2/23/2010 The Olympics (and not the mountains)

Since we live less than an hour from the Canadian border, my friend Christie and I headed to Vancouver today to experience a bit of the 2010 Winter Olympics, so my walking, nearly 4 miles, was all around the city.  We drove up and parked near one of the SkyTrain stations and then rode it into the city. Took us a total of 2 hours from my house to the waterfront where the cauldron is burning. Even though we walked a lot today, we also stood in line a lot.  After we got off the SkyTrain at the waterfront we walked the few blocks to the cauldron and got in line for the viewing platform. It took about 30 minutes to reach the top, but we were able to get some good pictures and take our time and enjoy the view. On our way, we saw 13 members of the Czech Republic team at the loading docks for the sea planes. 

After viewing the cauldron, we were standing around enjoying people watching, when we learned the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were on their way for a photo op, so we stuck around. What a great catch! 30 horses marched in and lined up for the picture. It was something to see.  After that we headed to Robson Street, where the center of action seems to be for the fans. Robson is where the zip line is; where you can still get tickets for events, if you can afford them, and where sleds, luges, and cutouts are just waiting for you to sit in or on for pictures.  After lunch, we stood in yet another line to get into the Hudson's Bay Company Olympic SuperStore for souvenirs. It was worth the 20 minute wait--they had every sort of shirt, coat, sweatshirt, pants, hats--they had it all emblazoned with Olympic logos. The streets were full; in fact some were blocked off to cars--just pedestrian traffic. Fun for us, probably a nightmare for the Canadians who have to work downtown.  We saw multiple areas where people were trading for pins. That seemed to be one of the most popular things to be doing. In the late afternoon it started raining pretty heavily, so we decided to pack it in and head home since we didn't have tickets for an event.  It was a great day, though, and a great way to get some exercise in.