Commonwealth Games
I attended the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony parade along the Yarra river, at Binarrung marr to be exact.
There were tens of thousands of people.. seriously it was choking with pedestrians. The Trams Trains and Buses were all jam packed with people streaming out of them like tiny ants emerging from their nest
Flinders St Station was so packed that they had to declare one-way-lanes to cope with the increased human traffic.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was probably packed with around 100,000 people and there were half that number gathered along the Yarra, most people being residents of Victoria themselves.
Occasionally you'd see the hint of a tourist but it was hard to tell as Melbourne was already so cosmopolitan; you couldn't even tell the difference between an elephant and a rat
I had decided to go down early (which meant 5.00pm, as the games opening was scheduled to begin at 8.30pm) but boy I should have gone earlier. There were people everywhere. You'd never get to see even a turf of grass; someone's ass would have been on it.
The fish on the Yarra were not so impressive. I had the impression that they were a failed attempt to impress people. Come on, multi-coloured lighting and fountains that squirt out in all directions... I'm sure they could have done better than this!
Finally everything started and I could view the scene inside the MCG on one of the two huge displays placed along the Yarra.
The fireworks was unpredictable. I didn't know it would stream out from the top of the buildings in the CBD so I didn't get a clear shot of them. I thought that the action would all be on the river itself so I crept to a spot closest to the river bank, allowing the tree brances to obscure the view of the buildings behind me. When the fireworks finally lit up I wasn't ready to snap them so I missed the shot.
I couldn't take nice pictures but they were quite good none the less. Do check out the pictures on my MSN Space.
I headed home just in time to see the final few minutes of fireworks on the telly... it was beautiful
The Games has begun!
Now I can brag about being there and seeing it LIVE :)
There were tens of thousands of people.. seriously it was choking with pedestrians. The Trams Trains and Buses were all jam packed with people streaming out of them like tiny ants emerging from their nest
Flinders St Station was so packed that they had to declare one-way-lanes to cope with the increased human traffic.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was probably packed with around 100,000 people and there were half that number gathered along the Yarra, most people being residents of Victoria themselves.
Occasionally you'd see the hint of a tourist but it was hard to tell as Melbourne was already so cosmopolitan; you couldn't even tell the difference between an elephant and a rat
I had decided to go down early (which meant 5.00pm, as the games opening was scheduled to begin at 8.30pm) but boy I should have gone earlier. There were people everywhere. You'd never get to see even a turf of grass; someone's ass would have been on it.
The fish on the Yarra were not so impressive. I had the impression that they were a failed attempt to impress people. Come on, multi-coloured lighting and fountains that squirt out in all directions... I'm sure they could have done better than this!
Finally everything started and I could view the scene inside the MCG on one of the two huge displays placed along the Yarra.
The fireworks was unpredictable. I didn't know it would stream out from the top of the buildings in the CBD so I didn't get a clear shot of them. I thought that the action would all be on the river itself so I crept to a spot closest to the river bank, allowing the tree brances to obscure the view of the buildings behind me. When the fireworks finally lit up I wasn't ready to snap them so I missed the shot.
I couldn't take nice pictures but they were quite good none the less. Do check out the pictures on my MSN Space.
I headed home just in time to see the final few minutes of fireworks on the telly... it was beautiful
The Games has begun!
Now I can brag about being there and seeing it LIVE :)
Fell from the sky at 4:18 AM
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