https://plus.google.com/photos/103830313279701032127/albums/5786868628528245217
I couldn't resist the temptation to go and get crushed in Trafalgar Square for the parade.
It was a bit silly by the time the parade arrived, with folk trying to squeeze into gaps no sane person would try, and as a result I lost most of my carefully planned view. But such is the nature of mass events.
The whole Olympic experience might be best summed up by this shot...
These seven weeks or so have been an unexpected bubble of captivating brightness, set against the mundane backdrop of everyday life, making us all think a little harder about where happiness comes from.
Alternatively it might just be an example of what you can do with 9 billion quid and seven years of preparation.
If I had 9 billion I certainly wouldn't spend it like this...
Though I might spend it on Laura Trott...
...if she could ever tear her attention away from her phone. I'm not sure what the Five Live bloke's thinking, but I can guess. Though he might just be broadcasting her texts to the nation.
My 9 billion might be better spent buying a better viewpoint to letch from.
Or cleaning some statues.
Alternatively I could buy a factory making Union Flags. Or a landfill site to put them all in when autumnal gloom descends.
Or I could make better use of it and buy this lot a drink for managing to keep the smiles going for hours.
All too soon the parade had moved on, the aircraft had passed over...
...and it was time to escape towards a little sleep before work.
So all that remains is to thanks the thousands like these...
...who helped make it such an exciting summer. Without their volunteered time the bill might have been more like 10 billion.