Olympic Village and Hay on Wye

Sorry for the lapse in posts, but we have had a few technical hitches with adding pictures again is sorry but it is words without pictures again.

We had a busy Friday on the last weekend of the main Olympics by spending a day in around the village and stadium. We were unable to get tickets, which was a problem for most people. It would be the only criticism of the entire operation. The tickets were only available on line and because of the volume of demand the website just crashed all the time. It was very frustrating.

However it was great to see the setup and one store had cleverly build a viewing platform so you could get an elevated view of the stadium and village. The shopping centre nearby had been opened since September last year so was quite established and the collection of merchandise was lovely.
We met a young French assistant in the Armani store who was 6'7" so had to get a photo of him making John look like a squirt.

We had lunch at another Jamie Oliver Italian restaurant. They are so so good and sat next to two sports reporters from a newspaper in Brazil. I suggested that we use their ID to get access into the stadium whilst they were having lunch, but they thought there would be a problem with the photo ID part!! They were having a great time, but I think after a month away were looking forward to getting back to their families.

The volunteers, of which there was about 70,000 were absolutely fantastic and apart from the athletes themselves were undoubtedly the stars of the show. The we're easily identified in hot pink and were cheerful, helpful and welcoming. Can you imagine all that from a Pom.

We also went to Hyde Park in the city as there was some free events there and they also had an arena of giant screens where you could watch events taking place.

Upon our return home that afternoon we packed up and drove up to the Welsh border to join John and Barbara Hill. They invited us to stay with them in a cottage owned by Kim, their boss. The cottage is located at a cute village called Hay-on-Wye and sits amid potato and wheat fields. It is on the banks of the River Wye so had delicious views from cute chintzed curtained windows. As you drive in you are in Wales, but by the time you reach the cottage you are back in England, How confusing for paying Rates.

The River is very pretty and quite busy with canoeists, swimmers and people enjoying picnics. Luckily for us too the weather was perfect and warm.

The Village of Hay is renown for secondhand book shops of which there are several and they host a famous annual book fair. We found one shop that specialises in children's books and has wonderful collections of original edition Noddy, TinTin, Enid Blyton, Rupert Bear etc etc, all in beautiful condition. You could totally loose yourself with childhood memories.

We took a drive on the Sunday further into Wales to Powis Castle. This castle is unique as it was built as a home for royals and not for the purposes of defence. As always it is located on the highest hill giving spectacular views. The gardens are very famous and stunning and very photographed. They are cared for to perfection giving the most gorgeous displays of both plant combination and colour. They are famous for their terracing which measures 150m from top to bottom and are some of the finest surviving examples of baroque garden architecture in Britain. The yew hedges have survived over 300 years of clipping.
It is certainly gardening on a grand scale. We met a young kiwi guy who was revisiting the castle and used to live in one of the connected cottages whilst playing rugby for a Welsh team. He took a great photo of the four of us and I will post this when I can sort out the problems.
We came home thoroughly refreshed after having such a lovely break away.

Love and bugs to you all Sue and John