Expo 2010

A few facts from Wikipedia: this is the largest expo ever, with more exhibitors than ever; nearly 28 billion quid (or more than 33 billion Euros) were spent clearing the 5 km2 site, moving 18 000 families, a shipyard employing 10 000 workers and numerous factories; 6 new metro lines and 4 000 new taxis (although they could do with another 4 000 - there are so many taxis, but it seems the only chance you have of catching one is to be where one drops someone else off).

We had a great day - lots of walking obviously and a lot of queuing. The first two pavilions we saw early in the day were quite quick - Czech and Portugal - but by the time we got to the UK one, the queue was 3 hours long. Call me unsuited for tropical climes, Carstairs, but 3 hours waiting in 35ºC and 80% humidity is over-rated. So we ditched the UK and saw a lovely range of other pavilions. The only real disappointment was Greece: uninspiring from the outside (although no 'For Sale' sign, surprisingly) but the outside rather over-sold the interior: here was a pavilion of web-cams. You could watch in real time some old blokes clearing up at the end of a day in a traditional boat yard, a busker, a tanker progressing slowly across the horizon. There is enough ennui here to satisfy a room full of French film critics.

My one disappointment with the day was the cost of things - having lured nearly half a million Chinese here on a daily basis everyone seems intent on ripping them off, and that is a shame.  The costs were simply inexcusable. The entrance price would take nearly 20% of a teacher's monthly salary here, so charging £6 for a sandwich, or £7 for a beer (shame on you, Czech Republic) was taking liberties.

Otherwise we had an unforgettable day.

Photos here

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