The Olympic Torch

The Olympics are about to start here in the UK. Technically they are "in London," but actually there are a few events spaced throughout the country. Some events are happening fairly close to where we live but they are not sports of great interest to us so we did not go out of our way to obtain tickets. 

However, one of the really cool parts leading up to the Olympics here has been the torch relay that has been taking place throughout the UK. The torch was lit in Greece and then made its way to this island and has traveled to over 1,000 towns throughout the UK and has been carried by nearly 8,000 torch bearers. It has been on tour for the past 70 days. It has traveled within 10 miles of everyone in this country which is pretty remarkable. 

A few weeks ago the torch was coming straight through our little town - and not only through our town, but it was being carried down the street at the end of our block! It was a very neat afternoon and much to our surprise, it seemed the entire surrounding area descending upon our town to see the torch in person just as we did too. 

We did not expect the masses of crowds for the route through our town so by the time we made it to the end of our block, we unfortunately did not have great views because of the crowd. 

Crosby got a lift from Daddy and she had the best view out of the three of us....if only she were as interested in watching the torch relay as we were! 

There was a large procession that came before the torch bearer, starting with the police squad. 

Then there was a torch parade with fancy buses, music, dancers, and lots of Olympic paraphernalia. 

Major Olympic sponsors such as Coco-Cola took part in the torch parade. It was quite festive and lively as these big floats went past the crowds. 

Crosby's attention span was of course that of a toddlers - very short. She seemed more interested in walking around and looking at the crowd of people rather than the parade for the torch. 

Now can you see the flame? Look carefully - it's near the left side of this photo near the Union Jack flag. It was a brief moment and it was difficult to capture on camera due to the crowd, but it was cool to see it whiz by us in person....and now tonight we will watch the opening ceremonies (from the comfort of our living room via TV) with the rest of the world where the flame will arrive and light the start of the games.