Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner.....

I missed the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony last night as we had a wedding reception to go to and I don't mind admitting I really would rather have stayed at home to watch it. I rarely watch sports on TV but I have to say I've been really looking forward to the Olympics and plan to watch as much of it as I can. I love the fact that we have 'the red button' and can pick and choose what events we watch.

I've heard so many people on social media sites and people I know saying how they're not bothered about the Olympics and won't be watching and I think it's a real shame. Most of us will probably never get to see it hosted in our home country again in our life time, so why not make the most of it and get involved, even if that simply means tuning in to watch it on the TV.
Half of me is sad not to be closer to London to be able to soak up the atmosphere but the other half is relieved not to get caught up in crowds and traffic and chaos!

Yesterday the children made banners and posters to put in the windows and we kept the Union Jack paper chains they made for the Jubilee so we're doing our bit to show our support for Team GB.

I don't get to go down to London to visit Family and friends as much as I'd like and when we decided to take a trip down in the summer holidays I hadn't taken the Olympics into account, so not wanting to get caught up in all the traffic etc we chose to go as soon as the children broke up.

There were a few places that I hadn't been for many years that I wanted to visit and show the children and Mr P. My sister came along for the day too so it made for a really nice family day out. We even spotted some of the Olympic mascots.

London is such a wonderfully varied place. You can visit areas not more than a mile or so apart and yet they have a totally different feel and atmosphere to the one you were in before. I worked in London for many years, tubing it in everyday and even before I was out at work, spent many weekends and school holiday jumping on and off the underground exploring the city that was on our doorstep. This visit I wanted to return to some old haunts, area's I had worked in and favourite places from my teenage years, so that's exactly what we did.

Spitalfields and Bishopsgate were the first stop. I worked in a branch on the corner of Commercial Street on and off for years. It was great to see that most of the tiny side streets remained pretty much unchanged. I always think that in this part of London with it's tiny wonky streets and old buildings you could be anywhere in the world. I think the shops in the top four pictures above wouldn't look out of place in Paris or Rome and probably aren't images people would come up with when thinking of London. Spitalfields market on the other hand had changed almost beyond recognition! I actually remember the days when it was the old fruit & veg market full of traders. It moved to Leyton in 1991 just after I started working at the bank. Slowly the old  Spitalfields started to fill with restaurants and stalls and has built itself into a really great space full of uber trendy shop, stalls, boutiques and eateries. I strongly recommend you stop by if ever you're in London.

Friday is Fashion Day at the market

Next we hopped on the tube and went over to Covent Garden. We took in the street entertainers and walked through the market admiring the shops and taking in all the sights, sounds and smells. Covent Garden was definitely one of my favourite places to go in my teens and I still love it now. You get such a diverse mix of people and there is always something to see.

Lastly we headed down to Leicester Square and on to Oxford Circus. I can honestly say I can't remember seeing London as busy as it was for a long time. It was great to see coach loads of tourists and school parties, it's how a city should be and how I remember London being. I love the hustle and bustle of a city, it recharges my batteries a bit like the countryside does for other people. We walked miles that day but no one complained as there was just so much to take in, aching feet were that last thing on our minds.

The rest of our time in London was spent catching up with friends and family. We spent a really wonderful evening at Gill's. Nancy and her family came along too. We spent the whole late afternoon and evening sitting in the garden catching up on a years worth of natter, eating wonderful food and enjoying all being together. Our collective children, 7 in total, ran wild, also catching up on a year of not seeing each other and Bruno and Maisie, our dogs, got to meet for the first time, which was a great success! None of us wanted to evening to end.

But now we're home and the Olympics have started. Despite not being in London I fully intend to enjoy the Games and I hope that everyone else gets into the spirit of things too!