London 2012...

So similarly to the Royal Wedding last year - I thought I wouldn't be excited but then fever hit and I got swept up in it all! Last Friday night I watched the opening ceremony on a big screen in Millenium Square in Leeds and it was the BEST way to watch it as the atmosphere was electric and you really felt as though you were part of something. The picture was taken on my phone and is a bit funny - but it proves we were there...waving our flags...

So then we headed to London as we had tickets for the Hand Ball in the Copper Box in the Olympic Park. Here is the strange statue - which I think looks like a ride at Alton Towers.

 Some views from inside the park - I particularly liked the RUN letters and how they glittered in the sun. I also liked the marbled astro turf and felt i needed to picture my feet - as you do! It was bright sunshine when we first arrived and then the heavens opened when the game ended and we got soaked and left the park earlier than we would have liked!

 Inside the 'Copper Box' for the handball. The court was gorgeous - a bright blue and really vibrant arena with all the coloured seats. It may look empty but we just took all Boris' advice nad arrived really early - it did fill up and was probably 80% full. There was lots of groups of kids on foreign exchanges and after the first game and the big bag of half time Cadbury's buttons they seemed more interested in their ds', ipads and other hand held devices. Oh the youth of today!

 The first game was between Argentina and Iceland and it was pretty evenly matched goal for goal and boy do they score some goals - the end score was something like 24 - 28. It was a realy entertaining and fast paced and furious game. Lots of body checking and dodging and running - they kept switching players every few goals and I think they needed the rest!

The second game was more entertaining because the Croatians were massives, like over 6 foot every single one of them, and the South Koreans were tiny and so they got pretty thrashed. This action shot shows their desperate attempts to block a goal!

This shot shows the wall of defense they created which was near impossible for the Koreans to penetrate - they tried going through the legs after a while!

After the first ten minutes and a very steady lead in goals already from the Croatians the Koreans called a team talk time out. It showed that the coach was already pretty scared for this game and it was after this talk that they started shooting between the legs as they clearly realised that they couldn't jump as high as them!

And a parting shot of the stadium (taken before the match luckily - I think I've learnt that in England when the sky is blue don't wait to take you shot!)

So I'm glad that the Belgian was keen from the start and bid for so many tickets so that we got to be a part of London 2012. If you don't have tickets you should still come to London and soak up some of the atmosphere - there are loads of community free events going on at Southbank, Hyde Park and all around so get involved - the transport really isn't an issue!