As I waited for the Olympic torch to pass Primark on the city’s High Street I scanned the crowd. People were smiling and strangers were chatting. Lincolnites young and old had the same look of excitement in their eye, and when a man on stilts asked people to cheer there was no hesitation before raucous roars and whistles. On the hottest day of summer so far Lincoln had come alive to welcome the torch relay; and I had never been so proud of my adopted city, writes Emma O’Neill.

Thousands of Lincolnites lined the streets for the entire length of the relay’s journey and the level of positivity and excitement pumping along the Brayford and up to the Yarborough Leisure Centre was inspiring. I had never seen the city so united, nor had I seen so many spectators spontaneously dancing while watching (and swinging my hips to) the vivacious Festival of Light drummers and dancers that followed the torch.

Each torchbearer’s pride, smile and spirit was contagious and as I watched Sue Holland-Leavens, 52, from Spalding ignore her walking stick – aiding her journey due to arthritis of the spine – and beam while she waved to the cheering crowd, I couldn’t help but well up a little.

Once the flame had safely reached Yarborough Leisure Centre it was time for the city to celebrate with concerts at the leisure centre and the University of Lincoln where Lady Gaga and Michael Buble tribute acts joined local performers to entertain the crowd. The day’s festivities culminated in an impressive fireworks display above the Brayford that I watched from a great spot on the Electric Bar’s balcony!

And as the city looked to the sky that night I started to think about the incredible impact the torch relay had on Lincoln that day. How, without athletes competing, the Olympic spirit was present. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympics Committee, put it best when he said: “May the Olympic Torch pursue its way through ages, increasing friendly understanding among nations, for the good of a humanity always more enthusiastic, more courageous and more pure.”

And yet while I acknowledge that the Olympics is about a lot more than just sport and winning, I can’t silence a niggling desire to see Australia beat England in the medal tally come September

Bring on London 2012!

It’s a wonderful source of B-complex vitamins, still defined as a staple food in Bavaria and was available in over 90 varieties at the Drill Hall in Lincoln over the weekend. Aussie Emma O’Neill discovers a thing or two about British beer.

I love festivals and I love beer. So there was no way I was going to miss the Lincoln Beer Festival. After a gloriously sunny Thursday I headed towards Lincoln Drill Hall, excited about quenching my thirst with real ale I hadn’t heard of. Once I’d got my wristband and commemorative glassI raced toward the bar (which was stationed in front of an impressive wall of kegs) and grabbed the beer list. I was ready to drink.

However, as I looked through the impressive list of more than 90 real ales I quickly realised that this festival wasn’t the type to give aT-shirt to punters who could drink pints of 50+ varieties in under three-minutes. This was a festival that took its beer seriously. There was a Scottish variety of ale described as having ‘a floral aroma and spicy taste’ thanks to the addition of heather flowers, and a Lincolnshire brew listed as ‘a complex mix of coffee, hops, caramel and apple’.

For an Australian used to skulling down tinnies on a hot summer’s day and whose country reveres David Boon – an Australian cricketer who consumed 52 cans of full strength beer during a flight between London and Sydney for the 1989 Ashes series – such refinement in the art of drinking and enjoying beer was a refreshing change.

I was expecting raucous lads pouring beer over each other; instead there was a man playing a baby grand piano to festivalgoers sitting quietly and swapping comments about their palate and favourite pint. I was expecting bar tenders who couldn’t understand your order; instead they were CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) volunteers passionately representing their organisation which tirelessly campaigns for real ale, community pubs and consumer rights. Their passion and smiles were infectious and filled the festival with a warm, inviting atmosphere.

I don’t know if Australians like David Boon would be allowed to join CAMRA, but after experiencing such a wonderful festival and sipping on some seriously tasty ales I’m supporting their cause; and I’m definitely keeping my festival pint glass in a safe place ready for next year!

For more information about the Lincoln Beer Festival 2012 go to:

http://www.lincolncamra.org.uk/beerfest2012.htm

For more information about CAMRA go to:

http://www.camra.org.uk/

Some people are born with style – I am not one of those people. So when I arrived for my two-hour session with a personal shopper, it was time to listen and learn, writes Emma O’Neill.

When I was 11 years old a surf brand called Hang 10 was hugely popular in Australia. All the cool kids were wearing it, and I wanted to wear it too. I begged mum to deck me out in the brand, but she refused. Her discouragement only made me want the brand more, so I turned to my big brother. He was six years older than me and really good at art. So, in a light bulb moment I grabbed a big thick black texta and asked him to draw the Hang 10 logo on my hat. It was a genius plan! No one would be able to tell the difference and everyone would think I was one of the cool kids – but it didn’t turn out that way. My darling brother wrote Hang 9 instead of the very cool Hang 10 on my hat, ruining the fabric and ruining any chance I had of hanging with the cool kids.

At around the same age I lost interest in fashion, and I would blame my brother for this if I hadn’t already developed a love of fluoro socks and convinced my family, via mismatched outfits, that I was actually colour blind. As I got older I just never seemed to have the funds for cool clothes, and so I stuck to what I knew – mismatched colours and fluoro socks.

I decided not to admit any of this to my lovely personal shopper when I turned up for my two-hour session at Debenhams in Lincoln. My personal shopper was immaculately dressed and smiled warmly when we talked about my favourite colours, styles, my wardrobe, and what I wanted to change in it. When I said ‘everything’ she nodded, gave me a cold drink and told me to sit on the leather couch in her office (a private room in the store with a huge mirror, coffee machine, dressing room and fridge full of water and wine), and then she disappeared. I thought she may have run for the hills and deemed me a hopeless case, but to my delight she returned a few minutes later. Her arms were filled with tops, jackets, dresses and jeans – many of which I would never have picked from the rack. To my surprise, it was these items that I loved. Clothes she had skilfully matched to my skin tone and personality.

I hadn’t had someone shop for me since I was young enough to think Hang 10 was cool and it was really nice to sit back, relax, and have someone else zoom through aisles to find fabrics, change sizes and pick out colours. Her skills were admirable; not only her ability to find gems on racks that I hadn’t seen, but also her ability to watch my reaction to her choices and subtly make items disappear that hadn’t tickled my fancy. Her passion for fashion was contagious, and it reignited my admiration and interest in the fashion world – my credit card had better watch out!

If you’re feeling the need for a fashion fix, come to the University of Lincoln’s fashion show this Friday night. For details and tickets go to:

http://comingintofashion.co.uk/

Personal shopping sessions are available FREE at Lincoln’s Debenham’s store:

http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&userType=G&categoryId=65591