LONDON: Gossip And Olympic Bloopers

Especially for the two-week-long event, an Olympic lane was set up for the exclusive use of designated cars and buses. Although some drivers were not aware of who could actually use these lanes, and some of the lanes stopped rapidly in crossings.
Prices in restaurants and hotels went recognisably up. Some Londoners flew abroad to avoid the forecasted traffic on the tube and in and around the city.

I went to Soho on a Sunday and was surprised by the silence in the centre. It was quieter than usual and the waiter said that less customers had come into his restaurant since the Olympics started. Even the hotel branches were complaining. Rooms which had been offered for an average of £210 had been cut in price to £160, although that is still an increase of 75 per cent compared to last year’s rates.
The media exaggerated, mentioning it so often that people were talking about the upcoming traffic problems and citizens tried to find other ways of travelling.

The queue at the UK border at Heathrow was always a nightmare and waiting times too long. This had changed with additional personnel at the counters.
Some celebrities flew anyway into London such as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who decided to dock at Canary Wharf with his “tiny” boat named Octopus. One of the richest men in the country, the Russian owner of Chelsea FC, Roman Abramovich, came one day later with his one-billion dollar yacht.

There was some fury when the media reported that a lot of corporate seats were left empty although there were no more tickets available. This made some people angry as they registered for tickets, but could not get any. Organisers then decided to put them on sale again and made people check the site every evening.
London’s mayor Boris Johnson is always worth a laugh. During an event, celebrating Team GB’s first gold medal and the opening of the zip-wire at Hackney’s Victoria Park, he wanted to try it out, came nice and smoothly down the rope and all seemed to work fine, except the end of his destination when he finally got stuck. He looked like a huge, helpless baby. He is a kind of cartoon figure, is never too serious, always has some jokes and is famous for his ‘wild’ hair look. Many Brits like him as he is different to other mayors and tries to show foreigners why Brits are well known for their sense of humour.
Volunteers were stationed everywhere, in the city and at train stations, handing out maps and helping out visitors with any questions. I found them very helpful and they also seemed very motivated.