London 2012 // Our visit to the Olympic Games [by Barnaby Aldrick Photography]

Hey peeps!  Hope you enjoyed the closing ceremony last night!

Last Wednesday we had a fantastic day catching the Athletics at the London 2012 Olympic Games!

After a tad much Malbec the night before with an old uni pal, it all felt a bit early being herded towards the morning session at the Olympic Park; but the volunteering ’Gamesmakers’ were almost deliriously cheerful and atmosphere electric.

But even in my red, white & blues, I still had to settle down with an Americano before I was ready to brave the crowds!

Here’s Clare waiting for me to wake up!

Armed with caffeine we hit the park…

…and joined the crowds!

An iconic vista!

And an excited girl!Can’t complain about the weather!

People had been queuing since 6am to get tickets to go up the Orbit, so sadly we couldn’t go up for a view over the park.

Great to see Brits letting their hair down

I spotted this giant mirror disk for people to sit beneath and have their photo taken with the Olympic stadium in the background.I was a little disappointed to find that the Orbit wasn’t a giant helter skelter!  There’s a lift to the top and stairs down.

Mats & a slide would’ve clearly been better!
Here’s another view of the Park showing the riverside walkways.

A pal of mine had said to look under the bridge for a surprise, so we went and had a nosey…

And we found words being written in water drops!

Not the easiest thing to photograph, as them drops don’t hang around!Cool eh?

The Olympic Park was full of fun ideas and details, flower gardens & creative design

I like this graphic crop of the Olympic pool.

These guys ruledThen we headed into the stadium!

Before heading in!The Olympic torch looked just as good up close!  Love the heat haze above it!Bolting at our seats!Jean Luc Picard beamed in for a bit of interview filler!

And once the crowds were inside it was immense!  Not a lot of spare seats today, eh?

[ Click the image above to see a larger version of the 3-image stitched panorama! ]

Great to see so many Union Jacks a fluttering

Can you spot Clare?

There she is, getting excited!Mens Decathalon 100m heatsWe had a great view of the 100m finish line!

Here’s the 5000m heats, featuring our star Mo Farrah
Great to see him runAfter qualifying, “Mr MOtivator” applauding in last-placer Rene Herrera from the Philippines & shook his hand.

What a gent

Here’s GB hammer thrower Sophie Hitchon after breaking the British record

I like this one of shot putting, with the view on the screen being the rear view of the chap throwing below.

Check out my firey thumb!  I’m like a super hero!

Afterwards we had a good wanderWe even took up the great British art of queuing, FOR 30 MINUTES, to go into the Merchandise Superstore.

That’s right.

A SHOP.

And it was a bunfight inside with another 30minute queue to buy anything.

I didn’t hold my breath for a gourmet lunch, and the ‘Burrito’ wasn’t a great deal to write home about…

…but the beer worked!

I’ve really enjoyed London 2012 this year!  I’m not a massive sports fan, but after a stylish and humourous opening ceremony, turning impressive performances into stacks of golds, enjoying the BBC’s inspired creative video montages and seeing the Athletics in the fleshl I’ve been swept up and have loved every moment of London 2012!

It’s been some of the best telly in years!

Hope you guys enjoyed it too