Not a lot gets me out of bed before 8am — I work from home, so my commute is a roll from bed to office, but upon discovering that the Olympic Flame Torch Relay was passing the end of my road here in Camden Town this morning at about 7am, nothing was going to stop me rolling out of bed and down Parkway to see it pass through my neighbourhood.
Today is day 69 of the Torch Relay, as the Olympic flame makes its way from Camden to Westminster for the second to last day until the Opening Ceremony. The Relay began at 645 at the Camden Roundhouse, with Clive Woodward, Team GB’s deputy chef de mission and manager of the England 2003 World Cup, although I’m not sure who our two guys down at Camden Tube were were.
I was clearly so excited that I woke up before my alarm, getting to the bottom of Parkway about 640am. The crowds were already building up, altho I know they were five deep just up the road at the Roundhouse for the start.
I took up position on the traffic island at Britannia Junction, right by the tube, which gare me an awesome view up Camden Town Road. It’s some operation. First a coach comes down with all the day’s Torchbearers.
They dropped off the guy for our section, and he waited, with unlit torch, whilst lots of corporate buses with dancing men & women & blaring music passed by, to rev up the crowd.
Here’s the relay in action: the flame is passed from one Torchbearer to another:
I did have a bit of a weep: it’s just an incredibly emotional thing, watching so many Londoners getting so over-excited, and watching the pride and excitement on the faces of the Torchbearers.
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As a volunteer I got a ticket to see the technical rehearsal of the opening ceremony last night. I’m not one to get weepy but it was absolutely incredible – pretty much every single thing you could associate with Britain was in there! I can’t wait for everyone to see it tomorrow.
@George: I am HOPPING with anticipation! Lucky you, I wld have loved to have been able to go. LLGxx
its so exciting the olympics starts tomorrow
its going to be amazing.
http://haideeandco.blogspot.co.uk/
Lovely photos! I was there too, really summed up the mood and the amazing community vibe – Camden still rocks!
@Lee Renee: Thanks Lee! I LOVE Camden too: I’ve been here just over a year now, and couldn’t be happier. LLGxx
Oh well done Sasha for getting up for it!
The first I knew about it was R waking me up at 7am and telling me how cool it was after he’d just got home. Clearly I slept through his trying to get me out of bed this morning.
He really enjoyed it too but managed to not take a single photo for me so I’m glad I can see it through your eyes instead x
@annie: honestly: it was two blocks from my bed. I would have been so ashamed if I had not gone! LLGxx
I was at Ludgate Circus watching the torch travel down Farringdon Road and on to St. Paul’s and the city this morning. Huge crowds of office workers in the middle of the road, iphones aloft to grab a snap. I felt really emotional and proud too!
The torch relay came through Hampshire mid July. I’ve only lived in the UK for 4 years but this has got to count as the highlight of my short stay here. It was an emotional experience seeing these inspiring individuals holding the torch looking proud but also overwhelmed by the once in a lifetime opportunity that they were fortunate to participate in.
Such an exciting time – we would love to be in London to soak up the Olympic atmosphere! Hope you have a wonderful time!