The Winter Olympics

The city absolutely came alive during the Olympics. Above was a light installation over Sunset Beach. The view is of Burrard Bridge and Downtown.

 

Neil got to hold the actual torch on the morning of the Olympic torch relay at English Bay, where we live. (We both got up at 6am that morning and Neil took his bike to Stanley Park really early to see Arnold Schwarzenegger and Seb Coe carry the torch).

 

The art gallery during the Olympics. Free for the duration with some very good exhibitions including a selection of Leonardo DaVinci drawings. Whether it was worth the 3 hour line up, I didn't actually discover. 

 

Robson Square with its ice rink and twice nightly light show during the Olympics.

Science World. It became the Sochi House for the Olympics as this city will be hosting the next. 2 hour line up. 

  

This is a shot of our TV when Canada won the hockey gold. This was Live City. An open air celebration site with a 4 hour line up.

Another shot of the amazing installation that ran for the whole time.

Sebastian Coe handing the torch over to a young First Nations Lad.

The Olympic rings turned gold every time Canada won gold, which was often.

The cauldron of course.

A temporary zip line was installed over the city centre and yep, there was a line up, 8 hours. Seriously, people brought food and spent the day lining up for a 20 second zip across the street. I've yet to meet anyone who actually did this.

The hub of all the action. The Art Gallery and Robson Square.

The twice nightly light show at Robson Square.

The only house we managed to get into. It was the Saxony House, temporarily located in the Rowing Club in Stanley Park, far enough away from the main crowds to actually have no line up. It was a nightclub until 2am every night with German beers and roast suckling pig with sauerkraut and sausages.

More line ups. This time to get into the First Nation pavilion. I took some photos from outside of these dancers but didn't wait the 3 hours to go in.

Olympic spirit was alive and well. Just walking around the city was electrifying.

Canada Hockey House. THE place to watch the games, so they said. To achieve this you would need at least $99 per person entry, (not including food or drink). They did have some good acts there though, including a surprise set by Vancouverite Bryan Adams.

The Ontario Pavilion. Beautiful but inaccessible. (line ups). Can you see a pattern forming here? It seemed that some people joined line ups without knowing what they were waiting for, increasing the times in some cases to 6 or 7 hours, (just for some free tidbits). Even though the Games was an amazing time, for lots of the locals like us, they were also a time of frustration. We all worked during the excitement, so waiting in line to visit all the houses and attractions we had been told would be incredible for years, was not an option. It was a tourist's games which I imagine is what it's all about really.