Friday 10th August 2012

It is Monday and I’m in sunny Denmark. No, really, it is sunny, and warm. At this rate all things we come to rely on will be revealed as lies.

Yes, I am in Denmark, it is half nine local time and I’m trying to watch the Olympic coverage on the local TV station. Or it be Norwegian. There really is no way of being sure. It’s the women’s 400m hurdles semi-finals, and not sure who is winning. The women’s pole vault is also under way, but the Brit is already out.

So to yesterday, and six golds for team GB including the men’s single tennis as Andy Murray thrashed Roger Federer in straight sets, but then only won the silver in the mixed doubles. Only.

More gold in the sailing, cycling and elsewhere. I know I should be more accurate, but I can’t. Maybe another in the rowing too….

Today, more gold in the team showjumping and maybe more this evening. 18 gold so far, and 39 medals in all.

Also last night was the men’s 100m, and Mr Bolt thrashed the field putting to rest all the doubts about is form. Now he goes for the 200m. And who’s going to bet against him? Not me for sure…..

Up at quarter to five this morning, and out of the house by half past to be at the station to cat ch the train to Ashford. Change onto the Javelin to Stratford and only to be met by half a dozen armed police officers. I thought I paid that library fine….

Most were off to the Olympic Park, or course, but I made my way onto the DLR and onto the airport, and sat and watched the TV and actually getting a drink or food with just two people serving was asking too much. It was wonderful flying out over London, we did not see the OLypic park, but I got a good look along the Thames at the cruiseliners and warships at anchor.

We flew out along the Thames and along the north Kent coast. I saw the turbines of Thanet and the workboats; amazing that I know people on those toy looking boats. And over France into Germany and down into Frankfurt to change planes.

IN a bid to save £200 on the direct filght with BA, we now have to fly indirect, just the one flight a day, which means losing a day at the beginning and end of the trip due to travel, so only getting three productive days out of me this week. Some might say that is an improvement on normal….

So a dash across the airport to get to the gate only for a bus to take me back next to the aircraft I arrived on. And up in the air again, and over north Germany to Denmark and land a Billund to meet with the other auditor. A quick brunch before we leave the airport and off into the Danish countryside to Randers. Pronounced Ranis.

And that is it. I am full of Danish beer and wondering if I should go to bed as I have to meet Graeme at half six for a quick breakfast and off to work…

Phew.

Dateline: 7th August, Randers Denmark.

Six days left in the Olympic Games and Team GB is sitting third in the medal tables with 18 gold medals, just one behind the total for the whole of the Beijing games four years ago. And today there is the possibility of more medals and maybe golds too. Thankfully I can read reports here on the bBC website, and watch many events on the Danish and Norwegian channels on TV. That they are obviously in a different language, and focus on the events they are going to be good at, for example, handball, means it is a different Olympic experience here.

At home the BBC has pledged to cover EVERY event on TV, via the red button on the digital TV, which we all have now as the analogue signals were turned off last week. Which means we can watch handball, trampolining, swimming, etc, live and with expert commentary. It really has been wonderful and very addictive. And so not to have it makes the sports addict in me suffer from withdrawals……

In a surprise move, the sun has been shining since we arrived, and from what I understood of the forecast this morning, even more sunshine is due to arrive here for Thursday and Friday. Denmark, I think, has suffered even worse than the UK has with rain this summer, and flying in yesterday I could see most fields either under water of brown with mud.

Randers, Denmark: 8th August 2012.

The Olympics continue, with coverage at time across 5 channels on my hotel room TV. Not sure if all are Danish TV, but it is pretty good coverage, even if it is heavy on the handball coverage which is a huge sport here. I think the competition finishes at the weekend, and it building well with the semi-finals on Friday already being looked forward to by my friend, Jesper. Oh yes, Mr J, more about him later; but frst some headlines from the BBC webpage:

“Sir Chris Hoy claimed a sixth Olympic gold medal to become the most successful British Olympian of all time. Having won gold on the first night of the track cycling in the men's team sprint, Hoy's triumph in the keirin was the perfect finale for Team GB. Hoy's six golds take him past rowing great Sir Steve Redgrave's five. And with a silver from Sydney 2000 as well, he equals Bradley Wiggins's record total of seven medals.

Britain's Laura Trott won a superb second gold medal of the Games with victory in the women's omnium. Having claimed gold in the women's team pursuit on Saturday, she is now a double Olympic and world champion at just 20 years of age.

Victoria Pendleton was denied a fairytale farewell on the track as she lost her Olympic sprint title to Australia's Anna Meares. Pendleton won race one of the three-leg final against Australia's Meares by 0.001 seconds but was disqualified for riding out of the sprinting lane. The Briton - the defending champion - tried to hit back in race two. But a stunning Meares finish gave her a 2-0 win and left Pendleton with silver.

Britain's Alistair Brownlee won a brilliant Olympic triathlon gold as younger brother Jonny took bronze. The elder Brownlee, injured for the first half of the year, went away on the 10km run and crossed the line with a union jack draped over his shoulders to delight a huge Hyde Park crowd.

Great Britain won a 20th gold medal of London 2012 inside the dressage arena, surpassing Beijing 2008 for the team's best tally in more than a century. Laura Bechtolsheimer, Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin took team gold ahead of Germany inside Greenwich Park.”

Phew.

That all takes the Team GB gold medal total to 22, the highest number since the London Olympics in 1908. Cue 22 carat gold headlines in some of the redtops.

I didn’t watch much action yesterday, as after work I went out with Jesper for dinner and then to a ‘British’ pub for a few drinks. Randers is deathly quiet on a Tuesday night, with just a few folks walking around. It took about 10 minutes to walk the deserted streets to the small square where Jesper thought we should have a burger. We both ordered the HOT burger and a coffee beer each too. Yes, coffee beer, and it was wonderfully dark and strong. After eating we had another of the beers just to make sure it was as good as the first.

It was.

And then another 5 minute walk to the pub and from the open door I heard the sounds of Rainbow’s ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, my kind of place. We had a couple of Leffes and a couple of Hoegaardens, the later ones with either a whisky or schnapps chaser. Across the bar, there was a couple of TVs showing the games, and I know I watched some of the athletics, but I can’t remember what and nor who won. The trio of loud and very drunk girls who were in the bar when we arrived had been thrown out, and thought that Jesper was an undercover policeman and so kept walking by shouting what I guess was obscenities through the open door. Classy. Not that it upset us or put us off our drinks.

And then it was time to go home, or back to the hotel, anyway.

And my head was spinning first thing, but has settled down now, and I begin to write my audit reports….

More later.

Randers, Denmark 9th August.

Here I am, last night in the hotel and waiting for the 200m final to start. I am watching the games in Dansih.

Or Swedish.

Or Norwegian.

Or even Finnish.

Who knows, the pictures are all the same. Waiting to see if Mt Bolt can add the 200m to his 100m and do the double.

Again.

In other news, Britain has won 2 more gold medals today, in women’s boxing and showjumping. In total that is now 24, and we have over-performed. Which is good. Morrissey is complaining about the jingoism. He would of course. How could you not cheer on your own country? Maybe it’s the LA air that does it to his brain. Still love the music, Moz, just don’t speak between the songs, OK?

And sunshine in Denmark. Proper wall the wall endless sunshine and no rain at all oh no oh no. Its even too warm in the office, which is hard to believe. Biggest day or work today, 5 audits, and now I have to write the reports. Tomorrow is a day or travelling to get back home. We cannot take direct flights anymore as the company wants to save €80 by using a hub, but does mean that a ahlf days travel is now a whole day and in a week they lose two days work off everyone who travels this way. I would say the time now lost is worth a lot more than €80, but hey, it looks good, right. And the CEO has cancelled his executive jet, so we’re all in this together?

After dinner last night, Graeme and I went for a walk around town. There is the town festival being set up, so we looked that the extra works of art being put up along with the tents for the beer sellers and other wonderful things like kebabs and other dirty food. We ended up walking over an old railway bridge, and then along the the harbourside as the sun went down. It was rather nice, and so I carried on taking shots as the 50mm f1.4 just was able to keep getting results.

Tonight, before dinner, I walked looking for churches, but found the sun in the wrong position and me not having the wide angle with me. I still got some nice shots and then met Graeme for HOT burger and coffee beer again. Just as good, and we were able to sit outside and eat. Lovely.

And in London now, the skies darken and the athletes are now getting ready for the 200m, the anticipation in the crowd rises, as we all think we’re about to watch something special.

And Bolt wins. 2 hundredths of a second outside the Olympic record…..

Time for bed