Ruby Grimshaw likes a good game

I’m still with my Olympic memories, remembering how huge the Olympic Park was, and how much there was to see and do there. On hearing that our £75 tickets were for only three quarters of an hour of the synchronised swimming I had wondered to myself (not out loud of course) whatever we would do for the rest of the time. I should not have worried. We got to Stratford Station – very easily by the appropriately named Javelin high speed shuttle train – by about 10.30am and did not leave, exhausted but happy, until 9pm.

We queued up as soon as we arrived and got tickets for Anish Kapoor’s Orbit, which was not a Helter Skelter ride as the strange twisted shape had originally led me to believe, but a series of fantastic viewing platforms. Since we had not managed to get any tickets for any of the athletics events, it was great to be able to see into the Olympic Stadium from the top of the Orbit. The atmosphere everywhere in the Park was that of a huge party, with groups of volunteers singing and dancing their way through the crowds. When we ascended the Coca-Cola Beatbox – making music by touching ‘cushions’ to make athletic-based sounds – at one stage we were not allowed to go any further unless we did some dancing. I was happy to oblige, but I’m sure I embarrassed daughter C with my ‘cool’ dance movements.

But later, when we decided to have a rest and tried to enter the picnic area to watch the live action on the big screen, I proved very useful to have along.

“I still say it was my nice smile and not my wrinkles that got us in”

“You can’t come in. This is the exit,” said the burly attendant to C. Then he saw me. “You with her?” he asked. When C agreed, he nodded. “OK then. Just nip in down the side and I’ll pretend I’ve not seen you.” Daughter C thought this very amusing but I still say it was my nice smile and not my wrinkles that got us in.
I have to admit to a certain lack of love for the London 2012 mascot. His one eye was a bit creepy, and a smile might have gone some way to making him more cuddly. I wonder if the volunteers will be allowed to keep their orange and purple uniforms complete with smart bags and badges. I expect we will be seeing a lot of it on eBay. What I would really like is one of the big pink gloves with the pointy finger.