We decided to brave the crowds and check out the Olympics in Downtown Vancouver on Friday. We had tried to get downtown on Thursday, but found no parking at the Park ‘n Rides for the Skytrain so we decided to give it a try on Friday, by driving all the way downtown! We parked close to where we used to live, and grabbed the train at the Broadway Station. The flowers and cherry trees are blooming all over the place. Not really Winter Olympics, but hey, we’re cool with that!

The trains were packed tighter than sardine cans, but nobody seemed to mind. Everyone was in a good mood. There were TONS of national flags from many countries. It was exciting and quite moving, really. We don’t often see such patriotism in Canada, but we saw so many Canadian flags, painted on faces, on hats, coats, and of course the mittens. People wore the flag like a cape – which Pam did too, of course!

We checked out the Cauldron, and it is MASSIVE. It stands 20 or 30 feet high, and is incredibly large. I didn’t think it would be so big, but man, it really dominated the skyline. There were just tons of people everywhere. The square was full, and people just kept coming!

We turned around and made our way up Granville Street. Granville is a major street in Vancouver, and it’s been shut to cars and other vehicles and it’s just loaded with people. The whole street is filled, and the sidewalks are overflowing too. There is a guy in a top hat and tails, doing card tricks. A musical duo, a drummer and a guitarist are playing Dire Straits. Guys on stilts make kids laugh with their antics. There are pin traders everywhere, with little stands with hundreds of pins from Olympics past and present.

People are in costumes everywhere. Canadian flags are over people faces, the Dutch are painted in orange, with orange jackets and orange pants. Russians are dressed in the real cool Russian jerseys, wearing outrageous red/orange wigs that make them look Shaun White, the USAs dominant snowboarder. Danes are wearing Viking helmets, blowing trumpets, draped in flags. The Swedes are resplendent in the blue and yellow of their flags.

Everywhere, people are happy, cheering, high fiving. They stop each other in the street to take pictures, posing for each other, outrageous, and crazy and happy.

We reach Robson Street, also close to traffic and we find the square behind the Art Gallery is filled to overflowing, people fascinated with the Zipliners… They have constructed a tower near the Law Courts, five stories high. You get in a harness and you fly across the square, across Robson Street to the side of the Art Gallery. Some people try to do flips, some simply scream! It’s truly something to see.

There is an outdoor skating rink, bigger than the one that used to be there, at the base of the Art Gallery. People can skate for free, bring your own skates, or get some from there. It’s a gas seeing them boogie around the place, young and old.

We grab a hotdog ($4 – 3.50 cheaper than at a hockey game!) from a street vendor and turn back onto Granville Street, meeting some crazy fans, dressed up like who knows what! There are huge displays of public art, and more pin traders. We offer some grapes to the cops doing traffic duty, but they decline with a laugh. The Bay has huge portraits of Olympic athletes, five stories high! Very very cool.

There are displays of Native Indian art all over. There are several pavilions with the Four Host Nations featured prominently all over downtown. We sample some delicious venison stew ($5), but have arrived too late for the bannock bread ($2) much to Pam’s disappointment! We make our way back to the Bay to check out the Olympic Super Store, but there is an hour’s wait to get in, so we decide to head home. It’s been an awesome day. I never dreamed it would be so much fun, but it’s very exciting. We will definitely be going down again. It’s just too much fun to miss!