London 2012

Went to see the new Olympic Park under construction here the other day. Drove over there on the weekend to see what was happening in the east end of London where the Summer Olympics are going to be held in 2012. In just under two-and-a-half years from now.
The Olympics. That was our intended stay-through date.
I can't believe a year has gone by already. I'm hardly settled yet.
Gotta move still. Have hardly enjoyed myself yet.
Back to the Olympics.
Watching the Vancouver Olympics -- and reading how they're coping there -- has brought the London games into focus for us.
You really do wonder why cities put themselves through it.
So we decided to go have a look.
Boy, is there a lot of money swishing around down there in east London, a depressed, immigrant-filled part of the city. We saw all that money pretty clearly, pretty quickly.
Just a massive amount of building. A couple of big stadiums. More than a dozen huge cranes in the sky. A big new mall by the same company that opened one over here in the west side of London a year ago, just after we arrived.
Signs everywhere to Olympic Park already.
Looked pretty advanced to us.
I'm dying to see how this all works out.
If that part of the city will really benefit in the long-term. If the mall will be successful, like the one near us certainly has been, even in this recession. What the Olympic legacy will be for London, as they like to debate here.
We drove round and round awhile, taking it all in, and then ended up on a road that took us to a big entrance -- two of whose gates were already manned -- directing us to different sections of the new Olympic broadcast center.
Hmm. Looked pretty official. Just for one place.
Vancouver is taking a lot of heat for its Olympic perfomance. But when you actually read the stories, they mostly just repeat old news about the luger that got killed before the Games started.
The transportation needs scare me though.
I read somewhere that Vancouver's mayor warned London's mayor to be very careful about that.
They've had trouble with buses from the Olympic venues in Vancouver.
And London's public transport system, while efficient, seems clogged to me already.
It certainly did tonight. When I was reading my Evening Standard (free, thank you, kindly) pushed up against the back door of a carriage. I'm getting better at that.
The Olympics.
Coming soon, really.
In a heartbeat.
Or an eternity.
Depending on the day.