Vancouver Olympics!!! - Day 1

We just got back from an amazing trip to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, BC! We spent 3 nights/4 days up there and got to experience some great Olympic moments. Here are the highlights...

Christina's mom drove up from Portland to join us for this long-awaited adventure. We woke up bright-and-early on Thursday and headed downtown to catch our Amtrak train to Vancouver. The original intent was to avoid delays crossing the boarder by car, but we discovered that the train is a very relaxing a pleasant way to travel. As we left Seattle, we passed over many bridges and hugged the coastline of Puget Sound. We snaked our way North and eventually cut through the Sgagit Valley, home of the annual Tulip Festival. No tulips this time of year, but there were some great views of the farmland and coastline. The train was very comfortable and Evelyn and I spent most of the time in the dining car while Christina took a nap. The train certainly wasn't the fastest way to get to Vancouver (it took about 4 hours compared to the 2.5 driving), but it was a scenic ride and we were in no particular hurry to get to our final destination. As we passed the Peace Arch boarder crossing on I-5, we noted that there wasn't a single car waiting in line to make the crossing. So much for the much-hyped 3-hour boarder crossing! We arrived in downtown Vancouver and whisked through customs relatively quickly. The train station is located on the south end of downtown Vancouver, so we were able to walk out the front door into the Olympic excitement. We had packed lightly so we could wander around town without worrying about checking into our hotel in the suburbs until later that day. It helped that the weather was absolutely breathtaking, with sunny skies that would last the entire trip. At times, we could be spotted walking the streets of Vancouver in T-shirts. In February!

From the train station, we headed along the waterfront and found our first Olympic festivities. Lining the whole waterfront is a series of tents and exhibits featuring the past and future Olympic sites, including Beijing, Sochi, and London. There were all sorts of ellaborate displays and signs that said it all: Vancouver 2010. Walking further into downtown, the thing that struck me were the number of Canadians proudly displaying their colors through elaborate hats, scarves, jackets, and flags. It was a phenomenon that was described as "contagious patriotism". You couldn't help but smile at all the people enjoying their moment of national pride. Two of the major streets in downtown were closed to vehicle traffic, which opened them up to a plethora of street performers, artists, and Olympic displays. At any given time, there were approximately 100,000 people on the streets, so the combined energy was incredible! Our first true Olympic moment came while we were in a grocery store stocking up on supplies for the weekend. Like most stores in the city, there were multiple flat-screen TV's broadcasting the Olympics and at that particular time it was the finals of womens' 1000m speed skating. The Canadian woman ended up winning the gold medal by 0.02 seconds. It was the second gold medal for Canada in the games, and the whole store erupted in applause. Again, the sense of national pride was amazing.

After stocking up downtown, we boarded a light rail train and headed out to the suburb of Surrey where we had booked a room. Being the Olympics, the rate was over three times the normal going-rate at the Ramada, but it was still much more reasonable than anything closer to downtown. The lodging situation during these games had caused quite the controversy because the IOC had booked nearly all the hotel rooms in the city for VIPs and expensive travel packages. Staying an hour outside the city had its drawbacks, but the public transit system was very efficient and always available (albeit packed solid during peak times). One interesting thing about the rail system is that all the trains are operated remotely, so there are no operators on-board. This allows for some unique views from the primo seat in the house. From the light rail, we took a bus about 15 minutes out to the hotel. The great part about the room was that it had two separate 40-inch LCD TV's so that we could watch, of all things, the Olympics! We spent Friday night watching the hockey game between Switzerland and Canada when the Canadians barely squeaked by with a win by a single goal in the shoot-out. We went to bed early to get ready for our Friday adventures.