I want to commend Sydney and all of Australia for a fabulous Olympics. From the opening ceremony to the closing, it was truly exceptional!! I feel sorry for Athens following in your footsteps! I can't imagine a better host country than Australia was!! <BR>Marcie (from California)

My husband and I agree with you Marcie. <BR>We are leaving Mon. for Australia, and after seeing the GREAT Australian people and some of the beautiful and fascinating countryside on TV, we are really looking forward to going "DOWN UNDER!" <BR> <BR>Good luck Athens. You have a hard act to follow. <BR> <BR>Elsa (from Boston).

Hi, I can assure you that as an Aussie I am just as proud of it all!! I think we all had misgivings about a whole host of things - but seeing it all come together in such an amazing way has given us all a great sense of pride and <BR>achievement, and a whole new sense of belonging to such a great country!!

AMEN...after seeing how beautiful Australia looks and how gracious the people are...I sure hope to visit your wonderful country! Congratulations for a spectacular XXVII Olympics! <BR>Tom (another Californian)

I will also mention the excitement at LAX (not your usual exciting place) when 100's of USA athletes were returning this morning. I flew to O'Hare with gals from the USA basketball team...doning their gold medals. Cameras, press, families, fans, swarming LAX with 100's of returning athletes...for a huge welcome home. The basketball team members who flew to Chicago were first class (literally and figuretivly) needed it for those long legs and deserved it I'm sure! <BR>I was about 7 feet from Lenny Krazelburg (sp?)(3 gold medals in swimming)who was a real class act signing so many autographs shortly after landing.

Just returned from Sydney and that place is fabulous! It's a paradise. The people, climate, food we couldnt fault it. We also went to the Atlanta games and we must admit Sydney blew us away, everyone is so friendly. We went down to Melbourne for 5 days, and was pleasantly suprised. Its a truly lovely city and maybe overlooked because of Sydney's reputation. We did day trips to the Great Ocean Road, The Dandenong mountains and travelled on the cute puffing billy steam train through the hills. The fairy penguins at phillip island were adorable even if the hundreds of tourists nearly outnumbered the penguins. All up our vote goes to Australia to host the 2004 games! Well done!!

Couldn't agree more Marcie. As we had already planned our 5 week vacation to Australia prior to Olympic Coverage, I was tuned into the Olympics ongoing. It was fantastic! It really got me pumped for our holiday. The Aussies pulled it off with such class and the closing (missed the opening) ceremony was awesome. I can't imagine a better Olympics! We depart Nov. 16 for Sydney and then on to the Sunshine Coast for 5 weeks. Definitely will be out to Bondi Beach to see where our Canadian Beach Volleyball guys did so well!! Beach Volleyball in Canada!! <BR>Shirley (Alberta, Canada)

Marcie, I am a true aussie 6th generation, to see how we as a nation rallied together for the Olympics was truly great. I was fortunate to go to Sydney for the final three days, the atmosphere was wonderful, the people friendly, the transport system blew me away. The closing ceremoney was viewed on t.v. on a dinner cruise boat in the middle of Sydney Harbour, just wonderful