Day 23: Olympic Walk

Today in class we studied William Wordsworth.  His poetry is transcendent and inspires me, even to the depths of my soul.  I know they have many truths in them as they describe both our human experience and the feelings of our spirits.  I'm excited to go up to the Lake District next week and see the sights that he lived in.


I will probably disappoint you with pictures today because I accidentally left my memory card at the Centre.  I took pictures but I will have to download them with a special cord that is in Utah- sorry!


We did an Olympic walk through East London today.  East London has usually been the poorest area of the city- the "slums" of London.  Having the Olympics take place there is part of an urban renewal process.  I don't know how well it will work but it was cool to see a lot of the sites.  East London is still kind of run down but you can tell they are trying to build it up.  Our tour guide was showing us around the area where they're going to put one of the Olympic protective missiles on top of a building.  A funny moment of the day occurred when he pointed out the Porsche car sales lot here.  He said, "You may be wondering why this luxury car lot is in the slums of London.  Well- drug dealers need cars too."  We all got a good laugh out of that one!


We saw the outside of the main stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies, the torch/tower thing, the pools, the apartment village where the athletes will live, and the large shopping center built all around the entrance to the games.  It was a really fun atmosphere!  It will be especially fun when the games start and I can connect with the things we saw.  


I went on a jog through the other side of Hyde Park today.  It felt more like Central Park on that side with all of the businesses surrounding it.  On the positive side, I got to see a lot!  I saw at least 6 pick up soccer games, the 7/7 terrorist attack memorial, 3 World War I memorials, 3 couples making out, 100+ runners in a race, 7 roller bladers, 4 skate boarders, too many pigeons, lots of squirrels and dogs.  


Now I have a LOT of homework to try and get done so I can have fun this weekend and stay caught up before my trip to the north next week!  I hope everyone has a happy Thursday. :)