Olympics Blog Index
August 24, 2008
Spectacular closing

Well, the Closing Ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympics didn't disappoint anyone.

Spectacular, stunning, exhilerating.

Anna Goodale, the gold medal-winning rower from Camden, said, simply, "All I know is that it was absolutely spectacular.''

Now I don't want to give away too much, so I won't say too much beyond showing you some photos.

But things you should know:

Yes David Beckham is/was there (he was also at the U.S. men's gold medal basketball victory earlier, drawing huge cheers when his face showed up on the scoreboard). I guess you could say we were hanging out together in Beijing.

So is/was Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. And British pop star Leona Lewis. What a duet!

And a double-decker bus.

And a human tower.

And upside-down drummers.

Got your interest?

Well, then, here are some photos:

Security was tight, starting two blocks away. And these guards were ever-vigilant:

soldier_400x533.shkl.jpg

Maybe I just miss home too much. But as I was walking, I looked down and, boy, does this stone on the ramp leading to the stadium look like Maine or what?

rock_400x300.shkl.jpg

You know me with mascots. Here's Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini:

mascots_400x300.shkl.jpg

We started with a bang. Fireworks, what else?

start_400x300.shkl.jpg

Yes, those drummers are suspended, some upside-down, over more drummers:

drummers_400x300.shkl.jpg

The flags of over 200 nations circle the platform in the middle of the stadium:

flags_400x300.shkl.jpg

Then the athletes came out:

athletes_400x300.shkl.jpg

London made its appearance with this double-decker bus, a common site on its streets. Wait till you see what it turns into and who comes out:

bus_400x300.shkl.jpg

Yep, him. Becks, I call him. You know him as soccer great David Beckham. This is as close as I got to him, though.

beckham_400x300.shkl.jpg

At 9:25 p.m. Beijing time, the Olympic flame went out:

flameout_400x300.shkl.jpg

This tower is people, acrobats, wonderful to watch:

peopletower_400x533.shkl.jpg

From the tower, this ribbon rose into the night:

ribbons_400x300.shkl.jpg

And the night ended with more fireworks:

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That's it folks. Hope you enjoy watching the Closing Ceremonies. And I hope you enjoyed my words and photos from the other side of the globe.

Next time I talk to you, I'll be back in Maine.

Zai jian.

That's good-bye in Chinese.


Posted at 12:21 PM

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Comments

wow

Posted by sh
August 25, 2008 04:18 PM

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