Sunday, August 5 - Women's marathon and 007

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Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236

This is the day on which one of the major free Olympic
events – women's marathon – took place. Given the huge numbers of UK residents
who wanted to attend a competition but did not get even a single ticket to the
games I wondered if the streets will be packed with spectators. To ensure that
I get a front row standing spot I left the residence hall at 9:15 am and
arrived at my spot at 9:45 which is one and one-hours before the runners will
speed past this location. This spot is near Waterloo Bridge and Victoria
Embankment and was selected because it is near the Brazilian national pavilion
Casa Brazil. At 9:45 there were plenty of front row spots along the barricaded
route.



Unfortunately the weather changed for the worst around
10:30. I was wearing a polo shirt which did not provide protection against the
heavy rain that suddenly came down. I was getting drenched so my only option
was to return to the residence hall to pick up my rain gear. It took an hour to
make the round trip, and when I returned to the spot a large crowd had
materialized so now the route was packed with spectators. I was able to get my
spot back thanks to the guy with whom I had been chatting before the rain came
down. I watched as the runners made the return trip on the first of three loops
of the course, and watched as they headed back out on the course.



After watching one complete circuit of the pack I walked
over to Casa Brazil which showcased contemporary Brazilian art and the venues
of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games which will take place in and around Rio des
Janerio.



Sunday was only half over so I went over to the Barbican
Centre site of "Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style". This massive exhibition
celebrates the fifty years since the release of the first Bond film “Dr. No” in
1962. Some of the interesting things on display were the gimmicked attache case
used in “From Russia With Love” as well as Rosa Kleb's knife shoe, Odd Job's
hat, the “Golden Gun”... Unfortunately, they did not allow photography so there
are no pix of this.



I finished the day with a meal at the Indian YMCA where an
all-you-can-eat Punjabi style Indian dinner could be had for 6 pounds ($10).

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Comments

[Joan Davis]

Indian YMCA, indeed. How do you find these great places? I just read about their restaurant and found that not that many people know you can eat there without staying at their residence.