Friday night, I witnessed the most amazing event I've ever seen in person, the opening ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympics.
Many millions of people tuned in to watch the event, but it is nothing compared to the experience of actually being there. My favorite part of the evening was the transformation from the British Countryside to the industrialized city complete with smokestacks and steel workers. This helped to explain the meaning of the mascots, which are supposed to represent drops of steel.
The parade of nations was long and not all that exciting, but it was cool to see the stadium filled with 10,000 top atheletes from around the world. The night came to an exciting conclusion with the lighting of the Olympic flame and the Queen's call to start the games.
Yesterday I went to the first event after the opening ceremonies, which was Beach Vollyball. The venue is a temporary structure in an unlikely spot, the middle of metropolitan London. Beach vollyball at the Olympics is always fun. It's like a party. I was surprised though to see no pin traders at the event. However, I have high hopes for pin trading at tonights swimming event, which I am attending.
