London 2012: Olympic Park

by Summer Grant (subscribe)

Venue: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

What a fantastic summer it has been for London, for Great Britain. The Olympic and Paralympic Game have showed our country off in its finest form, but what is the heart of the Games truly like?

It's big and colourful and heaving with patriotic fervour. The park is an immense stretch of land, beautifully decorated with the Olympic Stadium as its main feature. It's an impressive structure made all the more awe-inspiring by the cheers that echo from inside it every time a British athlete is introduced.

In fact, the cheers are all around the park. From atop a hill in the Park Live area, the crowds in both the Velodrome (The Pringle) and the Basketball Arena can be heard supporting their fellow countrymen. Again, when walking past the Aquatics Centre, home of swimming queen Ellie Simmonds, the yelling rang out as swimmers took to the pool.



The park itself is an amalgamation of odd building and structures, of course there's all the afore mentioned ones (the jewel of which being the stadium) but also the Orbit, a twisted steel structure which people can go up and gaze over the park. From there, they can see the Park live area, the River Bank Arena and all the other sporting destinations.

There is much to entertain you while you're there, the people with Coca Cola, one of the sponsors, gambol around pretending to swim through the crowd, Mandeville the Paralympic mascot makes an appearance, waving to the press of people walking around in wonder.



Music is being played over the speakers and if that isn't enough there are live bands marching their way through the park.

Being at the park really is a wonderful experience, not only are there fellow Brits draped in Union Flags but there are people of all kinds of nationalities milling around. It really is a worldwide affair.

If you're planning on going before the Games are finished here are a few things you might find useful to know.

You can't take liquids into the park, however you can take empty bottles, there are fountains scattered all over the park where you can fill up your empty bottles. If you want to go into the megastore to pick up your Olympic and Paralympic goodies you might either want to go really early or towards the end of the day, at these times there are no queues to contend with.

Last but not least, if you suffer with mobility problems or become really tired after walking through the large park there is a shuttle service that you can catch that will take you to several destinations.

2012 has been amazing, and hopefully you enjoy your time at the centre of it all.

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Why? Who doen't love the Olympics and Paralympics?

Website: www.london2012.com/spectators/venues/olympic-park

Where: Stratford

Cost: It varies depending on what you want to see