We leapt off the train from Norwich at Stratford (the main gateway to the Olympic Games). It was busy but not uncomfortably so. There was no sign of the much anticipated transport gridlock that has dominated the news for months. We jumped on a bus to the penthouse pad overlooking the stadium and took our seats for the biggest show in town. As I had hoped, it was a mesmerising salute to British polish, quirkiness, individuality and diversity – funny, moving, creative, self-deprecating, inclusive, mildly subversive with tongue jammed firmly in cheek. The eccentric cultural cabaret was infused with subtle (and not so subtle) political messages to the great, the good and the incompetent both at home and away. It mattered little to me that much of the humour might have been lost on the globally bemused. It was worth all the money just to get the first lesbian kiss ever broadcast on Saudi TV. After much reticence, all but a few diehard cynics now seem to have risen to the occasion and finally taken the Games to their hearts. There’s a real buzz in the air, a buzz you can feel, taste and see. I think we have Mitt Romney to thank for this. His ungracious remarks about London’s readiness to stage the Games have galvanised opinion. No one likes a bad-mannered, bad-mouthing guest in their house, do they?
I give you one of the many highlights from the show – HM becomes a Bond girl. I hope our German friends weren’t too miffed by the Dambuster’s theme. Naturally, Her Maj was as inscrutable as ever.
Perking the Pansies 
That’s funny. Dour, charmless and, I submit, a complete moron. BUT super-rich. I am glad he (unintentionally I am sure) rallied you all round the Olympics. I loved the mildly subversive bits. Following Jamaican friends on Twitter was most amusing – they kept tweeting, “I’m lost again!” “What’s going on?” etc. But Mr. Bean was an enormous hit – he has a huge following on our island!!
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It was a very clever use of internationally known ‘brands’ to get the message across. Well done to Danny Boyle. A gong will be coming his way soon, I suspect.
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Not sure that we would have watched were we in the UK,but TRT3 showed the whole thing. and we sat up till 3 a.m. with an inappropriate quantity of alcoholic beverage. An excellent opening to Hilary’s son’s birthday but she is still waiting for Jimmy Page.
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Happy birthday to Hilary’s son. Naturally a copious amount of booze was consumed this end too!
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I think he deserves one. To envision, design and implement such an event must have been the biggest challenge of his life…
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Sadly I was sat alone to watch the opening ceremony ( I don’t think Sunshine and Mabel really understood the importance of the event) and I have to admit it brought a tear to my eye. Living here we often cringe at being a Brit but sometimes it makes you proud!
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It certainly does. Didn’t Jack do something at the bar?
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I loved the whole pageant of the thing, Danny Boyle played us all! the grumpies, the nationalists, the up their own backsides. He started off with a tweeness that had the little Englander posting about looking like bumpkins and references to Hobbits, then delighted the historians and creatives with Isimbard Kingdom Brunel doing Shakespeare. and the boldness of playing Jerusalem and just when the Scots, Irish, and Welsh were up in arms sent the cameras reeling to our homesteads for our kids to sing our favourite anthems. The Doctors and Nurses were my favourite, they must have worked really hard, and he did not miss out the symbolism and the beauty with the petals of the countries meeting together, the respect to the fallen in wars and terrorism, and the selflessness as the athletes pass the flame to the next generation. No bowing to the International crowd this was very British and brave. Now on to the medals, go team GB. It’s good to be in Britain in 2012
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It did all this and more. It’s a great time to be British and in Britain.
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I clicked on the video only to be met with ‘the uploader has not made this video available in your country’!!!!! Well, thanks!!! We were able to watch the whole thing on our IPad in our remote little village here in Assos which is amazing in itself. That bit with the Queen was just fab. So sorry we can’t watch again via yr video. The whole thing was just great, I can only imagine the atmosphere in London right now ….
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Sorry about that. I wonder why it isn’t available in Turkey? Shame.
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The same thing happened to me in Jamaica! Whenever I click on any video (BBC etc) originating from the UK it comes up with that stupid message. It doesn’t happen with anywhere else!
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It might have something to do with the licence fee, I suppose.
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Isn’t it fun when the Olympics are in town? Canadians had lots of fun in Vancouver (in fact, no-one could get over how much beer Canadians drink–except the Brits. 🙂 )
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I knew there was a reason I love the Canadians. 😉
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😉
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