LONDON – Day One:
The refreshingly crisp London air and glorious sunshine are the perfect welcome to start our Olympic coverage. I'm even doubting I'll encounter a mosquito, compared to our juicy medal winners at home.
Traffic, on the other hand, well... at least it's good bonding time with my crew as we map out our day: Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, the usual places to find Brits and tourists who won't mind talking to this Texan about all things Olympics.
Meanwhile, I'm enjoying our driver's accent as I resist the temptation to mimic him for fear of doing an inadequate job. He's a gentle bloke, so I don't think he'll mind. Before I belt out my first "Blimey," I'm distracted by people on bicycles who are passing us. It's beginning to give us a rash.
We pick up the pace on the Tube from the Tower Hill station heading to Westminster to capture video of the crowds and make TV magic happen. I noticed we're on the line that leads to Richmond, which is where I went to college for a semester my freshman year. Something tells me I won't have time for a visit this go around.
A young lady chats us up. Toting a large camera always leads to questions, which we gladly answer. I wonder how many media types she's encountered this day alone? It's like a sea of tripods around here.
All in all, everyone seems pretty pumped about the games. I'm amazed at how many people have tickets to events, and frankly they're amazed as to how they got them -- lottery, friend, friend of a friend. All of the locals' previous gripes about traffic and security took a backseat to today's weather, which by British standards was incredibly toasty -- mid 80s. For us, not too much of a royal pain.
Don't miss my reports today on KPRC Local 2 News at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
For more local Olympics coverage, visit our Olympics Zone.
To see all of Dominique's online daily diaries, click here.
PHOTOS: Dominique Sachse in London