and it keeps going, and going

Made it down to the Parliament Buildings today to watch the Paralympic torch come through Victoria. It wasn't nearly as busy as it was back in October when I watched the Olympic flame relay, but it was still exciting.

I watched as one man ran the torch up from the Causeway to the steps of the Parliament Buildings. He was greet by dignitaries, and - really the reason I was there - Rick Hansen. Rick was born in Port Alberni, here on the island. He was an all-star athelete in 5 sports when at the age of 15, he was in a vehicle accident that left him in a wheelchair.  Rick became known  when, inspired by Terry Fox, he embarked on his Man in Motion World Tour on 20 March 1985 from Vancouver. Although public attention was low at the beginning of the tour, he soon attracted international media attention as he progressed on a 26-month trek, logging over 40,000 km through 34 countries on four continents before crossing Canada. He returned to Vancouver's BC Place to cheering crowds of thousands on 22 May 1987 after raising $26 million for spinal cord research and quality of life initiatives. (content borrowed from Rick Hansen's Wikipedia page)

He got to enter BC Place again in the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, bringing the Olympic flame into the building. And today I got to watch him carry the Paralympic flame in Victoria. It's pretty awe-inspiring.

I had forgotten my camera in my office on Friday, and didn't give myself enough time to pick it up before the event, so the pictures are all from my cell phone. I'm hoping I'll get the names of the other torch bearers from the news later...

Duane Sheeper is carrying the torch up the from Lower Causeway where it had travelled over from the Laurel Point on a dragon boat

 

Duane Sheepers is the torch bearer on the far right, with Rick Hansen in the wheelchair to the left. And that's Gordon Campbell, Primier of BC in the white & red sweater.

 

  

The exchange of the flame

 

  

Rick now has the flame

  

Rick Hansen is passing the flame over to the next torch bearer, Shannon Langevin. They held their torches together as the crowd sang "Oh Canada"

 

Shannon Langevin carries the flame back down though the Lower Causeway...

Fever, of the Olympic variety

Wow - that was a whirlwind trip that totally exceeded my expectations in some ways, and not in others.

During work on Friday, Kim and I decided that we'd head over to Vancouver just for the day on Saturday and take in all the sights that the 2010 Olympics have to offer. Since we wanted a full day there, we decided we wanted to get the second ferry over. That meant arriving at the bus depot at 5am, boarding the 7am ferry and arriving in downtown Vancouver at 9:30am - 4.5 hours of travel there.

We ran into our friend Chrissie on the ferry - she was meeting up with friends from college who were nice enough to come out and pick her up from the terminal. We enjoyed a delicious ferry breakfast (I actually do enjoy them!) and finally got to see the sun rise!

We got dropped off at the Art Gallery and there was already a line around the block. Kim and I decided to head towards the water to find the cauldron housing the Olympic flame. My friend Noah had been there earlier in the week and said it was worth waiting in line to have access to the viewing platform. Surprisingly, we waited less to see it on a Saturday than he had on a weekday - only half an hour!

 

 

 

We didn't have tickets for any events, but that morning on the bus, we talked it over and decided we'd head to Canada Hockey Place (GM Place) and see if we could either buy tickets at the booth (they said they might release small amounts of tickets right before events) or just see if any where for sale on the street. We decided that we'd pay up to $100 to watch an Olympic hockey game... the first scalper we ran into said he didn't have any in that range - we began to fear the worst. The next scalper we past was actaully too sketchy for us to even want to talk to - we just kept walking. We then came to another fellow (are there no woman scalpers?) and he started the sales pitch the moment we walked past. He had a great pair of tickets, just perfect for us. The game was Switzerland vs Norway - starting in 45 minutes. They were good seats - A level (tickets were sold in various price ranges when they were release, based on how good the seats were. A levels were always the best, and most expensive). Face value for these ones were $140, but he'd let us have them for for $130. He gave us the tickets to look at.... Ok - good deal, he'll part with them for $125. Kim and I turn the tickets over and over in our hands - are they real? How do we know? $120 - awesome seats, above the glass in the main bowl. I feel daring - I ask for them for $100 each... He brings it down to $115 and we decide to dive in. If they're fake - well, it'll have been an adventure. If they're real - we're happy with the price and off to a better adventure.

We traded cash for the tickets and set off down the path towards the game. We walked for about 20 minutes, passed another dozen or more scalpers and thousands of boisterous fans towards the gates. We texted our friends saying we might be watching a game - didn't want to get ahead of ourselves until the tickets were scanned and we were inside the building. We made it through the security checkpoint - had our bags checked after the scanners found containers in them. They checked out our water bottles and waved us through. Up the stairs and back down again, up another set and towards the door. We gave each other a nervous glance and held our tickets out to be scanned. SUCCESS!!! There were no bells and whistles proclaiming them to be fake. Our money was well spent and we gained access to the arena.

Our seats really were great - we had a great view of the ice, the TSN sportscasters and were surrounded by loud Norwegian fans - that helped me pick which team I'd be supporting.

I don't think we could have asked for a better game - tied 1-1 at the end of the 1st period, 2-2 at the end of the 2nd, and 4-4 at the end of the 3rd to send the game into overtime! Woooooo hooooo! Switzerland ended up taking home the win half way through that 5 minute round and the building erupted. We even ran into Lexi and Jenn during the first intermission - they were decked out in Canadian gear and cheering loudly for the Swiss.

For some reason, we were even entertained during the game by this poor little kangaroo that made it's way around the arena at least twice. It was kicked, pummeled and subjected to other unmentionable acts along the way. Is there a rivalry between Canada & Australia that I'm not aware of?

We headed back out into the sunshine and spend a few hours wandering around the Granville & Robson area. Watched the zipliners, checked out the many buskers and weaved in and out of the crowds. In a way, we felt like we were back home on the causeway in the midst of a busy summer tourist season. I think the days are quite different from the nights in Vancouver. I expected to see seas of people all breaking out into random cheers and chants - feeling the Olympic spirit all around. But it wasn't like that for me. Even when we were in line for the cauldron we could hear the whispered conversations of a couple 5 people away. We saw a few of the pavillions and country houses, but the lines were starting at 3 hours, and we didn't have that time to spend in line.

We ended up down by False Creek where a sea of inukshuks have been constructed - very cool! We had dinner at the Casino on the water and enjoyed the people watching.

Our day was coming to an end, so we headed over towards Science World - the bus depot is only a few blocks past that. We knew we had to be at the depot an hour before the bus departed, and we got there even earlier, as we were expecting big crowds. There were a few groups in line ahead of us at 6pm, the bus left at 7:20, got to the ferry at 8:05. We got to wait on the bus til we loaded on the 9pm ferry, and made it back to downtown Victoria by 11:30pm - 5.5 hours in transit and waiting.

We spent 9 hours that day waiting for a bus or ferry, or being on a bus or ferry. Insane. And tiring!

But oh so glad we went! Go Canada, Go! I'm proud of how it's all playing out over in Vancouver, and glad I made a point of being part of it.

Olympic Bound!

Wooo hooo! Ok - no more complaining about not buying tickets in advance. I'm just going to suck it up and go celebrate with the crowds. Kim and I are hoping on a 5:45 am bus tomorrow, on the ferry, and into downtown Vancouver by 9:30am. It's supposed to be clear sunny skies tomorrow (even a high of 10! lol) so we'll stay outside for most of it, and partake in the Olympic spirit everyone says is flowing over there.

I only have one goal, and that's to get photos of and with the Olympic cauldron. Apparently they've put in a viewing platform now, so you can get photos without the chain link fence spoiling them. A friend who was over yesterday said the wait for that was only 45 minutes, so we'll brave it.

Anything free (and most things that aren't) will involve an hour + wait to get in. I've done my HBC shopping here so won't be partaking in the epic 1hr + wait to get in the store, and another 1hr + wait to get through the tills. Phew!

Hopefully I'll have some great stories and pictures to share come Sunday!

Olympic stress

It can be hard watching some of these competitions. The quickness of speed skating has me tensing every race - the false starts, the tight corners, photo finishes - it can be too much! But I enjoy it, and even find myself moving side to side, mimicking their motions as I watch it on the couch.

Then you have the skiing, in which I think I've seen as many crashes as amazing finishes. My heart breaks for those who've trained and trained and travelled all this way, only to not finish a race after a fall or an out of bounds error.

Last night's Canada vs Switzerland men's hockey game? I almost couldn't watch. I was texting my fears back and forth with Gwen - trying to comfort each other. When we won the game in the shootout, I wasn't cheering for the win, but simply breathing a sigh of relief - it was just too close!

Fortunately, I had my men's figure skating to turn to. My newly-discovered favourite skater, US's Evan Lysacek, was in second place after Tuesday's short program. He is a tall fellow - 6'4" I believe, and he moves with such strength and grace on the ice. He skated first in the last group of 6, and what a skate it was. If there was a perfect program last night, he had it. Not only are his jumps strong and fast, but inbetween them he moves with such emotion and artistry. It's a performance, not just an athletic feat. And he was recognized for that by the judges and he took home gold - so well deserved!

One of the last of the night was another favourite of mine - US's Johnny Reid. It's his personality and outgoing style that won me over. While his performance was technically clean, he doesn't seem to have the same footwork inbetween the jumps. Something abundantly clear after having seen Evan perform. He didn't get high enough points to make the podium, and the crown in Vancouver weren't happy about that. They began to boo, and Evan stood up and began to make a motion for them to quite. He seemed happy with how he'd done, and didn't want to hear the boos.

Last night had some great skating, but was dissapointing from the costume angle. No over the top ones like the short program. But Johnny made me laugh out loud when I saw him waiting for his results wearing a fan made (tossed down to the ice for him) rose head piece and holding a bouquet marked with a J. You go Johnny!

Canada's Patrick Chan finished in a respectable 5th position. He didn't do as well as he could have on his jumps, but he's only 19 and has many more years of this ahead of him. It was a learning experience and I'm sure we'll see great things from him in the years to come.

Olympic fun!

I am kicking myself for not investing in tickets for any of the Olympics... but they were really expensive and I wasn't hyped when they went on sale. I'm doing my best to catch all the activity online while at work, or on tv at home. The office is pumped for the games, so it's easy to have a window open in case there are any medal events, like yesterday's women's snowboard cross. We watched Maelle win the gold live - so amazing. How she must have felt winning gold in her home city!

Last night I watched the men's short program figure skating on tv, and LOVED the costumes some of them wore. I knew I had to talk about a choice few here...

First up, currently in second place after the short program, Evan Lysacek (USA). As soon as he came on screen, the thought "this is what Severus Snape would have worn had he gone into figure skating as a youth, instead of potions and Voldemort!". Accurate, no? ** Update - forgot to mention that this outfit is a one-piece designed by Vera Wang. Yes, THAT Vera Wang. Amazzerballs!**

Also from the US, Johnny Weir. He is extremely flamboyant and has a HUGE fan base. My favourite moments came after his performance. There was a Lady Gaga song (Bad Romance) playing in the background and he started dancing to it while waiting for his score to come up. He speaks fluent Russian and English and blew kisses like crazy to his fans. He owned this outfit, from the corset style leather featuring pink lacing and sheer shirt, to the hot pink shoulder tassle right down to his sheer fabric covered pinkies!

Tomas Verner (Czech) was paying homage to Greece with his outfit and music choice. I thought it was great, but what pushed it over the top... the sheer white fabric flowing on his right arm. It adds a little something something when it's fluttering in the breeze, don't ya think?

And I saved the best for last - Italy's Samuel Contesti. This 6'4" Italian is very pleasing to the eyes (noticed a weddign band there though - pout!), yet I expected an Italian to be dressed better than this. Dirty overalls - in a light wash denim no less! What was he thinking?! At least he made the effort to add the details of matching cuffs and overall lining to his plaid shirt. It helps redeem him. And fashionista Johnny Reid enjoyed it! (I wonder if he enjoyed the man wearing it more - hehe). Johnny said, prompting much laughter from reporters, "I thought it was very fashion forward and a very big risk, even riskier than man cleavage and a pink ruffle."

I can't wait to see what they come wearing tomorrow night for the long program/free skate!