Thursday, 26 July 2012
The Olympics are nearly here!
After years of counting down and hearing about building progress, disruption due to road works and headlines about cost; the Olympics are finally here in the UK.
Despite the fact it was now seven years ago that we won the bid for the Olympics, it has actually gone scarily quick. I was in London around this time last year shopping for bridal shoes and remember looking at the countdown and thinking 'Not long now', suddenly I have blinked and it's the eve of the opening ceremony!
I am not into sports in any way, I was the one who bunked P.E. in school (One occassion involved me and a friend hiding in the shower rooms, resulting in me getting drenched when my school bag hit the 'on' button) I am the one who thinks hoovering is a form of exercise and shoe shopping is a sport. I have no idea of the rules of most well loved sports games or events nor do I care. Ironically I couldn't have married a man more INTO sports, I'm not a football widow or golf widow, I am a sports widow in it's entirety.
In spite of all this, I am actually looking forward to the Olympics. OK, so I haven't got to travel into London and therefore worry about replanning my journey or getting stuck in lots of traffic or chaos. I know I won't watch it religiously either but it is an historic event, one that will be remembered for a long time. It is a time to be proud of our nation and show off our great capital. Also, over a million extra people will be in London everyday over the next two weeks which is a huge boost to tourism and puts money back into the country.
Yes yes, I know it won't cover the entire cost of preparing the Olympics but all of the work that has been done has only improved the appearance of London. What harm can that do? Improving an area adds value and makes it a nicer place to live. People watching the Olympics from abroad will see how vibrant and incredible London is and may be tempted to visit us on their next holiday when previously they had never given it a thought.
Despite the fact it was now seven years ago that we won the bid for the Olympics, it has actually gone scarily quick. I was in London around this time last year shopping for bridal shoes and remember looking at the countdown and thinking 'Not long now', suddenly I have blinked and it's the eve of the opening ceremony!
I am not into sports in any way, I was the one who bunked P.E. in school (One occassion involved me and a friend hiding in the shower rooms, resulting in me getting drenched when my school bag hit the 'on' button) I am the one who thinks hoovering is a form of exercise and shoe shopping is a sport. I have no idea of the rules of most well loved sports games or events nor do I care. Ironically I couldn't have married a man more INTO sports, I'm not a football widow or golf widow, I am a sports widow in it's entirety.
In spite of all this, I am actually looking forward to the Olympics. OK, so I haven't got to travel into London and therefore worry about replanning my journey or getting stuck in lots of traffic or chaos. I know I won't watch it religiously either but it is an historic event, one that will be remembered for a long time. It is a time to be proud of our nation and show off our great capital. Also, over a million extra people will be in London everyday over the next two weeks which is a huge boost to tourism and puts money back into the country.
Yes yes, I know it won't cover the entire cost of preparing the Olympics but all of the work that has been done has only improved the appearance of London. What harm can that do? Improving an area adds value and makes it a nicer place to live. People watching the Olympics from abroad will see how vibrant and incredible London is and may be tempted to visit us on their next holiday when previously they had never given it a thought.
I am the first to moan about how this government has wasted and overspent money but that is a different story and that is through carelessness, greed and misjudgement by overgrown schoolboys who were lazy and wanted to take as much as they could. This is a huge event and we are the host, we have guests coming to this country and we need to look our best. If London looked run down and tatty what would that look like to the rest of the world? You wouldn't invite people over to your house at it's messiest would you?
Exactly.
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| TIME IS ALMOST UP: The Olympics countdown in Trafalgar Square. |
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