We have been watching the Olympics Opening Ceremony on a big screen at the pool bar. There is a great atmosphere among the happy holidaymakers and although the ceremony is taking place in London, it somehow seems appropriate to be watching it in Greece, the home of the Olympics. I'm not quite sure what to make of it - all in all I liked it. I like that Danny Boyle has tried to make it about all aspects of British culture and what Britain has given to the world but I don't know if all that stuff about the industrial revolution would want to make anyone come to Britain. Kenneth Branagh did a fine job of striding about pretending to be Isambard Kingdom Brunel but I felt a bit embarrassed for him. Then there were a lot of other people walking and dancing about, including Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts club band who seemed a bit incongruous at that point. I enjoyed the James Bond sequence featuring Daniel Craig collecting the Queen from Buckingham Palace and then seeming to parachute out of a helicopter with her! And then she walked along to her seat! It was very well done. After a lot more people capering about in a sequence about children's literature which included Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Voldemort and a reading by J.K. Rowling there was a weird bit with Rowan Atkinson parodying Chariots of Fire. Then we were onto a selection of British music from the 70s, 80s and 90s and Emeli Sandé sang "Abide with me" which didn't seem very celebratory to me, although I realise that it is played at FA Cup finals. Now the teams are coming out and walking round the stadium, I quite like this bit. However we are two hours ahead of British time here in Greece so I am off to bed!
Update on Saturday morning - well apparently the world's media have loved the opening ceremony, and I'm pleased about that.
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