Olympics! I can’t believe …

… I (Kent) got the closest parking spot to the sky train with 500,000 visitors in Vancouver!

 

(3 hours earlier, the morning of Feb 14th)

Kent and Kara decide to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Olympics. Brooke thought we were crazy when we told her!

We got on the sky train and headed downtown.  Once we got off we had to be on guard for pick pockets.

We found a line and just stood in it, without even knowing what it was for! (We’re such good Canadians, eh?) It turned out we were at the was the Live City Canada Pavilion. After 15 minutes, the line had snaked around the entire block! Good thing we got in when we did.

There were added security features, like airport metal detectors and police. But some of the extra security measures really got out of hand!

(To our relief, the tank wasn’t functional and the navy boys were only tourists.) While standing in line we got free gum with little flags on it.  If you are what you eat, then I guess we truly are Canadian! 

Once inside, Kara gave me a wink that can melt a man’s heart.

There were tryouts for the 2030 Olympic Bobsled team. Brooke showed potential but her inability to hold her own head up made steering very difficult.

They displayed the skis that the long jumpers use. They were huge!  (I’m actually bending at my knees to make them look even bigger – trick photography.)

An RCMP Mountie, who was just looking for trouble, saw our little girl drooling and figured that she was stone drunk at 9AM in the morning. She resisted arrest.

However, she got off with a warning when we explained that she was still breast feeding so any alcohol in her system was actually her mom’s fault. When they realized the mistake we all had a good laugh together.

We finally got to pose with the Olympic flame.

It also happened to be the Chinese new year, so we got to see some of their dances.

We left the Canada and Manitoba Pavilions and hit the streets.  It was amazing, the streets were almost all shut down so that foot traffic could use the asphalt. The streets were empty!

We then came across former Olympic medalists who were doing acrobatics in the street. They got incredible air time!

We stopped for lunch (some pigeons joined) and we ate on the steps of Vancouver Library on a very, very mild February day.

But of course, a meal isn’t enough to warm a soul, so you know where we had to go to next.

Last, but not least, we headed for the Sea Wall.

This is Kara’s favourite pic from the day.

We walked along the path until we found a train headed for …

… the olympic cauldron!  Thousands and thousands of people crowded towards the cauldron. Each pushing, trying to capture that perfect shot of the Olympic flame. I joined the over-anxious thronging mass, oozing with an unyielding desire to get that quintessential shot.

We used the zoom to peak through buildings …

we tried to use angles to capture the cauldron.

We stood on the meridian to try to peek over the fence …

We pushed our way to the only segment of the fence where there wasn’t any mesh (literally hundreds of people were pushing to a little strip only a few meters across)

Turns out the best way to get a good shot is just to download it off the internet! :)

Now wasn’t that better? (I mean why even travel – its all there on the internet anyhow!)

Then Kara and I sat down for a very wonderful dinner. Brooke, who had not made a peep all day, continued to be an absolute angel.  She was awake for the entire hour, just kicking in her stroller and cooing pleasantly to herself.

When got home, Brooke was still cheery(seriously the best baby on the planet), but then she conked out. She was spent.

The end of another wonderful Valentine’s day.