VANCOUVER 2010

Since it's been 1 yr this last weekend since the Closing Ceremonies, I thought it might be time to blog about our trip there. Why not, Eh?

When they announced, way back when, that the Winter Olympics were coming to Vancouver. I thought....no way am I going to fight my way through the crowds. The WHOLE world will be there.

When it came down to it.... it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Right in our backyard. Jeanette and I decided to go VERY last minute. We were the only ones with passports and it was the very last weekend. I love being spontaneous. We had no event passes or anything. We just thought we'd go enjoy every second.

We just went for the last Saturday. The day before the closing ceremony. It was crazy to just drive into another country. Never done that before. Someone else has either driven or we've taken the ferry. It was a little nerve racking. I obeyed the speed limit exactly. Just after the border crossing, there was a big tourist building...thing. We stopped and talked to some officials who gave us all kinds of maps and advice. Thank goodness. We parked at a huge casino. It even had the subway station right there. So easy. We bought a day pass and we were on our way. It was about a 10 min ride into the city. The first place we stopped was at the torch. We stood in line for at least 45 min. That was just to get a better, more picturesque view without the giant chain link fence in the way. It was awesome. You could feel the heat radiate from it.

After the torch, we walked around downtown. We stopped at a crepe shop for lunch time ....deliciousness. We also poked our heads into a few souvenir shops. Prices were OUTRAGEOUS! We're not big on souvenirs anyway.

Many countries had what they called "houses" places you could go in and learn a little about their culture. We were only able to find the Canada house. Inside they had all the history of their Olympians, and an Olympic ice skater signing autographs. Wahooo! This gentleman was Emanuel Sandhu.

Being new to this whole Olympic experience I had no idea what these pins were about. Every place you went, almost, they gave you a pin. That's where we got most of our souvenirs, and they were FREE. Sweet. We have a Canadian flag pin, and a pin from Manitoba. Not much compared to a lot of people parading around.

Toward evening we made our way to Granville Island. There was this little home decor store called "Benedict's". They weren't too nice. They were trying to close up. Shame. I really wanted to buy something from Benedict's and hand them my card

We finally found a restaurant that was not so crowded. It was awesome. It was while we were there that the Canadian hockey team won the gold. And rightly so! The whole place was on their feet, on the tables, cheering and screaming! Then came the national anthem and every one was singing. We sang as much as we knew. It was the perfect way to end the night.

It was a long night after that. Slowly making our way home. I got so tired, we stopped at a few rest stops and finally mozzied in at about 4 am. Ahhhh beddddd!

Loved this sign. Loved being in a country that had everything in English and French.