I don't think any of us ever believed this day would actually arrive. After eight years of frenzied activity (and just as much frenzied commentary, including much poking from the regeneration community) we are there. We. Are. There.
Unless you've been in a coma you will know that London 2012 officially opens today. And what a monumental amount we are going to learn over the next few weeks.
The three key questions we will need to answer are, first, were we up to it? Secondly, what will future Olympics Games learn from London 2012? And third, and most important of course, will the central promise of our Olympic bid that a London games would secure a lasting, sustainable and socially inclusive legacy like no other be delivered?
Time will tell. That last question will take 25 years to answer, the second four to eight years at least, but we'll probably know the answer to the first in about three weeks.
So are we up to it? Er... well London certainly seems a bit schizophrenic this week in the run up. Part huge excitement (this is a picture of me and Gill Marshall, UKR Head of Love and Laughter, having... er... Knickerbocker Glories to celebrate the Olympics yesterday afternoon) and part trepidation.
The trepidation hinges on issues of security (helicopters whirr in a sinister fashion overhead) and of course the ever-present worry about our fragile transport infrastructure.
Big pink signs have appeared like a rash all over London underground stations directing folk to Olympics venues.
And groups of happy peeps with HUGE accreditation badges slung on lanyards have around their necks have appeared blundering about, and do not seem to mind at all braving the heat and dust of the tube, and trying to make sense of the Harry Beck tube map.
And, rather spookily, when you are minding your own business on the 73 bus, out of the blue you are prone to get a jaunty recording of the Mayor of London imploring you to "plan ahead".
The roads are the major headache of course. But it might be OK. I was on duty to ferry the Octogenarian Mother to Euston at the crack of dawn on Wednesday. Planning ahead, as Boris is continually urging, we had left plenty of time to sit on the A40 but even though TfL had put up (four!) notices saying "All traffic use Games Lanes" nobody would budge from the non-Games Lane. I guess the British will always choose a queue!
Hilariously, I zipped along the ZIL lane in record time (although, for insurance, I did take a photo of one of the TfL notices and swore my mother in as a witness) and, as a result, the OM was an hour-and-a-half early for her train and no end pleased that she was "one of the first VIPs" to use the Lane.
So, not only do the good folk at TfL have the anxiety of the peccadilloes of the London system, but they also have to combat the herding instinct of the British driver. It might be chaos. Although my sense is that people will be patient.
But finally, just to remind you that normal service will soon be resumed very soon, here is another vignette from Tower Hamlets (I know I promised not to go there again but I can't help it).
In the run up to the East End hosting the Greatest Show on Earth, there was a story in Tuesday's edition of the Evening Standard on the "banning" of hanging baskets from a council estate as a "fire hazard".
A housing spokesman said "Tower Hamlets Homes has a responsibility to keep the communal areas of blocks safe. We recognize that some residents feel we have been over zealous."
Oh no, surely not? Of course the hilarious sting in the tail is the fact that the hanging baskets were there as a result of a "Tower Hamlets in Bloom" competition, run by Tower Hamlets council!
You couldn't make it up could you? Do enjoy the fun and games. Don't, whatever you do, drive into central London.
Time will tell. That last question will take 25 years to answer, the second four to eight years at least, but we'll probably know the answer to the first in about three weeks.
So are we up to it? Er... well London certainly seems a bit schizophrenic this week in the run up. Part huge excitement (this is a picture of me and Gill Marshall, UKR Head of Love and Laughter, having... er... Knickerbocker Glories to celebrate the Olympics yesterday afternoon) and part trepidation.
The trepidation hinges on issues of security (helicopters whirr in a sinister fashion overhead) and of course the ever-present worry about our fragile transport infrastructure.
Big pink signs have appeared like a rash all over London underground stations directing folk to Olympics venues.
And groups of happy peeps with HUGE accreditation badges slung on lanyards have around their necks have appeared blundering about, and do not seem to mind at all braving the heat and dust of the tube, and trying to make sense of the Harry Beck tube map.
And, rather spookily, when you are minding your own business on the 73 bus, out of the blue you are prone to get a jaunty recording of the Mayor of London imploring you to "plan ahead".
The roads are the major headache of course. But it might be OK. I was on duty to ferry the Octogenarian Mother to Euston at the crack of dawn on Wednesday. Planning ahead, as Boris is continually urging, we had left plenty of time to sit on the A40 but even though TfL had put up (four!) notices saying "All traffic use Games Lanes" nobody would budge from the non-Games Lane. I guess the British will always choose a queue!
Hilariously, I zipped along the ZIL lane in record time (although, for insurance, I did take a photo of one of the TfL notices and swore my mother in as a witness) and, as a result, the OM was an hour-and-a-half early for her train and no end pleased that she was "one of the first VIPs" to use the Lane.
So, not only do the good folk at TfL have the anxiety of the peccadilloes of the London system, but they also have to combat the herding instinct of the British driver. It might be chaos. Although my sense is that people will be patient.
But finally, just to remind you that normal service will soon be resumed very soon, here is another vignette from Tower Hamlets (I know I promised not to go there again but I can't help it).
In the run up to the East End hosting the Greatest Show on Earth, there was a story in Tuesday's edition of the Evening Standard on the "banning" of hanging baskets from a council estate as a "fire hazard".
A housing spokesman said "Tower Hamlets Homes has a responsibility to keep the communal areas of blocks safe. We recognize that some residents feel we have been over zealous."
Oh no, surely not? Of course the hilarious sting in the tail is the fact that the hanging baskets were there as a result of a "Tower Hamlets in Bloom" competition, run by Tower Hamlets council!
You couldn't make it up could you? Do enjoy the fun and games. Don't, whatever you do, drive into central London.
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