Let Ghe Games Begin!
For those of you who know me, you will agree that I'm not one to make a mountain out of a mole-hill (or not!) but it has taken me this long to write about the opening ceremony because every time I thought about it up until now, a mysterious lump kept appearing in my throat and goose-bumps spread over my arms like a rash.
Before going into specifics about the ceremony itself, let me try to convey the emotional rollercoaster I had from the moment I arrived into the Maracana Stadium - Brazilian football's Mecca - until the final firework faded in the deluge of rain upon the ceremony's conclusion.
If possible, think back to what it might have been like as a child, waiting for your birthday. Then add to that the excitement that would build as soon as the calendar said 'December', meaning Christmas was getting closer. Combine THAT with Christmas Day. Add to all of that excitement every happy ending from all of the movies you've seen and the sheer determination to will people on like in 'The Little Engine That Could'. The double it. It's taken me hours to think about that description, but I hope it comes close to giving you an idea of what it was like to be there. I hope the TV coverage managed to show at least some that.
Introduce a little Brazilian Samba party flair, a firework display to light up the world, a beautiful woman dancing with a robot, a flying wheelchair, controversial politicians and 79,000 bonkers Brazilians, welcome to the 15th Paralympic Games opening ceremony.
We were treated like royalty at the ceremony. All ITOs were deemed to be VIPs and as such we had full access of the lounge with free food, drinks, ice-creams and quite possibly some of the best seats in the house - 10 rows from the front of the stadium floor.
One particular highlight for me was when images of certain Paralympic sports were pushed through a box of bars - their movement animated the image which was very clever indeed.
See some highlights here:
Before going into specifics about the ceremony itself, let me try to convey the emotional rollercoaster I had from the moment I arrived into the Maracana Stadium - Brazilian football's Mecca - until the final firework faded in the deluge of rain upon the ceremony's conclusion.
If possible, think back to what it might have been like as a child, waiting for your birthday. Then add to that the excitement that would build as soon as the calendar said 'December', meaning Christmas was getting closer. Combine THAT with Christmas Day. Add to all of that excitement every happy ending from all of the movies you've seen and the sheer determination to will people on like in 'The Little Engine That Could'. The double it. It's taken me hours to think about that description, but I hope it comes close to giving you an idea of what it was like to be there. I hope the TV coverage managed to show at least some that.
Introduce a little Brazilian Samba party flair, a firework display to light up the world, a beautiful woman dancing with a robot, a flying wheelchair, controversial politicians and 79,000 bonkers Brazilians, welcome to the 15th Paralympic Games opening ceremony.
We were treated like royalty at the ceremony. All ITOs were deemed to be VIPs and as such we had full access of the lounge with free food, drinks, ice-creams and quite possibly some of the best seats in the house - 10 rows from the front of the stadium floor.
One particular highlight for me was when images of certain Paralympic sports were pushed through a box of bars - their movement animated the image which was very clever indeed.
See some highlights here:
Other things worthy of a mention include seeing Christ the Redeemer for the first time on the way to the stadium and also how the last leg (pun intended) of the journey get like being on set of The Hunger Games. In our procession of buses, the closer we got to the stadium the more armed security forces there were. All roads were closed to public traffic, we had a police escort to the bus drop off point and on every single bridge, junction and spread every 20 metres or so were pairs of heavily armed guards. From our bus, we managed to get a smile or wave from a couple of them, but on the whole, I felt that it might not be the best idea to try and engage with them!
Seeing the flame lit in the absolute pouring rain was fun, believe it or not. Verging on a tropical downpour, it struck just as the Paralympic flame entered the stadium. Like a beach at the Polish seaside, our section emptied quickly to the VIP lounge to try and stay dry. Over my dead body was I going to watch this on a TV screen! I might never get this opportunity again, so I unpacked my Rio 2016-issue poncho and sat it out, and I am so glad that I did. The poncho was pretty good too!
Memories for a lifetime.
I must stop at this point - those pesky goose-bumps and lump in my throat have returned. Enjoy the pictures!
Seeing the flame lit in the absolute pouring rain was fun, believe it or not. Verging on a tropical downpour, it struck just as the Paralympic flame entered the stadium. Like a beach at the Polish seaside, our section emptied quickly to the VIP lounge to try and stay dry. Over my dead body was I going to watch this on a TV screen! I might never get this opportunity again, so I unpacked my Rio 2016-issue poncho and sat it out, and I am so glad that I did. The poncho was pretty good too!
Memories for a lifetime.
I must stop at this point - those pesky goose-bumps and lump in my throat have returned. Enjoy the pictures!