My London Olympic Games 2012 - the end

The end of the Olympic Games is nearing its finishing line. And I am watching this on TV from my home country. On Friday I set off on my journey and since yesterday I have been watching the rest of the Games from the cosiness of my home.

Since I did not organise any ticket for myself, I soaked the Olympic atmosphere outside the Park. One word I can say about this - amazing. Wherever I went I was surrounded by smily faces, people on the Tube actually talked to each other and the overall mood was very positive. Yes, these Olympic Games were a success.

My experience started by visiting the Czech House with its bus doing push-ups...

... continued by observing the graphics...

...I contributed by taking part by skating around so that I can see as much as possible...

and of course visiting John Lewis to see the merchandise...

...and visiting the area around Aldgate and Whitechapel Gallery for a bit of culture.

Personally, I will remember my choice of lens I selected for each of my visits. I reached for my zoom lens that brings everything closer; closer than I would actually need. And this made me look for other photo possibilities. With this I will say Bye-Bye to the Olympic Games in London 2012. I utterly enjoyed all about them. Hope you did too. K-)

My London Olympic Games 2012 - continued

After my commercial/design-orientated post yesterday, here comes a bit of culture. At the weekend I paid a visit to Aldgate High Street.

Starting at the Whitechapel Gallery I focused on its facade. This is first permanent public commission of British artist Rachel Whiteread. It draws on Arts and Crafts' Tree of Life that believed that arts can enhance and better social issues. Whiteread revealed clusters of golden leaves and branches over the frieze and the towers of the Gallery. Picking on the existing elements, Whiteread definitely added life and chic to the already stylish piece of architecture.

Walking down the high street I soon spotted my next point of interest, the 'Paleys upon Pilers' (Palace on Pillars).

Inspired by two poems by Chaucer (The House of Fame & The Parliament of Fowls) that describe dream-like temples, Studio Weave came up with this 'timber embroidery'.

Located at the spot where Chaucer lived at 14th Century it also marks the beginning of Aldgate High Street and is on the way from The City to the Olympic Park.


Below are few more images showing the complexity and beauty of the craftsmanship.

A little walk from here and I found myself in Tower Hill. Yes, the place of the famous prison and the unique bridge.

It is the bridge that holds the Olympic rings. Finally, with the Olympics half way in progress I have seen them too. So big, so colourful. What a better place to display such a symbol than the Tower Bridge.

When walking across the Bridge, I glanced towards the City Hall. There were so many people there. With a large screen in the small park nearby the atmosphere there was so powerful, so friendly.

Indeed, along the south bank all the way towards Westminster there was so much life. Activities, stalls and a lot of smily faces. I have not seen this for a long time (apart from the Jubilee celebrations and perhaps around Christmas but not on such scale).

Among all this excitement is a little island of a thoughtful silence. 'Perspective' is a photo exhibition of Tom Stoddart, a photojournalist who captured moments in human history that certainly put things in perspective.

Suddenly I realised that no matter how bad thing might appear here we are still lucky to have somewhere to sleep, something to eat. We have nothing to complain about in comparison.

In this post, I have tried to capture another aspect that goes hand in hand with the Olympic Games, the culture. There was much more to see and I have shared with you just a snipped of it all. However, I still hope that this brings at least some of the feel closer to you. Kx

My London Olympic Games 2012 - continued

A week or so on into the Olympic Games and I decided to focus on the commercial side a little...

It all started by reading an article dedicated to the official tableware for the occasion. Designed by Nick Munro, this silver-plated metalware was inspired by a poster from the 1948 Olympics depicting a man throwing the discus. John Lewis then enthusiastically picked the idea and made sure to use purely British manufactures to produce this rather stylish and certainly unique design. I used the word 'unique' since there is a limited edition of each of the pieces: the teapot and sugar & milk set are both the edition of 200, their gold-plated version is the edition of only 20, the salad tongs (not pictured) are of 500 and the spoons are unlimited.

It is the spoons that I find quite witty; their handles are shaped to demonstrate the long jump, javelin, archery and weightlifting.

Those who are looking for commemorative souvenirs might appreciate the engraving reading 'Games of the XXX Olympiad' on the discus-shaped items and the Olympic logo that is stamped on the bottom of each piece might make this collectable items. And so, after reading this article, no wonder that my curiosity kept nagging. I decided to go to John Lewis, that offers the Games official merchandise, and see it all for myself.

Approaching the store, I must say I did not recognise it. The building was all covered by this pink, blue and white sheet, keeping to the colours of the Olympic logo, leaving only the name visible. Yes, I would say that John Lewis is playing its part well.

Making my way from the basement to the top I was bombarded by olympic-themed items. Mugs, badges, towels, bed linen, luggage, perfumes, toys, all scattered among all the usual items. The topping waited for me on the fifth floor where a whole section is dedicated to only the olympic-themed merchandise; this was the busiest place of the store adding clothes, bags, key-rings and other items to the lines. Among all this madness I found what I came for, the Nick Munro's stylish silverware placed in a glass cabinet. To be honest, I did not expect to be able to touch it (the spoons cost £20 each, the silver-plated teapot £200 to give you an idea). I only wanted to see it with my own eyes. And it is as delicate and classy as on the image.

What I also noticed was the packaging made out of recycled and recyclable and biodegradable card. When you read into the design you realise that there is more to it. It is all produced in England (Sheffield and around to be precise) from the initial idea, through casting and polishing, to packaging and promotion. I would say that this is a fitting approach to a design for the Olympic Games 2012 in London. Kx