Day 57: Proud to be British

I went out in the evening with no intention to watch the Olympics opening ceremony. I just didn't want to sit at my laptop for 3 hours... on my own. Instead, I planned to meet my friend, one of the first friends I made in Valmiera, at the jazz restaurant I mentioned yesterday. On my way there, I looked up and saw this:

Not something you see everyday.

There was a reason why several hot air balloons were flying overhead. A 5-day balloon festival is taking place in Valmiera. My friend and I were hoping to go to an evening show where the balloons would be lit up in the dark.

A beautiful sight to see.

Sitting outside this restaurant was lovely. Great weather, great company and great music - perfect.

The best background music to any conversation.

As we were talking, we looked over to the street and saw balloon flames fly by - okay, not fly, but drive by. This was actually part of the festival, but they went so fast I only managed to get one photo:

As fast as lightning.

That was definitely our cue to walk to the meadow where the "balloon glow" was happening. This is the second time I've seen hot air balloons being blown up, but how big they are continues to amaze me.

Trying to line them up.

As the "glow" was still happening, my friend looked over to our left and noticed a big screen next to the concert stage. They were showing the Olympics opening ceremony! We rushed over and literally stood there for about an hour watching it.

So many different emotions flooded through me whilst in awe of Danny Boyle's extravaganza. Besides feeling a little bit homesick, I felt so proud that this was happening in my home country. This might sound sad but even seeing Big Ben brought a tear to my eye!

I could have stood there all night watching it (Latvia is two hours ahead, remember?) but I think I saw the best parts anyway, including the Queen's royal entrance. It was packed with so many cultural references that I think I was the only one who really understood what was happening.

Thankfully, everyone knew who Mr Bean was!

I'm just glad I could watch it live, even when being 1800km away from home. I was very tempted to steal a hot air balloon and somehow fly home - my very own royal entrance!