London Olympics, Part 1

The day started with a little brunch with a good friend by one of the many canals that run through London... sounds pleasant, right?  Well, not for me.  This little one in my belly was not a fan of traveling or eating.  I was starving, but became extremely nauseous each time the food arrived in front of me.  And the hot / crowded train rides to the Olympic Park did not help matters.  But we got there and the long walk and long security lines that we were prepared for before entering the park, were pleasantly nonexistent.  Really, I can not say enough positive things about the short lines and fantastic people that worked to put the London Olympic Park together!

Our event wasn't until the evening, so we took time to relax in the cool weather and take in the awesomeness of the Olympic Park.  Really, it was beautiful!

Tons of greenery made you feel like you were out for a stroll in Hyde Park...

...and not in the middle of an enormous crowd of people.  It did not feel this crowded at all.  I was so surprised by the endless sea of people each time I glanced up.  It really just felt like maybe a busy shopping trip at the mall.  And can you believe that there were no lines at the bathroom?!  Whoever planned this setup did a spectacular job!

The buildings were gorgeous too and most of the structures were made to be easily taken apart after the Olympics and ParaOlympics.  I love the fact that they thought of this beforehand and London wouldn't be left with huge empty sports buildings or have to teardown and trash all of the buildings.

By far, my favorite building was the Coca Cola sponsored project created by and run by local artists.  It was also the longest we had to wait in any line (about 25 minutes), but we were entertained the entire time by the previously mentioned local artists.

The Coca Cola 'Beatbox' was a very neat creation.  Those different panels that created the walls were actually sound pillows that you could touch to create music.  The overall 'song' was out together by taking different sounds that you hear in events at the Olympics (like a tennis ball hitting a racquet for one of the sounds).

The downside of traveling with just 2 people is that you get a lot of pictures like this.  One person has to hold the camera, right?  So I was very pleased when we finally got to the top of the building...

Coca Cola was nice enough to let everyone who entered the FREE 'Beatbox' to get a FREE picture with the Olympic torch (they were charging $$ to take a picture with one in other parks of the park).  It didn't end there either.  After a little performance by a few of the talented artists inside the building, you walked away with a FREE commemorative Coca Cola!  Did I mention I love Coca Cola!!

I could have been satisfied with just walking around the park and enjoying my free Diet Coke, but we still had a game to watch.  More on that next time...