All our time with the Olympics hasn’t been in a car! We had decided when ticketing initially opened that the London Olympics was our vacation destination. We put bids for the obvious choices, particularly the 100m Men’s final but realised this would be a high demand option. Outside the main events, we put in for handball, water polo and the opening of Wimbledon’s tennis. None came to us and at the end of the first round we had rowing and a Wembly preliminary football set of tickets. Further bids resulted in even more football tickets (South Korea vs Gabon) and treasured athletics. As a further bonus, a cousin couldn’t make the women’s football final with the USA vs Japan with the USA winning the Gold! (Timothy wrote a blog about this match:http://oxfordunitedmatchreports.wordpress.com/)
The venues and the crowds are as amazing as the sport. We have entered and exited Wembly for football with 76,297 other ticket holders, Eton Dorney for rowing with 20,000 and the Cannon of supporters who roared their teams to the finish line and the Olympic Stadium with 90,000 who are joined in the Olympic Park by thousands and thousands of others attending Basketball, Aquatics, BMX and other sports. In all of these crowds there has been absolute congeniality, good will, excitement and international celebration. Respect is everywhere. One day in the Olympic Park at its biggest flow, only four people were arrested for ticket touting! No drunken brawls, no theft, not aggressive exchange. The police stop to be photographed with visitors. The military personnel are serious in their security yet comforting in their welcoming. Participating in all of this has given me great hope for my dream and ambition of Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards Men. I have seen this in practice and it feels right.
I have attached some photos of the crowds and venues. I hope you are enjoying this as much as I am.
The O'Neill/McGovern Family Olympic Tale 