From 'La Mole' to Penge

It's surprising how you can go past something almost every day but you never really see it.
I had that feeling tonight when I returned my bike to the docking point just after the Parliament and I look across the street


I stopped there on the way to Victoria because I decided to go and see 'Casa Italia' which is Italy's Olympic Committee base in London.

They have taken over the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre which in a prime location, just opposite Westminster Abbey.

Here is the flag 'installation' opposite Big Ben


and this globe was outside the Abbey


and this picture doesn't need an explanation!


So, yes back to




The main room in the centre was of course filled with big screens - and as it was Italian TV it showed Italian competitors.
I just got there seconds before this quite easy-on-the-eye boxer won the semi-final


and most of the room erupted in cheers!

On the other two floors there were stands showcasing some Italian companies - there was also a wine tasting session in one of the rooms, but I didn't stay. 
I must say that I wasn't particularly impressed - I expected more.
But I got some very good literature about Le Marche, which is where we're booked to go for Easter.
So it wasn't a wasted trip.

And of course now it's home sweet home

with my even sweeter Adrian(o)!

The meltdown of the public transport system that many (including myself) had forecast and feared for the Olympics hasn't occurred (I'll just add a 'yet' to be cautious). This is probably thanks to a combination of many people going away and of many sensible Londoners avoiding non-necessary travelling. 

Indeed, many businesses in central London are complaining that people are staying away. Perhaps it was our Mayor's announcement broadcast ad nauseam on buses, trains and stations ("Hi folks! This is the mayor... London is going to be exceptionally busy... don't get caught out"), although it's not clear whether people stayed away because they feared Armageddon or they just couldn't face hearing his booming voice one more time.

But everything in life is relative. According to a News BBC article, these two Canadians had quite a different opinion

Cheryl and Barbara Anderson timed their trip from Montreal, Canada, to coincide with the Games, even though they have not managed to get tickets.

Cheryl, 51, says: "We saw on the news that traffic is supposed to be way down on normal and we thought, 'wow, how bad must it be normally?' But I suppose we don't have anything to compare it to.

"And we thought the Tube trains were busy. We had no idea that it can be hard to get a seat."

The only inconvenience that I have experienced so far (apart from having to come into work 90 minutes early - but that's a company decision) was yesterday when all the buses from Victoria were diverted via Sloane Square due to the triathlon event.
I should have remembered that Sloane Street is always a bottleneck and yesterday there were about 30 buses all stuck in one line. 

So I got off and walked up Sloane Street to Knightsbridge past all the designers which of course made me think of Patsy's line

"These women shop for lunch! Labels are their only sustenance! Their skeleton legs in Manolos have worn trenches down the pavement of Sloane Street. Their arm sinews have just enough muscles left in their arm to lift up a credit card."

Needless to say it was way too early for Patsy or Edina or any other fashion vulture!

I am talking, of course, of the London Olympics Information Overload (although other types of bombardment are not out of the question, as missiles are being deployed in 6 locations around London, including on top of a tower block: the residents lost the case. So much for an Englishman's home being his castle).

Now that the teams have started to arrive the coverage is going to be relentless! Just like the adverts of the official sponsors on TV.

Even my gym has joined in. The entrance has had a bit of a facelift - the signs saying "The world's first YMCA" have been revamped and an Olympic Wall of Fame installed in the hall to highlight links between the YMCA and some former competitors (don't ask me for the details as I didn't read).

The training for the category I'm competing in (biscuit scoffing) is going very well: today I managed one packet (minus one biscuit, because I'm not greedy) of jammie dodgers. 

So far, the only advantage of the Olympics (apart from having an excuse for biscuit-scoffing) is that we'll have a special episode of "Absolutely Fabulous" next Monday! Yay!

Some of you may recall that at the end of January I took up swimming and that it was quite a struggle.
I have had so far 12 non-individual lessons (I signed up for the course at the Central YMCA again in April).

Well now after almost 4 months, I can do breaststroke and back crawl (and according to the instructor, my back crawl is excellent. My secret is that I picture myself lying flat on my back in bed! LOL)

Sadly, front crawl keeps eluding me.
It requires just too much co-ordination for me and I haven't mastered the breathing technique at all.

But perhaps it's not entirely my fault, according to Wikipedia.

The front crawl has been in use since ancient times. In the Western world, the front crawl was first seen in a swimming race held in 1844 in London, where it was swum by Native North Americans, who easily defeated all the British breaststroke swimmers. However, the English gentlemen considered this style, with its considerable splashing, to be barbarically "un-European". The British continued to swim only the breaststroke in competition.

Perhaps I'm just too European! LOL!

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In other somewhat sport-related news, today they announced at work that during the Olympics we'll be working revised hours starting at 7:30 am instead than 9 am.
This is because it's going to be very busy on public transport at peak times. 
Knowing how fragile the transport system is, I expect nothing less than a meltdown!