As I was heading downstairs I ran into a couple people from my group so we all went together. It was a longer ride so it was more fun. But I was listening to Emily's story and we managed to miss our stop so at the next stop we hopped off and hoped on the southbound tube to get back and then switched lines. It was an easy fix and knowing the tubes makes it a lot easier, and we still had plenty of time. We managed to be the first ones to get there actually.
Main stadium, 85,000 seats
The Olympic Walk was...interesting to say the least. I really enjoyed getting to see the progress and the different sites. We literally only could see the area from a viewing platform though. Something most of us from the group didn't enjoy was extensive information about the area. Although some of the facts the guide told us were interesting, we were bored after awhile. So the tour was so, so.
Some interesting things I did remember was that the Olympics is costing London 9 billion pounds (about 15 billion dollars). But 1/3 of it is contributed to a legacy which means that a lot of what they are building will stay there after the Olympics are over in order to help develop the area into a better living environment. For instance the large main stadium has 85,000 seats but afterwards it will be reduced down to 25,000 because a lot of the buildings were built to be dismounted afterwards. Then following the Olympics a school will be built to help students excel at athletics and fine arts. The Olympics is also doing a green campaign and they are doing quite well with it. In order to not cause a lot of emission 51% of the building material was brought in by rail car or by boats. Also, they were able to create 408 apprenticeship so far for actual people living in the area. This means they would teach them a skill like plumbing or electrical and then give them a job so that after the games they have skills that will help them down the road.
They had some big plans for the games and they are carrying them out quite well. London was originally supposed to host the games in 2005, but after the tube bombings they did not. So then they started working on a plan for the future and they managed to secure the bid for 2012, but they have been doing various phases since 2006 in order to prepare for it. Everything is quite impressive and I think the Olympics will be awesome next year, little less than a year away, and it will be a huge help to the surrounding around in helping it grow.
After the walk we headed back to the dorm and then our group all hung out in the common room downstairs for a bit, which was pretty fun because we got to spend some more time really getting to know each other. Then we headed off to bed.
Tomorrow I will be going on a walk, Royal London and Westminster Abbey. Then I will check out the Arsenal stadium and get my stuff together for our day trip to Oxford on Saturday.
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