Thursday, February 25, 2010

Day 14 Thursday - Busy!!

9:00 am saw us at the new Vancouver Olympic Centre to see ladies semi-final Curling, and Canadian winning against Swiss.... they will now face Sweden for the gold medal match.    We ran into friends so I spent most of the rest of the day with them while M went to Molson Canadian Hockey House to watch the Ladies Gold Medal Hockey... G O   C A N A D A ! ! !   

We got easily and luckily into Sochi house and then watched the game from their big screen condo common room with comfy couches, but head back out to see the Victory Ceremony tonight.  I thought we would see Clara Hughes, but we weren't that lucky.   Seeing us in 1st and 2nd in Bobsleigh was fun though, and then Burton Cummings entertained the big crowd at BC Place Stadium.    We heard that Joannie Rochette would be skating at 8:37 so we took off a little early and rushed home, arriving right at 8:37 in time to watch that classy lady skate for Bronze!  Yay Joannie. you've won gold in our hearts. 

Tomorrow we are down to Richmond again to see Ladies Team Pursuit which should be fun to watch.  Probably meeting up with friends after, so who knows where that day will end.  Too tired to download our photos right now. It was a long day, but every day is very exciting with our medal counts growing!  

▌♥ ▌GO CANADA GO! ▌♥ ▌

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Hockey Cheer



▌♥ ▌GO CANADA GO ▌♥ ▌

Day 12 Tuesday

Another mostly rest day, with no events planned in the evening.  We had to catch the Canada vs. Germany hockey game, and the Saxony House is right over in Stanley Park at the Rowing Club, so you KNOW we couldn't resist going there to see it.  The rain has come back, so there was no lineup at all.  There's no where to sit down and there are just enough TV's but we managed to make the most of it by drinking a few beers, making a few new friends and decided if we can't sit, you may as well DANCE!  


What a blast.  


The very best thing about these games is the happy attitude of our city.  Most of the people we meet are locals, but we are all out and about, being friendly, talking to strangers, sharing stories, feeling supportive of our nation, our team, our people.  It's the best, and I hope we can keep some of it after the Olympic Games are over. 




Party Pictures HERE 

Day 11 Monday

Monday was largely a rest day because of the festivities on the weekend, but we did have an early evening Hockey Game (women's semi-final Canada vs. Finland)  Canada won easily 5-0 but the Finnish goalie was fantastic and it was a good game.


The crowds had largely dissipated so we were able to walk right in to the Yaletown LiveCity celebration site and watch a little bit of the figure skating and then catch a show by Colin James and see the closing evening show with a video montage of Olympic moments, great music, fabulous fireworks and a cool water spray thingy with images projected on it, and fireworks erupting all around... I guess you "GOTTA BE HERE"  
See Monday's photos HERE.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Road Trip!

Saturday begins with a great hockey game between Switzerland and Norway.  The highlight for me was a hat trick by Norwegian #29 Vikingstad.  Everytime he scored his family was shown up on the big screen in the stadium with a sign reading "GoDAD".... after the second goal I was cheering him on, "Go DAaaaAAD".  They lost by only one goal, but we had a great time with B+M.  
When they told us they were going up to Whislter later that day, and we realized we might have a place to sleep at L+J's we quickly jumped on that bandwagon and invited ourselves along for a road trip.  If M is going to party in Whislter, I definitely wanted in on that!  It was no mistake.  We arrived sometime around 6pm and right before the medal ceremony for Jon Montomery's Whislter Gold Medal for Skeleton.  The town was abuzz and there was no room at the Celebration Site for us.  No problem, we scored a front row seat on a heated patio overlooking town plaza with the awards ceremony on the big screen.  Great Vibe.  J+L, several friends of B+M, and some friends of theirs joined us until we were a roving pack of disorderlies but we had a fun time. 

The weather in Whistler could not have been nicer so Sunday was a mashup of more food and beer, sunshine and celebrations.  Sam Roberts band entertained in the town plaza mid-afternoon and Whislter was a crazy-happy place to be.  Great entertainment, and a Canada-USA hockey game after?  Do Sundays get ANY better than this??  I think not!  Mike had a brilliant idea to go to the Jamaica House to watch the game because they have taken over an intimate bar which proved very relaxing.  Made some new friends there and had a great view of that EXCITING game.  I'd definitely be more of a hockey fan if hockey was more like that game more often.  Too bad that Amercian Goalie is like a WALL.  Who can get by him??   
Although L extended the invitation to stay on in Whislter, I really had to get home and dry out!   Plus, we have a hockey game tonight.  

There is still a LOT to do in Vancouver and sadly, the big party is half over.  The lineups have been a little discouraging but we will press on... I learned a new phrase this morning for a common emotion in our town... "FOMO"  Fear of Missing Out!    Plus we are beginning to worry about what Vancouverites will do when this big party is over!  I'll have to find an acronym for that one... 

Time for another coffee.  

Such photos as are suitable for sharing may be viewed HERE   

Day 8, Friday

What a weekend!   Perhaps numbering our days was a bad idea... I clearly cannot keep up!  Not when I hang out with Miss M anyway!  The Weekend started with a 4:30 Hockey Game, Hockey Game Friday evening - Czekslovakia vs Latvia.   I LOVE the fantastic vibe at these games.  Canadians all get on board with the underdogs and a great game ensues, no matter what the score. 


We checked out the Ontario Pavilion down at False Creek and were pleased to find only a short line up.  Our hometown Pavilion is a good one.... quality beers for only $6 and open airy, super clean space with lots of nice big TVs and a good feel to it.  Ran into a couple of RJ guys, had a couple of beers, but couldn't manage the standing until the entertainment started later that night, so we waked along False Creek and made a stop at the Asian Night Market outside the Edgewater Casino.  Good cheap eats!  I had been remarking that we could use a bit more accessible street food with all these people in town, and here it is, right on cue.  And no big lineups.  


Proceeded onto Yaletown and could not believe the crowds.  Crazy number of happy people all over downtown on Friday night.  The longest lineup was at the liquor store, so we could see it was probably time to head home.   The Yaletown LiveCity site had been filled to capacity for hours, so there was no chance to check that out.   Besides, we had a noon hockey game Saturday to rest up for! 




See more day 8 photos HERE.