Olympic Torch

It seems this year my timing has been impeccable.
Preceding and continuing after my arrival, Great Britain has been preparing for the Olympics. (Of course, upon my arrival they took a breather to welcome me!)

The Olympic flame arrived on British soil May 18th to begin its journey 70 day, 8,000 mile tour. It is journey that started on May 19th at Land's End, the most southwesterly point of England in Cornall.The torch relay is due to conclude on June 27th at Olympic Stadium in London. On June 6, the traveled south of Newry in Northern Ireland to Dublin.

Today was Manchester's day to get in on the act. The Torch is currently on day 36. Throughout the course of the morning, the skies opened up and relinquished a bit of English weather, but by 4PM, Mother Nature decided to cooperate. The torch endured cloudy skies, but no rain as it passed through the city centre. Today is the first of two days the torch will spend in the Lancashire city. It arrived via Blackpool and will depart in the morning via Salford as it heads to Leeds.

The Olympic Flame as a tradition was re-introduced in 1928 at the Games in Amsterdam. Since then, the Olympic Torch has been a part of every Olympic Games. I felt it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the flame. Even though it happened so quickly, the runner, the exchange, it was brilliant. Its like being a, 1.0 × 10⁴⁰ part of history and is something I won't forget.

The Olympic Games, London 2012 are only 34 days away!