The entire country has transcended upon Vancouver! It is absolutely nuts here. I’ve never seen crowds like this! Sometimes it’s hard to just walk across the street with all of the mobs and mobs of people. It’s been really neat to see how excited all of Canada is for these Games, and how much fun everyone’s having.
The costumes and flags and signs are hilarious, and people are just swarming the streets at all hours of the night. My hotel is right in the middle of the action, just a block from Robson Square, and I have to wear earplugs to fall asleep at night. Even at 2:00 am there are people chanting “CAN-A-DA, CAN-A-DA,” and hooping and hollering. One night there seemed to be a marching band outside, or at least a full drum set!
Minus the noise late at night, it’s been great – just fun to be a part of and experience. The passion for sport and pride for Canada is beyond anything I’ve seen at any other Games. It’s a 24 hour party!
It’s also been crazy to see how long people will wait in line to see anything Olympic-related. Every day and night, the lines stretch along the streets of downtown Canada, winding from one block to the next, a human snake of Canadian gear and red mittens. Some of the waits are upwards of six hours! These are people waiting to get into any of the many pavilions: Alberta House, BC Pavilion, Canada House, Four Host First Nation House, Heineken House, Molson Place House, you name it.
Not sure if you can tell, but here are two different lines three blocks away from the pavilion, which is below…
The longest consistent line I’ve seen is to get into the Royal Canadian Mint, where you can see and touch an Olympic medal. My hotel is a few blocks away, and this morning when I woke up the line wrapped around my block. People are beginning to line up at 5:00 am, and in just 10 days, they’ve already welcomed 61,000 visitors. The SuperStore isn’t much different, and those are just two of the many exhibits and houses and venues where queues are constant and long.
Just the same, all of the country houses are quite a hit. Irish House is especially rowdy, and it’s right across the street from USA House. The difference – it’s open to the public. There may be no Irish athletes competing here, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a reason to celebrate! People pay $20 to get in and a $12 a beer, packed into this little tent…
You should see this line at night!
Speaking of houses, I found myself at Germany House, or Deutsche Hause, on Friday night with my colleague Nicole. We totally stuck out! I guess our Team USA gear was a bit of a sign, but everyone was extremely welcoming and showed us a good time.
Along with our true German beers (they shipped in kegs from Germany), we were adventurous with the food, trying bouillon with liver dumplings, and of course German bratwursts and apple strudel. Pigs feet in Beijing and liver dumplings in Vancouver! We enjoyed the entertainment – it was Bavarian night after all. On top of the instruments you can see in this photo, there were guys like the one standing spread across the stage with these long, 25-foot whips, snapping them on the ceiling to the beat of the music. Never knew that was a tradition!
Here are those lovely Germany outfits that are getting quite the critiques…
And then of course we had to be cheesy and take the bobsled photo! We brought in our beers because it seemed like the German thing to do, but then they said that we were the first!
So to even out my time spent in Germany, I went to a Canadian bar yesterday for the final minutes of the Canada vs. USA hockey game. I was kind of nervous going in as an American, so I took off my Team USA jacket to blend in. But I didn’t even need to! There were actually quite a few Americans, and while the crowd was extremely raucous, everyone was getting along just fine and having a great time.
Hockey fans are passionate! Fans from both teams were going crazy. It was 10 minutes of the most heart-stopping hockey I’ve ever watched, especially being packed in with so many fervent fans. There were cow bells ringing, people yelling, bodies jumping up and down, feet pounding. It was definitely the right place to be to experience that game though, and if the teams match up again, I’m planning on a similar trip.
Today I’m off to Whistler, and I’m looking forward to checking out the alpine and Nordic events.
1 comment:
Oh how I miss a good German Beer. How fun!!!!
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