Vancouver--Day 6

Our last day here we finished up with some sightseeing and left plenty of time for the hockey game. First stop...the Olympic Cauldron. It's made of steel, furnace glass, polycarbonates, and parabolic glass to give it an icy appearance. It's supposed to look like a teepee if you didn't know. It's just one more way of incorporating Canadian heritage into the Olympics (other than beavers, Mounties, and maple syrup).

Right next to the cauldron is the International Broadcast Center (IBC) where all of the TV networks from around the world broadcast from.

IBC lobby with lots of tv screens to watch the events.

They also have a ginormous globe hanging from the ceiling.

Another shot of the globe.

After grabbing a few desserts from the organic grocery store (UrbanFare) we stumbled upon some pretty cool Olympic topiaries and had to snap some photos. TG took the curling one.

MB took the hockey one.

The event of the day was, of course, the gold medal hockey game between The U.S. and Canada. We tried to find a bar to watch the game but the lines to get in were hundreds of people deep, and that was even several hours before the game. Five of us Americans watched the game among about 1000 rabid Canadians at Live City. It's an area where they set up activities just for the Olympics. the game was epic! The U.S. score with 40 second left in the game to tie it up at 2-2. Unfortunately for us, Canada scored in overtime to win the gold. Everyone was very nice to us even though we were American. Wonder if they would have been so friendly if we had won?

Our new Canadian friends who told us they would rather lose to us than the Russians. They were also willing to trade ALL their Olympic medals for a gold medal in hockey. Crazy.

Japadog round 2 with a number 6 (edamame, sauerkraut, and banana peppers).

Dessert from UrbanFare. Fruit tart, chocolate cheesecake, and a lil cannoli. Watching the closing ceremonies on CTV(Canadian TV), packing, and going to bed. We have an early flight and have been told to be there 3-4 hours ahead of time (busiest day at Vancouver airport ever!).

We have enjoyed Vancouver more than we ever thought we would. We can't wait to come back in the summer! Oh Canada! Merci. See you in London in 2012!

Vancouver--Day 5

Another gross and yucky day outside, but we sucked it up and headed down to Yaletown. Its a neat district in Downtown that has cool shops and restaurants.

We stopped in a wine store to try some icewine. Icewine is different because they leave the grapes on the vine until after the first frost. Then they pick them early in the morning after being frozen solid (this way the berries freeze as hard as marbles). While the grape is still frozen it is pressed, and the water is driven out as shards of ice. This leaves a highly concentrated juice, very high in acids and sugars....perfect for wine. The box it comes in is also a cool story. Its made form Pine Beetle Wood. After the pine beetles infect the wood it can no longer be used for regular wood construction and products that require the ordinary strength of wood. So they use it as containers for wine bottles as a way of recycling it and giving it a purpose.

We watched a little bit of speed skating and snowboard slolam at a restaurant for lunch. Our waitress thought we were the coolest people ever because we were from the "South". We have been to numerous restaurants and shops so far this trip, and only today have we been asked if we were "from the states". MB told her that we lived in Atlanta, GA to which she replied "you call that the south right?" We nodded and she began to smile really big and get so excited. TG was a bit upset because she had been trying to blend in as a Canadian ever since we got here by saying "eh" and "washrooms" (restrooms) every chance she got. Apparently real Canadians can see right through her.

Then we hopped back on the subway and headed back to the hotel. Just as we were about to cross the street back to the hotel MB noticed a familiar face in front of us. Yes, that is Lindsay Vonn in this picture at the hot dog stand. As much as we would have liked to have asked for a picture we didnt want to bother or annoy her so we just kept walking. We walked across the street and entered the hotel lobby and walked back to the elevator section. Just as the elevator doors were closing, guess who hopped on the elevator with us.......Lindsay and her husband. We chatted up with them and carried on a humorous and pleasant conversation with them. Nice people. What a cool way to end the day.

Vancouver--Day 4

Rain, rain, and more rain. It was quite possibly the ugliest day since we have been here. Cold and rainy all day. I dont think it ever stopped raining for even 10 minutes.

So we decided to get ourselves some candy and watch some events on TV...indoors. The candy here is not the usual names, but the familiar companies. All the candies below are made by Nestle, Hersheys, Cadbury, or Mars (all recognizable companies), but only the snickers bar has a recognizable name (and even that has the Canadian flag and a hockey puck on it). The snickers tastes the same, the Aero bar is a combo between a York peppermint patty and wafers, and the Cadbury Flake is like cardboard dipped in fudge (we threw half of it out). We have not eaten the other 3 yet....we'll get back to you on those.

Then we headed to our live event....Speed Skating. It had 3 final games; Men's 500m, Women's 1000m, and Men's 5000m relay. Technically we watched 9 events because they each had 2 semifinal races to determine who went to the finals.

The arena is very old, but decorated very cool for the Olympics. Even though we were only about 10 rows from the top, we didnt feel that far away because the venue isn't that large. We had Canadians in front of us, Americans behind us, Canadians on the left, and Dutch on the right.

We wanted to get there early to get through the security line early, so we got there 2 hours ahead. We were probably in the first 100 people to get into the arena...it was fantastic! The great thing about watching each race, is it is like a new event. Each player starts all over again and has just as good of a chance as their opponents. The whole "set of events" lasts 2 hours, and you basically have a new race every ten minutes. It is awesome!

Katherine Reutter (U.S.A) won the silver medal for the women's 1000m. It was a close race. She is one of just nine US athletes to win multiple medals in the winter olympics.

The U.S. Mens relay team won the bronze for the 5000m race. This is a gut-wrenching race because it lasts like 5 minutes (most races last less than 2), so this was an eternity. There are 5 teams that compete at this with 4 players each. This means there are 20 skaters on the ice at the same time. You constantly feel like there is going to be a crash between a bunch of them. Surprisingly, there were no crashes at this particular race.

ps.....our friend the Canadian body painter (from the curling event), he was at the speed skating tonight as well. Yes...covered in paint again. He did not have his "Marry Me" sign though. The best sign of the evening, however, goes to the Brits. It read "Skate Fast, Go Left". They are so smart.

Vancouver--Day 3 (Part 2)

So after a delicious hot dog lunch, the sun came out and we figured we might as well work off that lunch, so we headed over to Stanley Park. Stanley Park is just about twice the size of Central Park, but it is way more beautiful. For starters, it is almost like a little peninsula, just about 2/3 of it is surrounded by water. There are several paths for the interior of the park as well, but the prettiest ones are along the water. There are a few roads for cars to go on, but most people walk, skate, run, or ride a bike through it. This is convenient because the pathways are huge, and they have separate ones for the bikers, skaters, and walkers so that nobody runs into each other.

There are great views of the marinas, city skyscrapers, and bridges along the outer loop of the park. Then once you are in the interior of the park, you would never know you were 5 blocks from a city. The trees are so tall and there are so many of them that you cannot see the city's tallest skyscrapers anywhere.

Also, along various parts of the interior they have landmarks to see. Below you can see one of the many totem poles that were made by the natives to represent the land.

Some are small, but most are very large, and dont always looks like your traditional totem poles would be.

There are probable a dozen of them right by the gift shop.

In addition to the large totem poles, there are also very tall trees, that the Pacific Northwest is known for. Some of them are bent, falling over, twisted, etc., but they aren't dead....its just the way the land/wind has formed them. They look very cool.

The sun started to come out as we made our way to the NE side of the park (you can see the little bit of blue sky in the left side of the photo below). There are 2 bridges that connect the park to both Downtown Vancouver and North Vancouver. The bridge that goes to the North is below.

There is a nice photo-op for that bridge, so we took advantage of it.

Also on the NE side of the park is one of the lighthouses. Its not very tall (about 3 stories), but it also sits high above the platform, which helps. It doesnt work now, but it did for a long time.

Making our way back to the south side (where the entry/exit is), we stopped to get our pictures taken next to the Olympic barge. At night this lights up all red and can be seen pretty much anywhere along the waterfront.

Here is a look at our hotel from the Park. Our hotel is the white thing on the left side with the sails. The thing on the right (dark looking building) is the IBC.

After a long afternoon of walking through the park, we decided to grab some dinner and watch the US/Canada Women's hockey game at a local pub called Smiley O'Neal's. Great local place, but not so great when you are only 1 out of 2 tables with Americans at it (and you are cheering for the opposing team). Unfortunately, the women lost 2-0, but we still had a great day!

Vancouver--Day 3 (Part 1)

This was quite the busy day. So busy and packed full that we must break the day down into 2 parts (part 2 will come tomorrow morning). The first part of the day was spent going down to Gastown (the first original settlement in Vancouver, and located in the present day district of Granville). It kept its historical charm and is a very big touristy spot due to its history, great restaurants, and souvenier shops. For more info on this cute little town click here http://www.gastown.org/history/index.html

In Gastown there is the famous Steam Clock which is partially (used to be fully) powered by a steam engine. This one was put in the district in 1977 as part of Gastown's renovation. It announces every quarter hour with a whistle chime. Very cool, and very big.

Ok so quite possibly the most exciting part of the trip was the visit to the Japadog hot dog stand. For those of you who are not familiar with this, it is a Japanese style hot dog. You can get a variety of dogs (bratwurst, all-beef, pork, or turkey), and then different Japanese toppings (seaweed, edamame, wasabi mayonnaise, bonito flakes, cabbage, etc.).

This was her favorite part of the trip. She got the #1, which is the one with seaweed. MB preferred the #4. Yes, the line is about 20+ people deep just to get one. They are very popular.

Of course you can add the traditional items such as relish, sauerkraut, ketchup, mustard, etc. which are off to the side.

Mmmmmm....yummy.....seaweed and sauerkraut!

For a complete look at the menu (with pictures) and more on the Japadog, click here http://www.japadog.com/menu/index.html

Vancouver--Day 2

The weather was not cooperating with us today. It was cloudy and cold, with periods of rain all day. So we decided to be tourists today. We snapped a photo from the Pier of our hotel to show the fog and rain in the mountains over in North Vancouver across the Inlet.

As we were making our way out of the hotel we finally had the camera to snap a photo of the giant waterfall in the lobby. Its a waterfall, but with bubbles in it (cant tell from the picture). It has a light projector to put up the Olympic logo into the background.

We went to the big Olympic Superstore and some little shops to try to find some souveniers. Along the way we also stopped at the big countdown clock. This counts down the days and minutes until the Olympics start. Now that the games have begun, the clock is counting the time until the Paralympics start.

Various streets are blocked off throughout the city to allow street vendors to sell stuff, and for people to get their picture taken at various photo ops. Below are pictures of us in cutouts of Olympic sports.

Here is another. Can you tell what sports they are?

Curling Baby!

We went to our very first Olympic event ever last night......Women's Curling. This was the final qualifying game to make it into the semi-finals. It didnt matter whether the USA won or not since they were in last place, but it would have been nice to see them win anyways. Too bad they suck. Bad. They had to forfeit during the 7th End (End is like a round or inning) when the score was 10-3. There was no way for the US to come back and beat the Swiss. Below are 3 members of the US team.

So after they dropped out we became Canadian fans (we were wearing red and white anyway). The Skip (Captain) for the Canadian women's team was Cheryl Bernard. She is a beast! She had a 100% accuracy rate, the best in curling. There was a man at the event who painted himself all in red and was yelling proposals to her with his sign below. Tried to get a picture with him, but the line was too long....he was quite popular.

We took the subway to get to the venue, which was quite fun. Very clean and very quick. We got there just as it started, but it took us over 30 minutes to go through security. Note to self.....arrive at least 30-45 minutes before event starts. They have like full-blown airport security at these things. It makes you feel very safe, but also annoyed because just like at airports, there are always those people who forget their belts, change in their pockets, cell phones, etc. and then the wait becomes super long just because of one idiot. Here is a shot of the subway ride.

Here is the venue below where the curling took place. A very nice facility with some of the cleanest port-a-johns ever (as clean as a port-a-john can be). It is very loud when a team does well, but then there is very little noise when the teams start sliding the stones (its amazing how it goes from pure loud craziness to almost silence in a matter of seconds). All the teams playing have their flags hanging from the rafters.

Here is a closer shot of the venue. 4 teams play at once which is quite exciting because even if you team sucks, like ours, you can watch other games. Oh and you always know who you are sitting by. The Canadians have cowbells and cheer after every play, The Swedes have horns, the Russians have special hats and coats they wear (and ginormous flags), the Germans yell the loudest (and have the grumpiest looking athletes), and the Japanese are the easiest to spot, even though they are the quietest, because they wear oversized white t-shirts with huge red dots on the front....kinda funny actually).

You are not allowed to use flash on your photos at any event, so I apologize that the picture below looks a little dark. We tried to fix it in iPhoto, but its the best it could do.