The Olympics and Paralympics are well and truly over now and
the city has gone back to its normal pace. Even though I wasn’t looking forward
to it much beforehand, the whole of London had a delightfully international and
sporty atmosphere and I’m glad I was here to see it.
It was great to get a glimpse of the venues, seeing the
games makers around town and watching the opening ceremony on a screen on the
King’s Road. I even managed to get tickets for the GB women’s volleyball game
which gave my Games spirit even a bigger boost.
However in my view, the cherry on the cake was visiting the
Holland Heineken House which had turned Alexandra Palace completely orange for
the duration of the Games. I’d heard much about it, but been to it and this
time, living in an Olympic city, I just had to see what it was all about. And
so I went.
Coming out of the tube at Wood Green, there was an orange
line snaking its way to the busstop where the free shuttle bus, courtesy of the
Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railway) picked us up and ferried us to the palace. Dutch flags
and hard core techno awaited us on board. At the palace itself we tucked into
some friet met, kroketten and of course lots of Heineken beer, while watching
our men’s hockey team lose from Germany. But the defeat was soon forgotten the
minute Dutch crooner Guus Meeuwis appeared on stage and turned the entire hall
into party central. Even former PM JP Balkenende sang along. ( Or so I heard.)
I didn’t take the chance to look around the other ‘houses’
that were set up around London, but I’ve been told that the Dutch one was the
best one. I mean when Belgians claim that the Dutch Olympic house is better
than their own, I think that in itself is proof enough.
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