An Olympic Journey – Day 2
We had an amazing evening over at the Richmond Ozone, but Wednesday was going to be our first full day in Vancouver for the Olympics. As mentioned yesterday, we did not have any tickets for the various events as this was a last minute decision to head down. But we were going to just part of the atmosphere and see many of the free celebration sites.
Before I go any farther however, I have to give a HUGE shout out to www.citycaucus.com They published a guide to the free events and celebration sites around Vancouver which was instrumental to our planning and having a great time. This information was vital and fantastic for us. So thnx goes to the team over there. Please give them a look see if you have found your way here. You won’t regret it!
We started this day off by heading over to the Richmond Ozone. Hey, why not? It was only a block away from where we were staying and on our way to the skytrain! Once inside we decided (actually I had it planned out) to visit Heineken House. As mentioned yesterday, Shannon did a year as an exchange student in Holland so she really has an affinity with anything Dutch. I knew she would really want to go inside so I made sure we did just that.
While in Heineken House, Shannon took part in a Dutch Olympic quiz. She didn’t do too badly only getting 2 wrong. Shannon and Kaleigh also did a virtual bobsled run. Little did we know that this experience would start a lovefest for Kaleigh towards the bobsled. Kaleigh did really good on the bobsled run. They were keeping track of the best times on the run and the times posted (top 10 or 15) ranged from 1:21 to 1:24. Kaleigh, without help from Mom other than helping her sit up and see out the top of the bobsled, finished with a time of 1:29. Meanwhile, Shaelyn and I just soaked it all in and took lots of pictures.
After Heineken House we headed over to BC street 
which wasn’t quite open yet, but we got a preview of what we would see later. Shannon spotted the Icewine tasting and marked that for later use! So we hiked on over to the skytrain
station and got ready to head in to downtown Vancouver. Our Destination: The Olympic Cauldron!
Even getting on the skytrain at the terminus didn’t guarantee all of us a seat! There were lots of people looking to head downtown. And at $9 for an all day pass, you really can’t beat the skytrain. Despite not getting a seat, it still was the best way to get to downtown and not have to worry about traffic or parking!
So we ride the skytrain all the way to the terminus at Waterfront and the first place we head to is a little “park” where we can get a good view of Canada Place. Canada Place is going to be key to us next year when we take a 
cruise with Disney Cruise Lines. We are going to be bringing the Disney Wonder up from LA to Vancouver and then we are going to take the ship up to Alaska and back. Canada Place is going to be “home” for the Disney Wonder while it is in Vancouver. We took a few pics there to show our friends who will be on the cruise with us.
Of course, the main thing we went to see was the cauldron. And despite all the problems with the fencing and lack of access, I have to admit I was still pretty awestruck by it all. It was a nice clear day and the sight of the flame was nice to behold. 
I could have spent all day there trying to get the perfect shot easily. However, I’m sure Shannon and the girls would have killed me. As is I took quite a few pictures, and those coupled with the pictures Shannon and Shaelyn took, we ended up with quite a few pics of the cauldron considering our time there.
But it is just such an awesome sight. Not necessarily because of the architecture or the artistry of the item, but more for what it represents. Until these Olympics I always saw the torch and the flame as just another piece of fire, but now having been touched by the torch relay and seeing the cauldron, I have to admit the flame and what it stands for means that much more.
After viewing the cauldron we headed down to Gastown to take in the sites there. We went by the German Fan Fest pavilion and stopped and bought some chocolates in a store. We went in a few tourist shoppes and discovered that the stores there were selling Olympic paraphernalia at a much lower cost than many of the Olympic stores themselves. So we bought a few trinkets and continued on our way.
We decided we were going to check out Canada’s Northern House and the Royal Canadian Mint as they were close to Gastown but we needed a bite to eat first. So while Shannon was getting us some sandwiches at a little sandwich shop, Kaleigh, Shaelyn and 
I saw these “bobsledders” that were posing for pictures. Of course Kaleigh was in without even having to be asked. She seemed to be in all her glory getting to sit inside the bobsled. The “street” sled was setup by www.offsetters.ca, a company that does carbon offsets for the Olympics. The guys were really nice and my girls really didn’t care about the environmental aspects, it was just neat to be in the bobsled!
At Canada’s Northern House it seemed to be a long lineup but the line moved quickly, however it moved in bunches as they let in groups at a time instead of single people. This made you stand in one spot for awhile but then you would move up quite quickly. We didn’t stand in line for very long before we were inside looking at the wolf, musk ox, polar bear and other items on display from the territories of Canada. There were some interactive displays of which the girls enjoyed making their own inukshuk and some live music playing. We saw lots and I really liked the descriptions of the northern games and thought it was a great contrast to the Olympic games being played.
When we left Canada’s Northern House, we headed up a block and got in line for the Royal Canadian Mint. There we
re actually 2 different lines: 1 to go in and see and touch the Olympic medals, and 1 to go in and see the gold room with the gold bar you could touch and lift up and the million dollar coin. The line for the medals was a 3 hour wait and the line for the gold room was 45 minutes. We chose the gold room. It was interesting seeing all the different coins the Mint has made and it was really fascinating to see how many different countries that our Mint actually makes coins for. The list was quite long. But my biggest question, was how come a 50 cent coin costs a lot more to buy than 50 cents?
Finishing in the Mint we walked up to Georgia Street and down towards BC Place. But before hitting BC Place we stopped and took a look at the First Nations house set up at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre lot. The building was interesting and they had some nice stuff out on display. We didn’t stay for the dancing as we had to keep moving towards LiveCity Vancouver which took place in a parking lot we knew well from parking and tailgating there before BC Lions games. Inside LiveCity Vancouver (which had the most security of any site we went to) there was the Canada Pavilion and the Manitoba Pavilion. Inside the Canada Pavilion there was yet 
another photo op with a bobsled and of course Kaleigh was all over that, and Shaelyn was game for it as well. In addition there was a display showing different skis from different “ages” and the evolution of the hockey helmet and even ice skates. There was a display case holding Gretzky’s Canada Cup jersey and the old Canada Cup trophy was on display as well. I had to take a picture next to “Rocket” Richard’s #9 jersey while the girls stood in line to get a picture with the Olympic torch. After that Kaleigh had to take a try at virtual hockey where she scored 3 goals out of 3 shots in a shootout!
We had a bite to eat after checking out the Manitoba Pavilion and then left Live City Vancouver and headed down to BC Place where we saw our first ever ATM on wheels. It was a van that had 2 ATM machines on the side of it that was parked near the sidewalk for people to use. 
We walked by the Alberta house but it was just a restaurant so we didn’t go inside. Instead we went to the Bell Ice House where we got to watch some different events that were on TV at the time as well as watch some videos on a few of the Canadian athletes. The coolest part of the Ice House was you were given earphones that plugged into wires hanging from the ceiling that enabled you to hear what was on the attached TV. It allowed them to have a whole bunch of TV’s on different sports without making it a real headache to be inside.
We left the Bell Ice House and headed up Robson Street. There was a brief stop at a candy store, but otherwise we just wandered the pedestrian streets taking in the lights, sounds and various interactive activities. It was a nice leisurely stroll to finish our day before heading back to Richmond on the skytrain.
Back in Richmond we stopped through BC street (it was open now) and Shannon wanted to try the Icewine tasting, so that was done as well. The icewine was very sweet but what I found surprising was how thick it was. I was expecting something like wine but I found out it was more like light syrup. Might have to bring a bottle on board the Disney Wonder when we sail in 2011. And then we finished up by going back inside the Richmond Ozone. We grabbed a little bite to eat and a bag of caramel corn for later, and just enjoyed the atmosphere. Then it was time to head for home as we knew the next day was going to be crazy long as well.
All in all I took over 16,700 steps (we had a pedometer keeping track) and if you think that Shaelyn probably takes about 2x that many and Kaleigh around 3x as many (just because of shorter legs) we walked lots! But we had a really good first full day. It was already a worthwhile trip and I was really glad Shannon had talked me into going.
To see more pictures from today feel free to head on over to our Picture Album website and feel free to leave a comment on the pics themselves if you so wish!
