Quadruple Axel

Olympics, Chinese New Years, Valentines day...Sunday was full! A beautiful day, we wandered down to Chinatown to see the New Years parade and on the way found this incredibly long line-up to get inside the Bay department store. Granted it is the "official Olympic boutique". There is the International House pavilion on the top floor - hopefully that's what they were lined up to see.







One in four Vancouverites is Chinese so this New Years is significant. Add a few hundred thousand Olympic tourists and it gets very busy. We thought the fireworks last night were for Chinese new years but it turns out just some of them were - others will be every night.






We went to Switzerland House on Granville Island because there was rumor of good chocolate and raclette (similar to cheese fondu except you put the melted cheese on things rather than dipping the thing into the cheese). And there was, but not much else except the Swiss National Broadcast centre, some very friendly Swiss German greeters, and lots and lots of people.
And the final Axel of our Quadruple - Lewis and I celebrating 16 years since our first date. To celebrate we saw a modern dance by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet - part of the Cultural Olympiad - a series of 600 cultural events during the Olympics.

The Real Opening Ceremonies

Well, we ditched the Italo chic sports bar for a more intimate venue (our place) to watch the opening ceremonies and to allow Donna more privacy for frequent teary outbursts (OK, a few others needed tissues as well). Cliche of the opening - Italy having the best uniforms. Oh, and did anyone else notice that I was carrying the ARGENTINA sign? We were very please that Lewis who had nearly front row seats for the rehearsal, said it was much better on TV. And yes, for the first time outside the influence of Jimmy, I put a fake tatoo on my forehead!

Jim and Donna found that precious commodity snow under Robson St.
Ice rink under Robson Street

The torch the torch the torch!

6:45am! I'm up and off to see the torch arrive at the Inukshuk on English Bay -why? I'm not sure, but I think that because I'm here I should make an effort to see it. And it turns out to be a great moment with a bunch of great friends. I see the torch arrive with about a dozen people from Bellingham! (and thousands of Vancouverites) just after Arnold Schwarzenegger runs with the torch through Stanley Park (way too early for me!) Turns out I'll see it a few more times...


So, I actually saw the torch the night before in Yaletown, a few blocks from us. Below is a photo of the crowds OUTSIDE the venue where the torch arrived for the night. The bright spot in the photo is Michael Buble running with the torch. He handed it to a reformed homeless person who developed a recycling program for a poor neighbourhood in Vancouver and who got to light the night's cauldron - how Canadian!

So, it turns out I could see the torch arrive by canoe in False Creek from our balcony! (with a very good telephoto lens!)
see the water between those towers?

And then the torch running a block from us at a very reasonable hour in the afternoon! Again from our balcony. But I still loved the morning with my friends at the Inukshuk.Finally, with the opening ceremonies taking place 3 blocks away, Wayne Gretsky rides with the torch past our place on his way to light the cauldron at Coal Harbour. I'd show you the photos but really, its just another yellow blotch in a sea of buildings and people. I guess the point is that it is amazing to see how excited people get about the Olympic flame! Seems very trite until it comes to your own city/country and you get enveloped in the spirit.

Opening Ceremonies!!

I lied - we have one ticket! Well, Lewis has one ticket and he's already used it. Opening ceremonies dress rehearsal number one (there are two). The ceremonies got rave reviews by him, not me as I didn't go because I didn't have a ticket, but I won't dwell on that as Lewis feels guilty enough. I've tried for 2 hours for affordable closing ceremonies tickets but so far no luck - this may be a very uninteresting blog! We are arranging for our own opening ceremonies party at Red Card - an Italo-chic sports bar in the next block, also host to the Italian Olympic team, somehow it all seems very appropriate for us. Thanks to our friend Donna for getting us organized!

While we have no official tickets, the city is definitely buzzing. Random light shows appear from all bodies of water surrounding us, fireworks periodically go off, and lots of Team Russia, or perhaps they just have the most visible jackets.

The City is getting better and more manageable with each day approaching the Olympics - traffic is greatly reduced as they've closed many of the major roads into downtown, and shortly a number of streets, including ours, will become pedestrian only - it is going to be so civilized that I fear going back to the traffic and congestion that people seem to accept as normal will be a huge drag.