The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is about three miles from where I live and I have visited a couple of times before, once to visit Beach East. It was an urban beach they created a couple of summers in a row; with a fairground, a makeshift beach and paddling area, food stalls and a bar. It was impressive... and a touch wacky!
I didn't pay much attention to the 2012 Olympics, not being a sporty person. I also have a long history of falling asleep during Olympic opening ceremonies, and that includes the Stratford one (although what I did see was very entertaining.) I woke up as David Beckham was making his journey up the canal in a boat. I have to say, the lighting of the torch was s-o-o-o-o-o long winded, so much so that I was tempted to jump on the 25 bus with a lighter and go and light the goddamn thing myself. I thought, ENOUGH already, just get on with it!
Before the Olympic park came into being, I remember going to a couple of great warehouse parties there in the late 1990s. They were right near the back end of Stratford railway station, where Westfield shopping centre is right now. I'm not too sure about Westfield Stratford- although certain shops (hello, J.D. Sports and Primark) will always thrive in that area, the amount of closed units tells me that it was a bit of a turkey. Stratford is billed as an "up and coming" area- sure it's better than it was, but it's still in a poor part of London and there's still a recession going on.
We took a canal tour around the park, which was very relaxing. I wasn't up for anything too taxing as I was still recovering from a lurgy. I also love the way the industrial is juxtaposed with the natural, or in this case "created" natural, as much of the land had to be detoxified before any regeneration took place.
Here's some of my piccies...
Bankside trees in this once-poisoned urban utopia.
This ford has recently opened.
Canal bridges.
Apparently, the stones in cages holding up these bridges are the rubble of the buildings that had to be knocked down during the clearance of the park.
Olympic rings.
I've been to the Arcelor Mittal Orbit before (a freebie from Newham Council.) Then, the surrounding area was just a building site. They also didn't have a slide down... and now they do, so childish moi just HAD to visit again....
Approaching The Orbit.
The view up, taken from right underneath.
The stadium. The last time I was here it hadn't been transformed, the roof did not go as far over and you could still see "2012" written on the track.
City of London view.
London Docklands.
This must have been the warm-up pitch.
The old part of Stratford. Roof East, a rooftop bar, is at the top of the brown, squat-looking building to the left side of the photo.
The Aquatics centre. I must give this a try!
Selfie time! As is usual in selfies, I'm wearing my sparkly pink cardigan and my pink leopard print top. I do own more clothes...honest! Piece of useless information- the top was either a nightie or petticoat that I found in Bodgers, Ilford, and shortened into a top.
I missed this lovely cute model, so I pinched this photo from my SuperDean. I would love little sparkly earrings made to look like this. Promoters, take note!
You can take the lift down, walk down the stairs...
...or take the slide. We chose the latter, and it was great fun! Here's the view of the slide going down.
It was a great way to spend a few hours. Here's my goodbye view of a moody Orbit.
