The Kodak Curse Strikes.

(Further to the last post we didn't get raped in Vienna).

While most people are engrossed in the Olympics, the lack of television facilities in hostels has lead to us developing our own spectator sport: European poses. (Along with other ignorant Brits we do not, generally, count ourselves as European.)

Apparently, when a camera is whipped out in Europe a smile will not suffice; instead, many Europeans resort to the staple catalogue poses reminiscent of the early 1990s. In just one day (we concede that this spectator sport is in its very early days...) we witnessed approx. ten contenders for the relevant three medal.

A personal favourite is when someone is sat on a wall, looking relatively casual, until the gaze of the camera falls upon them (Charlotte refers to this as the 'Kodak curse') and they immediately recline, often lifting one leg onto the wall and placing the hand on the hip, whilst desperately attempting to make love to the camera with their eyes. In other words, they couldn't look less causal.

However, the undisputed winner of the 'I'm Just Casually Relaxing By a View Pose' gold medal goes to a middle aged, rather plump woman, who thought it was socially acceptable, when having a photo taken by a fountain, to lift her leg (above waist height), extend it to an impressively straight extent, place it on the fountain and smile. (Katrina knows this is impressive because she attempted to recreate the shot after the woman had removed herself with great difficulty). Tyra Banks would be proud.

Obviously, we both have been taking notes and are looking forward to competing tomorrow.