public transport worked well. Yes Straford, especially the area around the station was always jammed packed with people either coming out of or going into the Olympic park, but it was jammed with good natured people who smiled and seemed very happy to be there. The atmosphere has been fantastic. Out of the 10 days I have worked from home, 4 of them I went out for lunch and it was so nice being out. I know Stratford has a bad reputaion, but I have always felt safe here and especially so while the Olympics have been going on. People from all walks of life and countries have been walking around enjoying the area. Straford park has been holding an open air event with a massive screen showing the Olympics. I popped in there on Friday evening and it was really nice to watch all different nationalities giving the 4 x 100 metre mens GB team a cheer, even though they had been disqualified. I can only imagine that when Bolt ran it must have been electric along with all the team GB participants.
I have especially loved the cheering and the noise of the crowd at the events and the fact that no matter where the athlete came from, if they won they got a good reception. Yes I have loved every minute. I have the paralympics to go and then I shall miss it all very much.
So for my part, I award a gold medal to team GB, all the emergency services, armed services and volunteers who have helped to make the Olympics terrific. Mitt Romney, eat your heart out!!!!
