The Tube

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Mind the gap ! We hear this all the time, but it is good advice...

The Tube is London's subway and it is a magnificent and awesome experience. We are staying near Earl's Court station. To get to the Olympic Park, we take the tube from Earl's Court to Westminster on the District Line and switch to the Jubilee line which is the fastest train to West Ham. This has been perfect for us to get in to the Olympic Park as it is then a 10-15 minute walk from the station with the walk on a bike path that is fenced off all the way to security.

We asked a Constable about getting to the park and their advice on the first day was to stick to the Tube. They hear that the trains will be very busy.

When Jeff told me unlimited Tube tickets for the day were included with the ticket purchase, I told him then we can ride the entire Tube in our free time away from the events. This would literally take months! The Tube is huge - and it needs to be for about 12 million people living here...

We have had no problems with security as they set up a lot of stations and are well staffed. We have gone right through security and received entry into the Park with a ticket, of course. The Olympic Park is a massive area completely cordoned off and you need a ticket to gain admission to this area. I feel very safe here as everything is separated by quite a large area fenced off with very clear entry points. The Stratford tube station and park entry is the busiest from what we hear. We have been asked to show our tickets several times before we get to security along the way. We then have to show our tickets to enter the Aquatic Center.

Tickets have been tough to find ..it is illegal to resell tickets... everyone we ask says to go on to the web and yet nothing seems to be available. The empty seats are bothersome as the sponsors appear not to be filling them. What we see is after an event starts and no one is sitting in a block of seats, a line of soldiers will file in and sit in those seats which better than no one sitting there... And let's face it, they deserve to attend these games.

We talked to a guy standing inside the park with a sign looking for tickets and asked him if he is finding any tickets. He said he has been able to find two seats for about two events a day thus far.

Another common comment we make is look at all of the kids at these games! They are everywhere and for a few, their clocks are off and bedtime is sure to take over at a certain point. It is wonderful to see so many of these kids at the games. As one of the slogans say "inspire a generation" and many parents are taking the advice seriously.. And time will tell.... It sure would be nice to see Chicago get the games sometime soon!

Regarding safety, I feel very safe as we see people dressed in the purple and pink official Olympic employee uniform pretty much everywhere. They have brought in police from all over the country and the army is everywhere with a very strong presence. We hear that there are a million more people in the city than normal for the Olympics. So hotel rooms have been booked for months.

Now that swimming is nearing its end, the stadium had its first event held last night that we know of... It is getting busier each day. So we expect a heavier crowd than what we are used to for the weekend. Then we come home.

Back to row 30 ! And loving every nanosecond of it !

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Comments

[Steve Kahlenbeck]

Great to hear your stories
Pat - I am so happy you could make it to the Olympics. You are not only experiencing the finest sport on earth, you are also witnessing history. I really enjoy reading about your experiences. You are also a great representative of the US! Steve