Close encounters with the Olympic Torch in London

Olympic Fever has well and truly come to London and the Torch Relay has proved an amazing success, uniting all of the UK as the torch weaved its way around the country. Thousands of people have lined the streets to see it and cheer on the 8,000 proud torchbearers. 

I was lucky enough to have several close encounters and here’s a photo record of my week with the torch!

It started with the Torch Relay itself coming through Notting Hill where I live. There was a huge crowd waiting to see it sweep past – we had quite a speedy runner on our leg!

There goes the Torch!

Fresh from that excitement, we had tickets for the Torch Relay Concert in Hyde Park and could track the torch’s journey by the number of hovering helicopters following it as it went past Buckingham Palace to meet the royals before entering the park and lighting up a huge cauldron of flame! We heard the rather good torch song from Mark Ronson and Katy B and then a hilarious rousing speech from our Mayor Boris Johnson.

The flame has lit the cauldron

The next day, the Olympic Flame was heading down the Thames from Hampton Court Palace to the Tower to be ready for the Opening Ceremony that very evening. It was travelling on the beautiful Gloriana which we last saw in the Jubilee River Pageant, and it was indeed a glorious sight as the flame was rowed along the Thames past crowds of cheering Brits and folk from all around the world. The excitement was contagious.

The flame rides on the front of Gloriana

My final encounter with the Torch came at the Olympic Park yesterday at the Coca Cola Beatbox where you can find out about all the specific beats drawn from Olympic sports that make up the Mark Ronson track we’d heard live the week before. Then you can have a photo of yourself with a torch, so of course, I had to get one!

Yours truly in Olympic spirit!

What a week! More Olympic blogs to follow very soon…

Bye for now,
Sue
itsyourlondon.co.uk
@itsyourlondon

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.