Olympics Around London

The Olympic Games are over and the whole experience, living in a host city, has just been amazing.

People warned that the Olympics were going to be a disaster, traffic was going to be horrible and people would be everywhere.  Ok there were a lot of people BUT there was also this energy and enthusiasm that inspired even the stuffiest Brit.

The whole city was decorated it was like Christmas in August.  I am really sad now that it's all over but we still have the Paralympics to go.

More pictures after the jump

Blur in Hyde Park

Alongside the closing ceremony there was this huge concert in Hyde Park and I went!  If I am being honest I don't have spectacular pictures from the night but here are a couple

More pictures after the jump

I went to Olympic Stadium!

Here it is, an actual real life Olympic ticket!  Getting it was actually hellish and the best I could get was field hockey but it really didn't matter what the ticket was for I just really wanted to get into Olympic Park and see what it was like and I did!

More pictures after the jump

Tooting Torch Relay

The Olympic games start in less than a week and I am very excited.  This afternoon the Olympic torch relay came through my neighbourhood and I was lucky enough to watch it go by from my bedroom window!

Lots of people came out for a glimpse of the torch.

and here were the warm up acts to get the crowd going

The torch ended its journey today at the park at Tooting Bec.  I walked up there after the torch passed my street.  

Such Rebels

New Post!

Ok so new posts have been few and far between, it's not from a lack of desire it's simply that I haven't been doing anything much lately besides going to work and applying for jobs.  There are some things coming up in the next few weeks that should produce some good photographs but until then I've decided to dig up some old stuff to keep the posts going.

These photos were taken on a trip to Montreal in Fall of 2006.  Montreal is a really pretty city with a lot of fun things to do, here are a few aerials. 

More Montreal-ness after the jump

London Pleasure Gardens

In preparation for the Olympics, starting in only a few weeks, there have been lots of development in the East area of London.  Aside from all the sport venues there have also been additions to entertainment in London.  Earlier this week saw the opening of the Emirates Air Line cable car across the Thames, pictured below with the O2 arena (North Greenwich Arena during the Olympics) and Canary Wharf in the background.  Not sure how spectacular the views are this east of the city but with a price of  £3.20 if paying with an Oyster card its probably worth a try. 

On Saturday a new site for art and culture opened in the Docklands area called the London Pleasure Gardens.  For the opening weekend they hosted a free music festival, I went to check it out on Saturday night.

The whole thing had a very artsy vibe to it.  The night ended with a pyrotechnics show set to spoken poetry, all in all a cool display.  I was very appreciative to see any kind of fireworks this close to the 4th of July, a luxury not many Americans in London get.