London draws breath before ringing the Olympic bells

LONDON - With just two days to go before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, London is drawing breath and waiting for things to start.

The Wednesday sees the final dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony, but you could also say it is the final dress rehearsal for the creaking transport system.

Journalists travelling to the Olympic Park on Wednesday were impressed by the speed their transport zipped along the empty Olympic lanes. They couldn't fail to notice the lines of traffic next to them, moving at a rather statelier pace, if moving at all.

Perhaps that is unfair: the center of London saw all traffic moving fluidly, it was those driving into town from the suburbs who faced the longest delays.

Not as long as those who got stuck in the cable cars across the River Thames, however, after they were stopped for around 40 minutes because of an alarm failure in temperatures just below 30 Celsius.

The hot weather continues in the capital, something which rarely helps calm nerves in a slow moving car. It remains to be seen if it causes problems for the trains, some of which were unable to move on Tuesday, because it was 'too hot'.

Meanwhile competitors continue to arrive at the Olympic Village with each delegation given an official welcome, which is both surreal and solemn by turns, by a team of performers and the Mayoress of the Village, Tessa Jowell. These ceremonies are taking place at a rate of around 10 per day and each of the 214 delegations arriving in London receives one.

Anyone hoping to stay in bed on Friday and avoid the Olympics is in for a disappointment as bells all over the country are set to ring as loud and as fast as possible at 8:12 am to herald the start of the Games.

It is meant to highlight just how important the Olympic Games are, but it could just as easily be taken to mean: 'you are not allowed to ignore this', which is basically true given that the BBC will be broadcasting very little but coverage of the Olympics between July 27 and August 12.

The opening ceremony will begin at 20:12, 12 hours after the bell-ringing and it is then that more questions will be answered: such as, just how the ceremony, created by film director Danny Boyle, live up to its title 'Isles of Wonder'?

A light display is seen at the Olympic Stadium after a full dress rehearsal in London late July 25, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

Journalists in the Olympic Park have been able to catch hints of some things that may appear on Friday night and without giving too much away, it is fair to say that some of the deliveries do indeed live up to the description 'rustic'.

So far, however, the secret has been kept and those who saw the first dress rehearsal more or less resisted the temptation to reveal the details on Twitter.

And of course there is still the burning question: who will light the Olympic Cauldron?

David Beckham's admission that he will do 'something' in the opening ceremony has got people speculating, but it could just as easily be Steve Redgrave, who won five gold medals in five different Olympics.

In short, the athletes are ready, the stadium is ready, the transport system may or may not be ready. All that needs to be done is ring those bells and let the Games begin.