From Olympia to Fishguard

Blink and you miss it - but I didn't! The Olympic flame passed through Fishguard this afternoon and you can just about see its tiny spark immediately to the right of the Welsh flag that's hanging on the stonefaced house.

What a palaver! We had:
Throngs of spectators.
The brass band.
Bunting.
Every possible type of emergency vehicle including a fire engine.
High vis jackets and walkies-talkies galore.
Everyone who had a uniform wearing it.
Everyone else with flags and whistles (being sold for 2 quid each)
Pubs (those that have not closed) doing a roaring trade.
Small children wondering what it was all about.
Ancient people in wheelchairs, ditto.
A 'Jesus' Love To The Nations' double decker bus (empty).
Sponsorship vehicles with cheerleaders trying to whip up enthusiasm (ignored).
Motorbike outriders, at least a dozen.
Official buses and escort vehicles.
A momentary spasm of excitement when someone I had never heard of ran down the High Street with the torch.
Then, all over - gone! (Driven to the next town.)

The Olympic flame, ignited in Greece, is travelling around 8000 miles around the British Isles via a relay of torch bearers before arriving in London on July 27th at the start of the Games.
Although the torch relay had its origins in classical Greece it only became part of the modern Olympic Games in Germany in 1936 when the ritual was devised as a propaganda tool to bolster the reputation of the Nazi party and to create a spectacular piece of theatre with Hitler at its centre.

The opening ceremony of the 1936 Munich Olympics and some history.