After a morning spent doing nothing much, we finally decided to check out the neighbourhood.  Which happens to be the home of the 2012 Olympic Games.  Yes, the ones where Great Britain beat us in pretty much everything. Anyway, when it’s the last day of your holiday, and you have a tower thingy with a slide thingy just a short walk away, you through caution and money to the wind, and off you go.

We wended our way via some of the other Olympic sites such as the velodrome, the Olympic rings, the press centre, the regenerated wetlands, the Queen Elizabeth stadium (now West Ham’s home ground) and the aquatic centre (at least we won a few medals there).

Velodrome

Queen Elizabeth stadium

Rubbing it in

Aquatic centre

Fun with mirrors

Fun with fountains

The Orbit is the tallest sculpture in the UK, and the slide is the tallest and longest in the world. Ian decided to set a new record for the fastest descent via slide by a DROC top.  After dressing up in his sliding outfit and receiving his safety briefing (“don’t try and stand up”), he was off on a 45 second ride.  I chose to descend more sedately via the 455 stairs.  We both took the lift to get up there in the first place.

The slidy thing

Ready to set a record

No going back

That red and blue blur is Ian

Looking straight down the slide

Looking back up where you slid from

Taking the stairs

The views were extensive – we could see the city skyline, the docklands, the Olympic Park and Hackney Wick. We had fun picking out familiar landmarks and watching toy trains and buses from our vantage point.

Hackney Wick

Olympic Park

Stratford

Toy trains

Steppers on the left. Sliders on the right

Under the viewing platform

Time to go home, so we meandered along some more canals, and saw some more locks and graffiti.  Hackney Wick is still to come to life. But its been a good base for us.

So that’s it for now – over and out!  Enjoy some parting shots.

Advertisement or political statement?

Oh yes … the answer to the quiz question – the building in Cork that looked like a gatekeepers lodge was in fact a dental surgery.  You can all get some sleep now.