Olympic Park

Ryan and I spent a day at the Olympic Park on Wednesday when we went to see BMX Cycling. It was amazing to experience the Olympic Park in person and it was much bigger than I expected. The Orbit (red twisty thing) was my favorite, but there were some other examples of interesting design too. First stop for us was the world's biggest McDonald's. I know, I know...but it was a special treat for Ryan. He got a Wenlock mascot in his Happy Meal, so the day was off to a good start.

We wandered around the village for awhile and took some pictures before we went to the BMX Cycling time trials. I have to admit BMX was better than I expected. I didn't expect manicured grass berms (although this is England), tunnels or a DJ to spin the music, but they had it all. There was a gigantic starting ramp the competitors went down, sort of like in downhill skiing. And the race course featured lots of jumps, which the riders flew over to the pulsating music.

The architecture of the Olympic Park was diverse, from the white marshmallow arena (basketball) to the fluid copper-colored velodrome (cycling) to the BP mirrored pavilion. And of course, we also saw the athletics arena, the aquatics center and the Orbit. We walked past the broadcast center and could see the temporary TV studios and bright lights, with newscasters perched above the crowds. Speaking of crowds, sometimes it was challenging to stop and take a picture of Ryan without get mowed over (at one point I backed into a live news crew from Australia). But everyone was in good spirits with lots of national pride on display. We even went to the pin swap area where avid collectors had large collections on display.

I scooped up some last-minute tickets to the women's volleyball finals tonight and Ryan and I will watch USA vs. Brazil play for the gold medal. Garett has the day off tomorrow so all three of us will see wrestling. Hard to believe it all ends tomorrow!