Let the Games Begin!

I absolutely love the Olympics!  It is so fun to be here while the games are just an hour away and to feel the buzz of excitement all around me, especially after such a fun and spectacular Opening Ceremony.  The word from my British friends is that Danny Boyle did Britain proud and that the Opening Ceremony was a terrific warm-up act for the games. I could not agree more.  Let the games begin.

The scene when the audience entered the stadium was England's 'Green and Pleasant Land',  the starting point of Danny Boyle's Opening Ceremony extravaganza. This tranquil scene didn't last long. It was transformed by a brilliant rendering of the Industrial Revolution.

Sir Kenneth Branagh was dressed as Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the man who was responsible for England's Industrial Revolution, and read Caliban's speech from "The Tempest.”   Some Americans who are unfamiliar with Isambard Kingdom Brunel got him confused with one of the most famous of U.S. presidents, Abraham Lincoln. I thought he looked a bit like Brigham Young at first until he started chomping on a cigar. 

Why feature the Industrial Revolution?   Because it 

 marks a major turning point in world history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. Most notably, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. In the two centuries following 1800, the world's average per capita income increased over tenfold, while the world's population increased over sixfold. In the words of Nobel Prize winner Robert E. Lucas, Jr., "For the first time in history, the living standards of the masses of ordinary people have begun to undergo sustained growth ... Nothing remotely like this economic behavior has happened before"

It was a period from 1750 to 1850 where changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times. It began in the U.K. then subsequently spread throughout  Wester Europe, North America, Japan, and eventually the rest of the world.

I think most Brits favorite part of the ceremony what the entrance of the Queen.  I heard today on the radio that the reason the queen agreed to do the James Bond spoof was she is quite smitten with Daniel Craig.  I think there was a collective gasp and a big laugh when this clip aired. 

 The queen was a great sport to do this spoof and everyone was so surprised.  It also set the tone for much laughter and levity in the ceremony.  I love the way the British enjoy laughing at themselves.  I asked our 5-year-old neighbor if he watched the ceremony and his eyes got wide and he exclaimed that he saw the queen jump out of a parachute and jump into the stadium with James Bond.  I didn't dare burst his bubble. 

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Danny Boyle said of the NHS section: ‘One of the reasons we put the NHS in the show is that everyone is aware of how important the NHS is to everybody in this country.‘We believe, as a nation, in universal healthcare. It doesn’t matter how poor you are, how rich you are, you will get treated.’ 

The NHS section of the show also paid tribute to Britain’s contribution to children’s literature, with several villains recreated as spectacular nightmares suffered by the children. They included the Queen of Hearts from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and Captain Hook from JM Barrie’s Peter Pan. Of course, Marry Poppins saved the day. I loved that J.K. Rowlings, the most successful British Children's author ever, was featured as well!

 Performers payed silent tribute to war dead and the victims of the 7/7 terrorist attack    

Another favorite moment: Rowan Atkinson in his role as Mr Bean during the tribute to British film

I know longer feel bad for Beckham for not making the Olympic Soccer team.  He had a much cooler  roll accompanying the Flame down the Thames as it made its final journey to the stadium.

Former British rower and five times Olympic gold medalist, Steve Redgrave, passed the Torch to seven youth who represent the future of sports, nominated to light the flame

The Cauldron was formed by 204 petals, one for each nation competing. It is simply stunning, brilliant design.

Sir Paul McCartney brought the Olympic Opening Ceremony to a rousing finale with a performance of Hey Jude. 
An estimated television audience of one billion tuned in worldwide to watch the Ceremony.  When is was over Danny Boyle tweeted the "He was proud to be British."  I think last night, 60 million Brits, Scots, Northern Irish, and Welch felt the same.

Cornwall Wanderings

John and I just spent a lovely week in Cornwall.  We drove to the southern tip and stayed in the town of Marazion in a little cottage just across from St. Michael's Mount.

The Mount is a great granite crag which rises from the waters of the Bay and is surmounted by an embattled castle, that was originally a Benedict Priory built in the twelfth century

It is known as the sister house of the famous Mont St. Michel in Normandy. The Mount is accessible by a Causeway 2-5 hours each day depending on the state of the tide. 

The castle and former priory is still inhabited b James and Mary St Aubyn who live a 21st century lifestyle within its medieval walls. James is the twelfth generation of the St Aubyn family, who have occupied the castle since the 17th Century.

We arrived in Marazion on a rainy day but shortly before the day ended, the sun peaked out from behind the clouds and from then on we had fairly good weather. 

We spent most of the week exploring the Southwestern coast of Cornwall that is known for it's rugged coves, beautiful beaches, shipwrecks, and a history of smugglers and pirates. 

The one rainy day we had we spent at the Eden Project, a former China clay quarry that has been reclaimed as a spectacular garden with two huge biomes.  It claims to have the worlds largest conservatories, and the biggest indoor rainforest.  

It is also living example of regeneration, community building, and sustainable living. It was impressive.

Most days we spent walking parts of the cornish coastal path.  This cove is called Logan Rock.

The South West Coast Path is Britain's longest marked  footpath and national trail -- it stretches for 630 miles.

Beginning at Minehead in Somerset, the path follows the route of the Coastguards who once patrolled the rugged coastline for smugglers and and pirates. The route curls around the entire peninsula of Devon and Cornwall and around the south-western tip of England, following through Dorset to the trail’s end at Poole Harbour.

This photo is for my parents who live near Marconi Beach on Cape Cod. The Cape Cod  beach is named for Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi. In 1903, the first transatlantic wireless communication originating in the U.S. was successfully transmitted to nearby Marconi Station, a message from U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to King Edward VII of the the United Kingdom.  Above is the Marconi Station in Cornwall where that first telegraph was received. 

There were some coves and beaches we saw where the water was such a crystal clear blue, it looked like it could be somewhere in the Caribbean.

On day, while hiking, we watched the coast guard do sea rescue training

This is the open-air Minack theatre, constructed on a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea. The theatre was created by Rowena Cade, who lived at Minack House overlooking Porthcurno Bay. In 1932 Miss Cade and her gardener made a terrace and rough seating, hauling materials down from the house or up via the winding path from the beach below and The Tempest was performed with the sea as a dramatic backdrop, to great success. Today it is used as a theatre for summer stock production.  

We saw a fun, modern production of Die Fledermaus with the Surrey Opera Co. 

This was the only ship wreck we saw.  

We did see a map that showed 36 shipwrecks in the water within 5 miles of Land's end.  

Land's End

My favorite wizard watching two sharks we saw in this cove

They were basking sharks, which are really whales that look like sharks (they eat krill).  These two were full grown and were roughly 20-25 feet long

It's hard to capture the sense of size of these sharks -- they were BIG!

This was the only photo I could get that showed the size of the shark (or it's fin) in relation to something else.  Even though I know Basking sharks eat krill, they are too big for me to want to share the water with them.

On our last day in Cornwall we toured St Michael's Mount.  We knew the town's choir would be singing a concert on the common that afternoon.  This is the Marazion Apollo Men's Choir.  It was formed in 1904 and reputedly the oldest male choir in Cornwall.  Fishermen by day, singer's by night.  They were great!  http://www.apollo-choir.co.uk or check them out on You Tube.

I loved how the St Michael's Mount causeway appeared and  disappeared with the tide.  I loved the rugged beauty of the coast and the gentle beauty of the farmland and gardens.  I loved the interesting cornish people we met. I loved everything about Cornwall.  Kernow Bys Vyken!  Cornwall Forever!

The Olympic Torch in Oxford

The Olympic torch came to Oxford last night and this morning.  John and I went to see the relay early this morning at Iffley Bridge.  It was quite the production.  There were several police on motorcycles, followed by the sponsors buses, the sounds of music and  DJ announcers from the top of the buses.  At last came the torch bearer.  It was fun to see. 

The relay route started this morning from the track in Iffley where, in 1954, the first mile was run under 4 minutes.  It concluded at the end of Iffley Bridge where the torch was packed into a bus and taken to the next relay village, Abingdon-on-Thames. 

This was at 7am on Iffley Bridge

I don't know who the torch bearer was

The crowds were very enthusiastic

The historic significance of Iffley