Wandering around the Olympic Park

The Olympic Park has excelled as a brilliant venue for an event of this size. It is a huge space and the layout makes it feel quite open. Aside from the competition venues there is quite a bit to see and do and hanging out in the park before/after attending an event is the norm. The landscaping is impressive with fields of wild flowers peppered throughout, a river which has nice paths for walks and interesting art scattered around the site.

I did not attend any of the events held at this stage however the fact that it was there was quite cool. This is located close to the middle of the Olympic Park and hosted events throughout the games. In the background you can see the Riverbank Arena and at the front an example of some of the wild flower gardens.

Stage for music

Park Live is a very cool space. It is basically a very large double sided screen which can be viewed from the fields and hills surrounding it which shows live sport from around the Olympic Venues. Most visitors to the park will spend time here watching, visiting and picnicking. In this picture you have a nice view of the Basketball Arena and the Velodrome with the Village to the right.

Park Live

People enjoying Park Live from the hill with the Olympic Village in background

Often while walking around the park you stumble across nice touches and this is a fine example. A classic British icon made into an interesting piece of art carefully placed in a very random spot. I saw the other half of it farther down the path.

Phone box art

As you can imagine the media is a large part of this event. Most of the media is based in the Media Centre however a couple of the larger groups (BBC and NBC) had studios in the Park. Here is the filming of the Today Show at the NBC studios located near the Basketball Arena.

NBC Studios / The Today Show

The BBC Studios were much closer to the main Olympic Stadium and had several studios inside. On the top left is the main BBC 1 studio with the open air at the top being the BBC 3 studio. In the middle were a couple more used by either.

BBC Studios

Again, walking around the place had a very unique and interesting feel. Down the main boulevards there were hoards of people and just off from there tranquil settings like this with amazing views.

Bridge over river with Aquatics Centre and Waterpolo Arena 

Next to the NBC Studio there was this. BP was a major sponsor so they got a building in the Park. I have no idea what they were doing inside, but I thought the outside was quite cool. This is a very large mirror angled perfectly for spectators passing by to see their reflection. I wonder how many pictures with the carefully placed BP logo in the top left were made and shared? Points if you can spot me.

BP mirror building

The ArcelorMittal Orbit is a piece of art created by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond. Apparently (according to wiki) it is the UK's largest piece of public art and will be part of the Olympic Legacy. There is a viewing platform at the top with views into the main stadium. You can purchase tickets to go up it in addition to your tickets to the park for £15.

ArcelorMittal Orbit

View of Olympic Stadium with Orbit 

Part of the bid that won London the games was for the event to be uniquely British. In order to help this they specified that there would be a strong presence of the typical police constable (or bobby) on show throughout the venues and Olympic Park. These cops do not carry guns and around the park proved to be quite fun. I saw groups these cops doing the Usain Bolt lightning bolt pose with fans for photos and having fun with the public. Their presence was to push home the Britishness of the games and also to provide security and I think they did a great job.

Cops on horses