Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Friday 3 August 2012

A Memorable Day Out in London!

After failing to get Olympic tickets via the two ballots and unsuccessfully checking the website for ticket sales every day without success, David finally struck gold (sorry!!) and managed on Tuesday night to get two tickets to watch Badminton at Wembley Arena.

Although it was a shame we wouldn't get to see the Olympic Park, the venue being on the outskirts of London meant we could forget about paying extortionate train prices and worries about packed tubes and go by car instead.

We had a good journey down to London yesterday morning and found Wembley Stadium and Arena without any problems. Unfortunately, finding the car park where I had a pre-booked ticket was not so easy! I lost count of the number of times we drove round and round past the stadium getting totally lost and confused by one way streets and road closures. On one of the circuits we got stopped by a police motorcycle to allow an official looking car through in the Olympic traffic lane. I had a rather horrible thought at this stage that I had totally forgotten that you couldn't drive in Olympic lanes - hopefully I didn't! In fact, I never did find the official car park and opted for my back up car parking plan as we were totally running out of time and I was getting increasingly panic striken!

I didn't bother taking my camera as I thought they would probably not be allowed but luckily I threw the Fuji Finepix in the boot as the friendly car park attendant at the back-up car park assured us cameras were allowed so I did get some pictures - all taken by David. He only took 15 altogether! I'm afraid I would have taken 100's.

Close-up Wembley Stadium is rather impressive





There were lots of Olympic Banners and Flags around the Stadium and Arena







We managed to get through security without setting off any alarms and here's Wembley Arena





The view from our seats




We attended the afternoon session which consisted of Mixed Doubles Semi-Finals and Women's Singles Quarter Finals. I really did enjoy it although it was a bit confusing at first as they play two matches at the same time! Goodness only knows how the players cope!

Some photos of the action











Although it would have been nice to get tickets to see Team GB in action, it was a wonderful experience and I am so glad we were lucky enough to go. It was one of those "once in a lifetime" experiences where the memories will be treasured for ever and I was especially glad for David as he had so much wanted to attend just one of the events :)

4 comments:

Rohrerbot said...

You two are brave brave warriors:) This is something I would not even attempt. I used to do it but the crowds make me crazy. But I'm glad you had a chance to watch the fun happening on your turf:) I can only imagine how much they raised prices on everything. Thanks for sharing your fun:) Have a good weekend:)

Ragged Robin said...

Rohrerbot - I can empathise there Chris as I don't like crowded places myself. I start feeling very claustrophic! But I do like watching sport (mainly football and tennis) so I just make myself put up with the crowds on these occasions plus I knew how much David wanted to go. It was expensive :( but going by car saved a lot of money compared to train fares and I took sandwiches and drinks with us! Have a lovely weekend yourself:)

kirstallcreatures said...

Nice to see you enjoyed your Olympic encounter Caroline, the games have been really enjoyable, even though Ive only experienced it from the comfort of my sofa. Shame the women's football lost against Canada, they've done themselves proud. I maybe developing my very own Olympic knee injury as a result of too many hours spent on the sofa in front of the TV! Good job there's a four year gap, just enough time to recover before the next one. Linda

Ragged Robin said...

Kirstallcreatures - LOL! Linda. I know what you mean re: sitting on sofa! I'm finding it all incredibly exciting - its all very absorbing and a brilliant excuse to ignore house work - if I need one! :) Hope your knee recovers soon :)