Even though we are now in the single digits when it comes to the countdown, the torch continues on its journey. I’m sorry to say though, that this will be one of my last updates from the relay. As the torch’s journey near its end and approaches London, my excitement is building for what’s ahead at the upcoming and highly anticipated Olympic Games. Throughout the torch’s journey, I’ve been struck by the fact that even towards the relay’s end people have come out, regardless of the weather, to see the torch pass by. Even her majesty Queen Elizabeth II has seen it! Regardless of whether they’re commoners or royalty, they’ve all been happy and thrilled to see the torch, which was lit in Greece and has gone on this journey around the host nation on it’s way to London for the upcoming games. So, here’s what the torch has been up to lately. Onward!

Day 48- The Olympic Flame travels through 17 communities on its journey from Norwich to Ipswich, carried by 115 Torchbearers.

Day 49-The Olympic Flame is carried through 14 communities by 138 Torchbearers and visits Hadleigh Farm on its journey from Ipswich to Chelmsford.

Day 50-The Olympic Torch Relay as the Flame travels from Chelmsford to Cambridge. Jamie Oliver and Olympian Iwan Thomas were two of 117 Torchbearers on the day, which included a white water rapids experience at Lee Valley.

Day 51-The Flame travels in a punt (flat bottomed boat) on its journey from Cambridge to Luton.

Day 52-The Flame visits Bletchley Park and Blenheim Palace on its way to Oxford.
Bletchley Park

Day 53-Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh welcome the Olympic Flame to Windsor and Sir Roger Bannister, Sir Steve Redgrave, Denise Lewis and Frankie Dettori are amongst the Torchbearers as the Flame travels from Oxford to Reading.

Day 54-On day 54 of the Olympic Torch Relay, 120 inspirational Torchbearers carried the Flame as it traveled 105.35 miles on its journey from Reading to Salisbury.

Day 55-The Olympic Flame sets off at dawn from Stonehenge and makes its way to Weymouth.

Day 56- The Olympic Flame travels from Weymouth through the spectacular coastal scenery of Dorset, ending its day in Bournemouth.
“This special piece of Dorset’s coast, will be the Olympic sailing host. The world will come and see our place at each and every sailing race.”

Day 57- The Olympic Flame crosses the Solent to the Isle of Wight, rides a chairlift and visits Osbourne House.

Day 58-The Flame travels from Southampton to Jersey and Guernsey, ending the day in Portsmouth.

Day 59- The Olympic Flame visits Cass Sculpture Park and Arundel Castle on its journey from Portsmouth to Brighton and Hove.

Day 60- The Olympic Flame takes in some of the breathtaking coastline of the South East as it travels from Brighton and Hove to Hastings.

Day 61- The Flame travels from Hastings to Dover, going through part of the Channel Tunnel along the way.

So, the relay continues with almost one week to go until the games kick off and the torch is lit. I will be sure to notify you as it reaches London and takes the final steps towards the opening ceremony of The Games of the 30th Olympiad. LONDON HERE WE COME!! WE’RE ALMOST THERE!!

Well, here we are. In only a few more short weeks the Olympic Torch will arrive in London for the start of the Games of the 30th Olympiad. Even now, the torch continues on its way towards the capital. With only 20 days until the games begin, the excitement continues to grow throughout the entire United Kingdom and the world is taking notice of the upcoming games too. It’s that time of the four years again. The Olympics are almost here! So, here are some highlights from the torch relay’s continuing journey through England on the way to the city of London and its final destination on July 27th!

Day 41: The Torch Relay the Olympic Flame travels 100 miles and is carried by 107 Torchbeareres as it visits Lincoln Cathedral and Sherwood Forest.

Day 42: The Olympic Flame travels on the Heights of Abraham cable car and visits Chatsworth House on its journey from Nottingham to Derby.

Day 43: The Flame traveled 79 miles between Derby and Birmingham.

Day 44: The Flame visits Shakespeare’s birthplace on its journey from Birmingham to Coventry.

Day 45:The Flame travels 100.95 miles from Coventry to Leicester and visits Foxton Locks and Coventry Cathedral.

Day 46: 100 Torchbearers carry the Flame to Rutland Water and Burghley House as it journeys to Peterborough.

Day 47: The Olympic Flame travels 127 miles and is carried by 124 Torchbearers, including Olympians Goldie Sayers and Kate Walsh, on its journey to Norwich.

We now have less then one month before the London 2012 Games officially begin!! I wonder who the first medalists will be! Anyway, the torch continues to travel through England in route to London. I haven’t updated you in a while about the flame’s travels. So here are some highlights from days 33 through 40 of the Olympic Torch Relay:

Day 33- The Olympic Flame travels on the Scots Guardsman steam engine and visits the Aysgarth Falls and North Yorkshire Moors National Park on its journey from York to Carlisle.
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Day 34- The Olympic Flame travels 121 miles on a journey from Dumfries in Scotland to Bowness-on-Windermere in the Lake District

Day 35-The Flame travels from Kendal to Blackpool where the current Strictly Come Dancing champions, Harry Judd and Aliona Vilani, light a celebration cauldron in the ballroom of Blackpool Tower.

Day 36- The Flame starts the day in Lytham St Anne’s before being carried by 164 Torchbearers to Manchester, where Sir Chris Hoy was one of the last Torchbearers of the day.

Day 37-The Olympic Flame travels 121 miles and is carried by Torchbearers including Sir Bobby Charlton and Shanaze Reade during its journey from Manchester to Leeds.

Day 38-Day 38 saw the Olympic Flame travel from Leeds to Sheffield, taking in Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Sheffield Children’s Hospital during the day’s 76 mile journey.

Day 39-On Day 39 of the Torch Relay 130 Torchbearers carry the Flame as it travels 77 miles before it arrives in Cleethorpes for the evening celebration.

Day 40-On Day 40 the Olympic Flame journeys from Grimsby Docks to Lincoln including an abseil down the side of the Royal Dock Tower in Grimsby.

It’s important to note that the people who are carrying the torch aren’t famous. They’re simply everyday people who in some way, shape or form have inspired whatever community they live in. I think it’s very moving that among the athletes and others that have carried the torch, there are some who have disabilities or are in wheelchairs. They’re there for the same reason as the others: to help get the Olympic flame to London for the games. Some have hobbled, slowly walked or hopped with the flame in one hand. I hope someone out there reading this agrees with me that those people are truly inspirational and deserve every bit of attention and admiration as the world’s celebraties and notable people. I suppose there is only thing left to say here: Onward!

Oh, before I forget, the Olympic Rings have been popping up across the entire UK as preparations for the games continue. The latest set is hanging from Tower Bridge in London. Other rings are located in each host nation’s capital, Heathrow Airport’s terminal for foreign arrivals and St. Pancras train station. Kew Gardens also planted flowers in the shape of the rings. The rings will be visible to incoming planes headed to Heathrow. Check out these pictures! The excitement is building for the games of the 30th Olympiad. See in a month London!

St. Pancras Station

Heathrow Airport

Tower Bridge

The torch is in England now as I’ve said in previous posts. Here are some highlights from it’s journey across the country. Welcome to England!

Day 28- the Olympic Flame travels 64.15 miles on its journey from Alnwick to Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Day 29- The Olympic Flame visits the Angel of the North and Hadrian’s Wall on its journey from Gateshead to Durham

Day 30-The Flame from Middlesbrough to Hull, visiting the Humber Bridge and travelling on the North York Moors Railway along the way.

Day 31- The Flame travelled from Middlesborough to Hull, including a trip on the North York Moors Railway and a special proposal for one member of the crowd

Day 32-The Olympic Flame travels from Hull to York. Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice welcomes the Flame as it visits Harewood House and Harvey Smith, the last Torchbearer of the day, carries the Flame through York Racecourse.

I hope that you enjoyed this update on the torch’s progress. I’ll be sure to do another one of these in a matter of days. I can see, even now, as the flame continues onward towards London that energy and enthusiasm from the games is growing and will be at fever pitch when the games come to town in a few short weeks. Onward!

Hey everyone! Sorry there hasn’t been a post about the progress of the torch lately. As my previous post said, it has journeyed through Scotland. So, here’s a brief recap of the visit and what’s happened before and since the relay began. This includes the lighting ceremony in Olympia of course. Now of course it’s left Scotland and is heading through England in route to London and being lit at the Olympic Games in July! It won’t be long at all now! Onward!

Since my last relay update the torch has done some traveling. From Ireland it’s visited the Shetland and Orkney Islands. These groups of islands are located off the coast of Scotland. From the islands, it has gone through Scotland and visited places like the capital of Edinburgh, along with the city of Glasgow and various Scottish landmarks. Notable torchbearers on the Scottish part of the journey included actor James McAvoy. He described the upcoming games as the “Great British Olympics” and said they’ve been able to “bring people together in a nothing but positive way” The flame also crossed the waters of Loch Ness on it’s journey through Scotland. Its most famous resident, the legendary monster did not make an appearance though.

At this point in the relay,the flame has crossed the Scottish border has returned to English soil. The English will pay host the final leg of the Olympic Torch Relay. Beginning in the Northern part of England, the flame will be carried to London and continue to light the way towards the games. It has visited places such as Hadrian’s Wall, which was built by the ancient Romans on the border with Scotland. It also visited the Angel of the North sculpture and various English towns along the northern route. One of the torchbearers even proposed to his girlfriend during his time with the torch. Even as the flame travels through England, organizers are already thinking ahead to when it reaches London in only a few short weeks at the end of July.

Organizers have said that when the flame reaches London it will visit the landmarks of the capital. These places include, of course, Buckingham Palace. The torch will also visit 10 Downing Street, the home of the Prime Minister and St. Paul’s Cathedral. It will also visit the many boroughs of the city, which are historical sites themselves. The flame will end it’s day in London before the opening ceremony at a concert in Hyde Park. As the torch progresses I’ll be sure to notify you when all of this happens. We still have alot more the English part of the relay to get through though before it arrives in the host city on July 27th.

So, like I’ve always said, onward to London 2012!

*I’ve been busy so I’m sorry that there hasn’t been a post for awhile. I’ll be putting up more about Scotland and the beginning of the journey through England later on.

The Olympic Torch has been making it’s way through the United Kingdom for a week now. It made it’s way from Athens and Greece, to Cornwall and along the English coast in it’s first few days. Now, it’s heading through Wales. It’s currently in the Welsh capital city of Cardiff. Here are some highlights from it’s journey so far. I’ve also included additional video of the Welsh visit!

Highlights from Week 1!

Highlights from the flame’s time in Wales. Creoso i Gymru Olympic Flame!

As you know, the Olympic torch has been given to organizers and officials from London 2012 and representatives from the host nation. Lord Sebastian Coe, the chairman of the organizing committee and a former Olympian himself, jokingly said that they had brought the suitably British weather to the stadium for the rainy ceremony. “The torch is a resounding call for the best athletes of their generation” Lord Coe said as he enthuiastically welcomed the torch into British hands. Lord Coe also said that “For eight days our two countries have been symbolically connected.” Her Royal Majesty Princess Anne was given the torch after it was lit in the stadium. The final torchbearers were Chinese gymnast Li Ning. Li Ning was the final torchbearer and had the honor of lighting the cauldron for the start of the games of 2008 which were in Beijing, China. He was accompanied by Pyros Dimas of Greece. Now, the torch is finally in Britain after being flown aboard a golden plane called The Firefly.

The torch’s first stop was Cornwall in south west of England where it was lit on British soil for the first time by David Beckham. The soccer (or perhaps I should say “football”) star was actually given the title of Sir at the handover ceremony even though he has never been made a knight. Anyway, the torch has finally started its journey across the United Kingdom. It will remain in Cornwall until tomorrow, May 19th when it travels along the southern English coast from Lands End, where the relay will begin. It will eventually end up in Plymouth. That will conclude the first day of the tour.

As the torch makes it’s way around Great Britain, I will be sure to notify you about its progress. If it visits a major city, landmark, or notable town I will be sure to tell you. That’s what this whole “Tracking the Torch” thing is all about. I hope you enjoy and learn something about the place the torch is on a given day. I’ll try to update you occasionally. Jolly good! Cheerio for now Olympic flame!

*Due to time differences in the United Kingdom, the updates I give may be a bit wonky as they say there. This means for one thing that the torch may have already left the area I say it is in by the time I update you. I’ll do my best though!

The Olympic flame has finally reached the Olympic city of Athens! London 2012 will take over with the relay tomorrow when Greece transfers the flame to games organizers. The handover ceremony will take place in the Panathinaiko (Panathenaic) Stadium. This stadium was home to the very first modern games back in 1896. The stadium was also where the archery competition took place and where the marathon ended during the second time Athens hosted in 2004. A delegation of repesentatives from the host nation, including David Beckham and Princess Anne will recieve the torch. The flame will then go from Athens on a golden airplane called The Firefly. It will eventually up at Land’s End where it’s 70 day journey will begin. The first torchbearer will be British sailor and three time Olympic gold medalist Ben Ainslie. The excitement for the torch relay is building across the United Kingdom, which can only mean one thing: the Olympics will soon be upon us. The light of the flame will soon light the way to The Games of the 30th Olympiad in the city of London!

It’s official: the Olympic torch has been lit at Olympia in Greece. It will spend eight days traveling around Greece, the ancient birthplace of the games. Before it reaches Athens, the flame will visit such places as the island of Crete and the Peloponnese, Greece’s southern coastal region as well as notable ancient sites and landmarks around the country. All of Greece, including Olympia, is feeling the strains of a financial crisis that has plagued the country for years now. Despite this, the Olympic flame carried on it’s way after being lit in a ceremony on May 10th. I think that’s part of the beauty and power of the Olympic Games: to be able to continue dispite all the trouble and strife that’s in the world today. The flame will arrive in Athens and be transferred to the organizing committee for London 2012 on May 17th. I’ll be sure to post and notify you when it reaches Athens. Goodbye for now Olympic flame! See you in Athens! Then on to the UK where your real journey begins!

(To get a better idea of the torch’s route through Greece, click the map)