Tag: london 2012 olympics

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So THAT's How You Fly a Plane Containing the Olympic Torch

May 18, 2012 at 2:53 PM | by | Comments (0)

As we publish this, a British Airways Airbus 319 is setting down at Royal Navy Air Base Culdrose in Cornwall, bringing with it the Olympic Flame straight from Greece.

London 2012 Olympics fever is officially in effect. The torch has landed.

So how does an airline—one that bans smoking onboard—manage to fly a live flame for four hours? Like this, apparently, as British Airways posted a photo to their Instagram account of the flame being buckled into its first row seats onboard the special BA2012 flight. The Olympic flame cannot be extinguished, and yet BA is flying with a fire marshall in the next seat and an extra pilot. You know, just in case.

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Like It or Not, London's New Olympic Tower is Almost Ready for Business

May 16, 2012 at 9:50 AM | by | Comments (0)

If there’s one city around the globe that doesn’t need any more attention—or tourists—this summer it’s got to be London. The UK is throwing a sick anniversary party for the Queen, Will and Kate are doing their thing, and there’s a little sporting event rolling into town as well. Some added excitement comes from the city’s latest addition to the Olympic landscape, and it’s known as the ArcelorMittal Orbit. However, we're just going to call it the Olympic Tower.

Rising almost 400-feet into the sky, the steel sculpture sits right by the Olympic Stadium, so you can kind of use it to find your way while meandering between venues and events in just a couple of months. Obviously the design is causing mixed reactions, especially as some think this could be London’s version of the Eiffel Tower. We’re not going to jump that far, but we’d definitely take a snapshot.

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London's Newest Building Exists for the Sake of Traveling Olympians

April 12, 2012 at 10:12 AM | by | Comments (0)

Everyone knows that London is going to be quite the scene this summer—in both good and bad ways—due to the arrival of the Olympics. Hotels will be hopping, parks will be packed, and transportation will likely be terrible.

"Busy" will be the understatement of the year at London-Heathrow, and that’s especially going to be the case when thousands and thousands of athletes all try to depart from the United Kingdom at the same time. However, there’s a plan and the city and the airport are prepared—at least on paper.

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How to Be the First to Cross the Finish Line at London's 2012 Olympic Stadium

October 3, 2011 at 11:40 AM | by | Comment (1)

It is officially under ten months to go until the 2012 Olympics in London, and finishing touches are being put on various event venues in the run-up to the games. Just today the Olympic Stadium unveiled its track with a lap by World record holder and Paralympic gold medallist Dan Greaves, British Long Jump record holder Chris Tomlinson, and World Championships Bronze medallist Hannah England. Some schoolchildren joined them, but those kids won't be the last "regular people" to cross the finish line before the Olympians next summer...

There's going to be an Olympic Park Run on March 31, 2012 for 5,000 runners to run a 5-mile course ending in the Olympic finish line. It's not a crazy competition, either. Fun and sportsmanship is the name of the game, thus all levels of ability and all ages (over 16) are open to apply, as the runners will be chosen by National Lottery at the end of this month.

You have until October 27, 2011 to enter here.

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British Airways Celebrates One Year to Go Until the 2012 Olympics

July 27, 2011 at 8:47 AM | by | Comments (0)

The day is already more than halfway over in London, and it's a special day to be sure. We're now one year away from the start of the London 2012 Olympics and one of the celebrations is up in the air. Literally.

Although we already showed you the Olympics-themed airplane livery of our (and Concorde's) dreams, reality is that British Airways unveiled their special Olympics livery today with a flight over Olympic Park on its way to New York. It's no Concorde; it's an Airbus A318, BA flight 001 between LCY and JFK (with a brief stop in Shannon, Ireland).

If you watch the video above, you'll realize that the only special thing they've done to this plane to give it some Olympics spirit was put "One Year To Go" on its belly, visible to those on the ground when it's flying low enough, but not visible when it's actually taxiing around airports. Too bad.

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An Up-Close, Exclusive Look at London's Olympic White Water Rafting Course

Where: Station Road, Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, EN9 1AB
July 26, 2011 at 12:14 PM | by | Comments (9)

It's almost exactly one year before the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and what am I doing? Well, squeezing my butt into a wetsuit is the short answer, but the long answer is heading out on the manmade rapids that comprise the Lee Valley White Water Centre just outside of London, for a sampling of what the Olympians will be going through this time next year, and what the adventurous public can experience now.

Did you ever go to an amusement park with little rides for kids that involved a blue track of shallow water with a slow current that lazily propelled round floating rafts until time was up? The Lee Valley White Water Centre is that, for adults, times a zillion, with the addition of major adrenaline rush.

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Will You Eat at the World's Biggest and Busiest McDonald's Next Year?

July 21, 2011 at 12:08 PM | by | Comments (0)


An integral part of a balanced Brit breakfast: the McBacon Roll

We will fully admit to having a favorite McDonald's location in London. It's a little one nearby the Marble Arch tube stop, and it sits on the historic location of infamous gallows used for 500 years...until the world decided to kill people with carbs instead of nooses.

As intriguing as this one is, London is about to get an even more controversial McDs in one year, for the occasion of the 2012 Olympic Games. According to the Guardian, the Olympics McDonald's will be appropriately Olympics-sized:

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The Concorde Olympics Livery That Will Never Be

July 19, 2011 at 4:22 PM | by | Comments (0)

Oh man. We're totally on a roll with finding notable souvenirs this week. Today, in the aisles of a massive tourist shop in the aforementioned town of Llanfair PG, this struck our eye: a Concorde jet model, sporting London 2012 Olympics livery.

This is a unicorn. It is a fairytale, but without a happy ending for the simple fact that no one flies Concordes anymore, and definitely not British Airways, who otherwise could have made this awesome fantasy a reality probably 10 years ago...except London didn't have the Olympics then.

Pink and green...kind of cutesy colors for airplane livery. Regardless, she would have cut a fine line in the skies.

[Photo: Jaunted]

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Well, That Sucked: London 2012 Olympics Ticket Confirmations Went Out Today

May 27, 2011 at 2:05 PM | by | Comment (1)

Ticket reservation results for the London 2012 Olympics came out today and we're pissed. Check your inbox; if you completed your ticket requests before April 22, through the official US ticket distributor CoSport, then you should know by now whether or not you'll be hitting the velodrome, Wembley Stadium, the Aquatics Centre or all three (and more) 427 days from now.

How did you fare? Hopefully better than we did. Going through the approved channels and putting in our request of many different sports at many different ticket pricing levels, only one event was confirmed. And it's (of course) the one we were least excited about! Here's an important question: why was our request for 1 ticket to Canoe Slalom (at a venue outside London, even) denied? It was the most random event we requested and still...no dice.

If you're looking to snag some tickets still, the chances are slimmer than ever, but at least there is a chance. Unsold tickets hit the block on Friday, June 24th, although they are only open to those who attempted to get tickets through CoSport. Maybe we've got a second chance at canoe slalom after all.

Curious to see some stats? We've got 'em:

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London Puts an (Olympic) Ring On It

April 1, 2011 at 11:21 AM | by | Comments (0)

As all the ads on the Tube will tell you—the tickets for the London 2012 Olympics are on sale now and the period for registering for them will close April 26. Naturally the energy of the coming events is already in the air, along with the beginnings of Olympic regalia. St. Pancras International train station in the center of London recently hung the five Olympic rings from their iconic barrel ceiling, the first set of rings to go up in the city.

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London's Underground Stations to Get WiFi Just in Time for the Olympics

March 30, 2011 at 8:31 AM | by | Comments (0)

We still need to get through the Royal Wedding before finalizing our plans for the 2012 Olympics, but if need be, we might be able to plan things on the fly when the fun rolls around next year. London is moving full-speed ahead in preparation for next year’s games, and it looks like Tube stations will also be getting some spit polishing.

Unfortunately the upgrade doesn’t include air conditioning, but they do involve a little bit of technology. The city is attempting to bring WiFi to the London Underground before the 2012 Olympics, which means no more dropped signals on your smartphone when you’re forced to head below street level.

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Buy Your London Olympics 2012 Tea Cozy at Heathrow Airport

Where: London-Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom
March 1, 2011 at 4:23 PM | by | Comments (0)

Excited for the 2012 London Olympics? So is London too, obviously, and they're anxious to start selling all the Made-in-China souvenirs they can. As of today, you don't even have to go into London to shop for stuffed animals that look like the weird mascots Wenlock and Mandeville, or for faux gold medals to bring home. Nope—the London 2012 Olympics store just opened inside of London-Heathrow Airport.

This is actually the flagship 2012 London Olympics giftshop, and is thus the largest. There's plenty £10 tea cozies, £6 velcro fold wallets and £250 gold charms to go around, but if you won't be swinging through LHR anytime soon and are anxious to get your hands on a Wenlock 8-color pen, there's always the online shop.

[Photo: London 2012 e-shop]

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