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At last! Friday 5.00 has arrived and I am free for two whole days. And, for once, I do not have any work function to go to. Sigh - how to fill the time? Well, when one’s home city is hosting Le Grand Depart of Le Tour de France, one heads to Trafalgar Square to watch the opening ceremonies.
Believe it or not, in all the time I have lived in London, I have never been to an event in Trafalgar Square. In fact, I tend to avoid them like the plague as they always seem as though they will be too crowded and loud. This time, however, it just seemed too interesting an opportunity to miss, so I dashed out of my office on the stroke of 5.00 and made my way over. I must confess, it was also a great excuse to play with my new toy. I have finally bought myself a proper camera. What joy to shoot photos that actually come out the way you wanted them to!
I arrived at Embankment Station well in time and wandered over to the Square. On the way, I passed The Sherlock Holmes pub. This is one
of my favourite pubs in London. When I first moved here in the spring of 2000, it was my local. It is also the place where I met Matt and we spent twelve hours on a rainy afternoon sitting, drinking beer and talking as though we had known each other all our lives. Finally, it was the first pub I took Lynn to the first time she came to London. Again, a rainy afternoon, but Mom, she and I sat in the pub and had lunch and beers before heading off on the open top bus tour. So - as you can see - this pub holds a lot of good memories for me.
Having had some wine at lunch, I decided I did NOT need to stop at the pub, so I wandered up to the Square. Absolutely full of people, all of whom seemed to be speaking anything but English. I heard French, Italian, German, Spanish, South African accents, Oz accents, Kiwi accents - even some American accents. This being England, however, the crowd was very polite and one’s personal space was respected. The looks that some people got as they tried to push through made me
smile!
Of course, as one can imagine in a sport dominated by the French and the Italians, things got off to a bit of a late start. So, while I was waiting for the festivities, I wandered around watching the people and seeing what was going on. I saw lots of press, and I think I actually may have been on French television as I wandered past a French reporter as she was doing her thing. Too bad I’ll never know for sure! I also got quite a giggle from one of the lions looking down from Nelson’s column. He looked so bemused. Having witnessed quite a few events in his time, I would love to know what he was thinking watching all these people get excited about a few bike riders. I watched the team buses unload and heard the crowd cheering for their favourites. Now, I wouldn’t know one of the riders if I tripped over him, so I took the noise on faith.
Eventually, the ceremony got started. We heard a history of the bike (I kid you not!) and then were treated to some dancing and trick bikes. Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London,
got up and said a few words remembering those people who had died two years ago tomorrow in the tube bombings. As we narrowly escaped another bombing last weekend, his words moved a lot of people (myself included) and he got a huge cheer. When he was finished, they showed a film about living in London. I actually got quite choked up. I just love living here!
Then came the raison d’etre. (Had to put in at least ONE French expression….) All of the teams and their riders were introduced. Now, keeping in mind that there are twenty-one teams with nine riders apiece, this took a while. It was fun, however, to watch the crowd’s reactions as they cheered for the ones they knew. It was also very patriotic. The Spanish cheered for their team, the Kiwis for theirs, etc. Not to be outdone, I cheered for the American team but, as I said, I wouldn’t know one of them if I were sitting next to him. The best cheer came for a young kid called Mark Cavendish. He is from the Isle of Man and, some believe, may be the next Lance Armstrong. The place went wild when
he was introduced.
Keep in mind that the vast majority of the men on the stage couldn’t speak English. It was quite amusing to see the emcee trying to interview people who couldn’t understand what he was saying. Some cheeky Italian kid (God, I love those people) just looked at him and started speaking Italian. Roughly translated, he was saying how pleased he was to be in London and how excited he was to ride in the race. The emcee just looked a bit blank!
Eventually headed off to meet Paddy and Jeremy for dinner. I really wanted French to honour the occasion, but we settled for Italian. Next best, I suppose.
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bob ramsey
non-member comment
I've been following you...
Chris, I can only dream of being on the move as you are. Next time in the states (particularly in the keys) let me know - I'd love to meet up and have drink a bit witlh ya. Got a new camera... what did you get?