Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

Sometimes you just have to play tourist in your own city. With the Olympics arriving in Vancouver in February of 2010, it seemed like a great opportunity to play tourist, take in the city, and catch some Olympic events too. We had to wait 7 years after it was announced that we would host the Winter Olympics, and I had to wait almost a year after buying tickets to Men's and Women's hockey... but it was finally here.

Original bid logo Final 2010 logo

For almost half a year leading up to the Opening Ceremonies, an Olympic flame brought from Greece zig-zagged across Canada, it started on Vancouver Island, and then ended up on the East coast before returning to Vancouver. It was the longest torch run in history, and would stop at every city in Canada that has an elected official from the governing Conservative party. Funny how that worked out.

Finally on the way into Vancouver, the torch made a stop down the hill from us in Coquitlam. So we had to go check it out, a short walk later and we run into thousands and thousands that have come out to see the Torch. What was really great was how many kids all decked out in their Canadian red came out to see it, and cheer on the runners.

Chris Wilson, a local Coquitlam resident, who was an Olympic wrestler at the 1992 Olympic games came running past with the torch, and with a giant fanfare lit the cauldron at the celebration site in Mackin park. Politicians politicked and talked about a plaque that would be erected to commemorate this day. Then local school kids sang songs, and the crowd joined in to sing "Oh Canada".

On our way back to the car we passed one of the torch runners from earlier in the day, just someone that applied to be a runner, but what was really cool to see was all the people lining Brunette waiting to see the torch run past again.

On Friday February 12th the Countdown Clock at the Vancouver Art Gallery hit ZERO, and it was time for the opening ceremonies. With Arnold Schwarzenegger and other local dignitaries running the torch through Stanley Park and around downtown, the protesters trying to stop them, and the Opening ceremonies that would see 80,000 people cram into BC Place, it seemed like a good day to work from home.

On the opening weekend of the Olympics we headed out to Richmond on the skytrain's new Canada Line to meet some friends and check out the "O Zone". The O Zone is Richmond's centre for Olympic celebration, Huge TV's showing Olympic Events, a number of displays, activities, Nightly concerts and fireworks and information about British Columbia regions. It is also home to the infamous Holland-Heineken House, with it's long lineups. This is where the dutch and dutch-curious come to party.

On the day we were there it was Chinese New Year, so we got to enjoy the Gung Hay Fat Choy celebration.

One of the more interesting and funny displays was Slovakia's portable theater "Teatro Tatro". It was on the back of a flat deck truck, and the stage would open with performances celebrating/mocking each of the Olympic Events. We were lucky enough to be treated to the Snowboarding show. Synchronized snowboarding racing and tricks, combined with a hilarious look at the lifestyle of boarders.

O-Zone Astrology Winterland was a mixture of Chinese Astrological signs mixed with Winter sports.

After viewing the Ice Wall and meeting the real life Dudley-do-Right of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, we decided to forego the lineups for Ice Skating and Olympic based video games, and headed back to our friends hotel .

On the way to their hotel, we passed two impressive structures. The Richmond Olympic Oval building is an amazing piece of architecture, the colours and the shape are eye-catching, and the roof built out of Pine Beetle damaged wood is awesome.
Impressive in a different way is the Innukshuk constructed out of shipping containers.

We arrive back at the River Rock Casino & Hotel, just in time to see Alexandre Bilodeau win the Moguls competition and claim our first ever Olympic Gold Medal on Canadian soil... the casino floor went nuts when it was announced.

Worried about the mass of people, road closures, and skytrain mayhem, I got up early and headed downtown to work on the first Monday of the Olympics. Turns out the trains were running way more frequent, they were longer, and my commute in to work went way better than expected, in fact, way better than before the Olympics started.

As the Skytrain rounds the corner past Science World, the first thing you notice is the new landscape of False Creek, country and province pavilions (White Canvas tents) are everywhere and the park beside Science World is packed with fans of "The Colbert Report".

For 4 days Colbert is filming part of his show on the lawn in front of False Creek. I am starting to get a good feeling about the Olympics, the excitement is growing in the city, and there is a building telling me that everything is going to be alright.

For the first few days of the Olympics, Vancouver was a tropical rainforest due to El Niño, record breaking temperatures and way too much rain. Events were postponed, snow was trucked in, and general admission tickets had to be cancelled as people were falling through the slush into the hay beneath the viewing areas. Suddenly the rain stopped and for a full week it was clear blue skies and spring like weather. That's when I really decided it's time to be a tourist in my own city. Get up early and wander around the city before work.

First stop would be a wander past the International Broadcast Centre to the Olympic Cauldron. The view over Vancouver's harbour and Stanley Park here has always been amazing with Cypress, The Lions, Grouse and Seymour mountains as a backdrop, but add some floating rings and an Olympic Cauldron of Glass, Steel and fire and it is even more so.

The cauldron hasn't been without it's own controversy since Wayne Gretzky took the rainy ride in the back of a pickup truck from BC Place to ignite the flame. The next morning Vancouverites and international media were shocked to see that it was surrounded by a chain link fence. After days of bad press and protests they moved the fence closer, cut a 2 foot slot for taking pictures and opened up a new viewing platform to see it unimpeded. I got their early on the first day of the viewing platform and only had to wait about 10 minutes. It's not a bad wait as the views over Coal Harbour and Stanley Park are awesome on a sunny morning. When I got down from the platform the line was much longer and hour plus waits were the norm for the remainder of the Olympics... score!

After getting a nice RCMP officer to take my picture I gazed out over the harbour a bit more before heading back to Canada Place.

Originally opened for Expo 86 as the Canada Pavilion, Canada Place now serves as a convention center and Cruise Ship port, with it's signature sails it instantly became a Vancouver landmark.

Centered between Canada Place/Waterfront Station and Steamworks restaurant is the very popular German-fan-fest, a great place to celebrate with other German fans in an Octoberfest style environment, or to just have a Bratwurst and a Beer for Breakfast.

That's "German-fan-fest" not "man-fan-fest"

After Quatchi welcomes you on arrival at Waterfront Station, the most likely sight you will see is professional Pin Traders.

I don't understand the fascination and pricing of the pins, but everywhere you look are Pin Traders, they are set up with small tables full of pins of all-sorts. They travel from City to City to collect and trade rare and un-rare pins from Olympic events.

Who is Quatchi, you might ask? Quatchi is one of 3 Olympic Mascots, and one sidekick, he is a Sasquatch. Miga is a Sea Bear, Sea bears are part killer whale (Orca) and part Kermode/Spirit bear. Sumi is the Paralympic Mascot, he is an animal spirit that wears the hat of the Orca, flies with the wings of the mighty Thunderbird and runs on the strong furry legs of the black bear. Muk-Muk... the sidekick, is a Vancouver Island Marmot. People were protesting and creating petitions to make Muk-Muk an official mascot... weirdos.

Quatchi Miga Sumi Muk-Muk

The next morning I decided to get off early at the Main Street/Science World station to play tourist. Turns out the Russians have invaded Science world, and renamed it Sochi World, Sochi, Russia is the home of the Olympics in 2014.

Sochi World, BC Place and GM Place, errr... Canada Hockey Place are all nestled on the shores of False Creek. Temporarily located between BC Place (that large marshmallow looking stadium) and Sochi World is the Quebec Pavilion (Big Q), Saskatchewan Pavilion, Ontario Pavilion, and the most popular pavilion of all... Molson Canadian Hockey Place.

On the other side of False Creek, on what used to be Industrial lands is the brand spanking new Athlete's Village. A collection of condos with some of the best views of the city. The city had to take on some of the development costs, but based on the marketplace, and the glowing reviews by athletes, I don't think they will have any trouble getting their money back by selling them.

You can easily figure out which area of the village is occupied by which country as they hang their country flags on their balconies. Of course there has to be controversy, and there is a bit of an embarrassment when the Australian team hangs up their fighting Kangaroo, and the IOC tells them they have to take it down. After the media and the public rips on the IOC, they decide to let the Ozzies leave it up.

Even the shoreline is made interesting, someone has gone along the rocky shore and created hundreds of Innukshuks. I am surprised by a wild Cormorant takes a break from fishing to enjoy the scenery, just out of sight of the thousands of tourists.

The chiefs of the Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations agreed to coordinate their collective efforts to host and support the 2010 Winter Games. As a result, the Four Host First Nations Society was formed and they have a unique Aboriginal Pavilion.

The Canada Post Building is draped in a giant flag The Georgia Hotel is completely wrapped while being renovated

Along Georgia, and on Granville and Robson streets are major art displays and odd art displays, some are on buildings like the Bay, while others are on the now pedestrian streets, bringing the "Cultural Olympiad" to the heart of the city.

Throughout the city there are Welcome signs with Quatchi, Sumi and Miga welcoming you in all kinds of languages.

Since I already had done the daytime version of the Vancouver Harbour, after work I headed back in that direction to get the night version.

Back past Canada Place, past the International Broadcast Centre and it's floating planet, and into Coal Harbour. The lineup for the viewing platform was about 10 times as long as when I left the day before, so I didn't wait in line this time. I easily wound my way through the crowd to get a good angle on the Cauldron through the viewing slot in the chain-link fence. The cauldron structure is really quite impressive at night.

From Coal Harbour I walked back into the heart of the city and into Robson Square. First stop is the CTV studios, official broadcaster of the Olympics. They have set up a live studio in the middle of Robson Street, where they broadcast the news live, and show live footage.

Robson Street is closed to traffic for pedestrians, and Robson Square, once a dead shopping area with a closed down outdoor ice-rink, has become the hub for party central in downtown. It now has a newly refurbished Ice rink, live acts, and twice a night laser and fire shows.

They have set up a free Zip Line experience that takes you from one corner of Robson Square across the street to the Vancouver Art Gallery. It would be great to try it out, but the line up takes 5-6 hours... I don't have that much time for a 30 second ride.

The Front of the Vancouver Art Gallery has been wrapped in a traditional Taiwanese hand-painted mural art installation known as "A Modest Veil", as part of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad. The Cultural Olympiad brings nightly concerts along with the art installations. In front of the V.A.G. is two Olympic Countdown clocks, they were installed in 2007, three years of counting down to the big event.

7 days in and 4 gold medals (the Countdown clock doesn't show that) Not much longer before the Paralympic Games begin

My last stop that night before jumping on the skytrain would be to check out the "Sails of Light" display on the fabric sails of Canada Place. On one side coloured lights cycle through the primary colours, on the other side, the artwork of the Olympics is projected onto the fabric.

One of the craziest trends of the Olympics was these simple woolen Red Mittens. For $10 you could purchase a pair, with the proceeds going to Canadian athletes. Leading up to the Olympics and throughout the games they were near impossible to find. The Bay sold over 3 million of them, everywhere you went people were wearing Red Mittens, even when it was spring like weather..