For those who have ever been to the Olympic Games, share your experience. I barely missed the 96 Games in Atlanta. I started college that fall, but didn't have the common sense to head to Atlanta early to partake in everything. I'm still pissed about it.... My cousin was in the 04 Games in Athens, so I went there to support him and had a great time. I got to check out Olympic Village, local sights and went to a lot of the competitions.
I went to the Atlanta games. It was awesome, especially since I've been a big fan of the Olympics when I was small and always had dreams of participating in them (fyi, didn't work out ). It's like one giant, non-stop party (more family oriented, not Mardi Gras). You could find plenty of cheap tickets from scalpers for the non-mainstream US sports, so we got to see plenty of things we would never see in any other situation. My memory sucks, but I remember seeing a few celebs and athletes by chance. Watching the events, the crowds being into it, I guess you just have to be there. Crap is expensive everywhere though, it's like Disney World in that aspect. I loved the experience and will try my best to go to another Olympics (I'm looking at Vancouver)...or World Cup, which I haven't been to. To me it's one of those moments where most of the globe can ignore their problems and enjoy the same thing together for a few weeks. And to be there first hand would be even better.
We had the Olympics here in Sydney in 2000 and in the leadup people were saying you have to go and see it in your home city because you'll regret it if you dont. I went and saw the torch relay near my place and actually got to hold one of the torches before the flame got there. However Ive never regretted not going. I like watching some of it on TV but I never wished I had went when it was in Sydney.
I went to the Atlanta games in 1996. I was still a young teenager at the time, and I can vividly remember how much fun the whole thing was. The whole spectacle of it is overwhelming. It was much better than the World Cup I attended a few years later. Like previously said, tickets were able to be had dirt cheap. My brother got to see the original Dream Team play for 10 bucks. He had something like 5th row seats. My favorite event was table tennis. You had to go through two air locked sealed doors to get into the event.
