A Day At The Paras

[lupestripe]

Our trip to the Paralympics may have been brief but it was brilliant getting back involved in the London 2012 action. The atmosphere this time was different though, certainly more muted although the Games Makers were doing their sterling best to gee everyone up.

We had booked to stay at the ibis hotel near the ExCeL centre as we had a day pass on Thursday for all of the events there but upon arrival, we discovered the car park was out of bounds and were instructed to go to the Docklands branch to park our car. At £7 for 24 hours this wasn't too bad for London prices then it was just three stops on the DLR back to the ExCeL. However, upon checking in at the ExCeL branch we were then told they were fully booked and we had to be transferred to the Barking branch a further ten minutes east. They paid for the taxi there and back in the morning but it was far less convenient than the ExCeL branch and resulted in us getting five hours sleep plus having to commute through London on rush hour. Why they couldn't tell me initially I don't know.

Anyway, next morning we got to the ExCeL centre before which we grabbed a disappointing and expensive bacon sandwich from a local takeaway. Then we headed inside to catch our ticketed event - boccia - and to see what else we could see with our day pass. As it turned out, everything, as there were spare seats at all events. It's a shame the popularity of the Olympics meant it wasn't possible then but I do feel they could have implemented a one-in one-out policy. But that's by-the-by.

Boccia - This sport is very much like bowls, but was specifically invented for people with cerebral palsy. The aim is to get your balls as close to the jack as possible. For every ball nearer to the jack than your opponent, you get a point so it's a tactical game involved boosting your own chances by spoiling your rival's. We saw three classes - BC2, BC3 and BC4 - all who had differing levels of disability. The quality of the sport on show was exceptional, with excellent accuracy and tactics on display. It was a great watch although the BC3 category, which saw ramps having to be set up by helpers who had their backs turned to the action took some time, was perhaps a little dull.

Sitting Volleyball - This is pretty self-explanatory, the net being 1.15m in height, the court smaller and a point infringement awarded if a player's bum ever leaves the floor. Played by able bodied and players missing limbs, this was a fast paced and exciting sport which was a great watch. The kids who were on their school trip, of which there were many, certainly seemed to think so. We saw Brazil v Slovenia, the fifth and sixth ranked sides, the latter winning in four sets.

Table Tennis - This was the women's team game and there were eight matches ongoing simultaneously. It was difficult to know where to watch so we focused on the plucky Brit who was facing a Turk on court 3. Some of the competitors were in wheelchairs and others had visual impairments thus affecting their movement but the action was frenetic although some of the chav kids in the stands next to me clearly got bored too easily and started playing up.

Wheelchair Fencing - Having seen the fencing at the Olympics, I was surprised how different this was. We saw the men's sabre quarter-finals, different to the foil we saw a month ago. The combatants' wheelchairs are strapped on to the floor so the only dodging you can do involves moving the upper torso. The bout is first to fifteen and we saw the plucky Brit being dispatched by his Hong Kong opponent very quickly.

The delightful Alexfox was also enjoying.a day at the ExCeL so we decided to meet for an overpriced pint, and fish and chips, which I concede were lovely again. The minted mushy peas and the short queue swung fish and chips over pie and mash for me and as we sat on the floor eating, conversation turned to politics and an interesting debate was had. We also expressed our appreciation of Channel 4's The Last Leg show, a friendly piss-take of a program where disabled people were mocking disability. We felt it brought a lot of things out in the open which will be ultimately beneficial regarding people's perceptions.

We also managed to secure evening tickets for the Olympic Park - we couldn't get into any events (despite the evident empty seats) but at least we got to see all the stadia and sample the atmosphere. It was great looking at all the iconic venues in full use ahead of the scaling back of the Park post-London 2012 but the number of corporate experience zones (EDF, Panasonic etc) was a bit tedious.I was reminded of the National Garden Festival in Gateshead in 1990 as we walked around the wetlands area and the beautiful river walk along the River Lea. We caught some of the televised action on the giant Park Live screens and I bought a plush Wenlock and Mandeville from the Megastore, the first shop I have ever queued to get in.

The Orbit was undoubtedly the most striking structure there but it was great seeing the other buildings too, along with the TV centre made out of metal cargo crates and the other places which have featured so heavily on television since mid-July.

On our way there we walked from West Ham tube on the signposted walkway that sadly highlighted one of London's many rundown areas. There was one nice Victorian building but the whole area looked tired when you would have thought gentrification would be paramount. On the way out, in contrast, we went through the new Westfield shopping centre to Stratford station. Sadly this new development contains exactly the same shops as everywhere else, making me wonder what the point of it is, particularly in London where transport is so accessible. All the big brands were there, as you would expect, but absolutely nothing I couldn't get in Leeds. What's the point?

Aside from these political gripes though, the trip was excellent. We managed to escape London quickly, annoyingly driving past the Barking ibis after we had picked our car up from the Docklands one, and were home by midnight which wasn't bad. Tired today though, very tired indeed.

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Comments

[giro-batol.livejournal.com]

The aim is to get your balls as close to the jack as possible

Sorry! Dirty mind!

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Hey! Hands off my balls!! :P

[fionacat.livejournal.com]

Are they still charging £8.10 for a bit of fish and a dozen chips?

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

£8.90 but I thought that was reasonably priced considering the location and circumstances. Plus, it is amongst the nicest fish and chips I have ever tasted. Seriously.