a year in the future

A year ago it was Day 1 of the Trip... we'd arrived safely in Paris and personally I was excited but wondering how it was all going to go.

Well, a year later we all agree it turned out great. Too great, actually. Just the other day when Neal realized it was almost a year on he asked if we could go back to England.

I'm in his camp!

(and, sometimes... I can't quite believe it really happened)

photo set

I've uploaded some photos on flickr of our Vancouver2010 trip. You can take a look here.

our cultural olympiad

What else did we do? Well aside from wandering around downtown to experience the atmosphere, we managed to get Maeve over to her friend Jordan's for a sleepover, Joe and Neal went to see Avatar and Yvonne and Wendy saw Valentine's Day.

On Saturday, Neal and Yvonne begged off but Joe and Maeve ventured downtown into the Masses. Maeve really wanted to return and dance on the BC Hydro's dance floor (you could generate energy from jumping on the floor), and go Mink: a chocolate cafe where they had this decadent fondue:

They also walked over to Science World to see Russia pavillion (but it was closed). On the way they came across this spontaneous 'art installation':

The photo is kind of dark, but those are

many many inukshuks along the bank.

You know, we suspected as much during our trip last spring... but Maeve and Joe really do have similar energy levels. Maeve had enough energy (or interest) to accompany her Dad downtown after a sleepover and all it entails. Meanwhile Yvonne and Neal bonked from days of running around and needed to stay home and recharge. (after seeing the photos of Maeve and Joe's expedition Neal and I kinda wish we had more battery power...) (but let's be honest, every Mum knows that their child -- the day after a sleepover -- would've been an absolute bear if that Mum had accompanied their child... am I right?)

Yvonne tried the Virtual Elevation a couple of times. We could see the lights from Wendy's rooftop balcony so that was kinda cool.

One week in Vancouver just isn't enough...

at Whistler/Blackcomb

top of Harmony chair, 2115m

view across to 7th Heaven, Blackcomb

Neal at top of Harmony chair with Black Tusk in background

Neal beside a stunted, windswept, snow encrusted tree at the top of Symphony chair

and lastly: Marmot Run

Joe & Neal

Our last event was short track speed skating, which we made in time only because Wendy and Steven know their way around public transit. I think we made it through our Plan A route, our Plan B route and were onto our Plan C route, but we made it!

We happened to be sitting about four rows in front of Italian speed skater Arianna Fontana's family. After the semi-finals Steven and I warned Joe to stick close because it looked to us as though her Dad may have a heart attack. She won a spot in the finals by only 0.001 sec. and then went on to win Bronze. During the Flower Ceremony her brother was filmed screaming and waving an Italian flag... and if you take a look behind him in the crowd you'll see us! 0.4 seconds of us... so get ready with the pause button.

One of the events was the Men's Semi-Final 5000m Relay which was 45 laps of the rink. 4 countries per heat, 4 team members on each plus judges and a couple of ice 'maintenance' guys made for quite a crowded rink. We all agreed it was chaotic, but in an organized way. Always something to watch at least. Speed skating was the shortest event; we also all agreed that we could've sat and watched for another couple of hours.

But we made our way back home early so that Joe and Neal could get up to Whistler to ski today. Wendy managed to find the last two seats on any vehicle going up to Whistler for them, and even woke up at an ungodly hour to drive them to the Greyhound bus station. Joe texted us (!wow!) around 10am that they had just finished renting their gear and were about to hit the hills. (errrm, mountain that is)

Meanwhile Maeve, Wendy and I went for mani-pedis

and did some shopping in Kerrisdale before Wendy left for her volunteer driver shift. This is her first one since the Olympics began so hopefully it'll be a bit more exciting than her previous ones when she mostly sat around and read a book.

Yesterday was a long, long day. Up by 6am, on the bus by 7:30am. Joe got in trouble from the TransLink bus driver for dangerous jaywalking with his kids. In his defense he was only following his SIL... the local in the bunch. (Wendy and I still agreed with the driver, sagely nodding our heads though...)

First was Men's Curling from 9am to noon. But before that... security:

Neal and Maeve in the security line.

Security hasn't been a problem at all. Very quick, easy to figure out where to go, and you can't swing a cat without hitting a blue-coated very-cheerful volunteer who are all too happy to help you along.

in front of the Vancouver Olympic Centre

Canada v. Norway on Sheet B

(third sheet from us)

Neal and Maeve had been instructed to bring books because we thought they may get bored. HA! Not only did Maeve get to have three slices of excellent banana bread from the canteen, we got to stamp our feet on metal risers and do the Wave and cheer... we all agreed in the end that it'd been more exciting than the women's hockey. (you can take that whichever way you wish, I'll leave it up to you...)

Canada's team seemed to make a couple of goofs during the game. Maybe the pants did their job?? Regardless, the overwhelming opinion in the stands was somewhere between a snigger and a WTH?

We had tickets to the evening Victory Ceremony so we decided to wander around for a while. Here's a very wintery picture:

at City Hall

(proving we're at the uhhh, Winter Olympics)

(more cowbell!)

We wandered down to Canada Place and took in some atmosphere. Crowded atmosphere... (Russian sailors on the left are from a tall ship docked in the harbor.)

And we saw the cauldron, of course:

Although it was surrounded by fencing. Not sure if that was the original plan (seems like a bad plan if it was), or if they've had to erect it for security reasons...? Haven't been able to find out. Actually, we haven't 'heard' a lot of detail about the Olympic games, oddly enough because we're been busy attending some of the Olympic games.

And then that evening we went to BC Place with 20,000 others to see a Victory Ceremony.

We skipped out a bit early (sorry Barenaked Ladies) because we wanted to get ahead of the crowd... cuz it had been a long day!

Neal and Maeve watching the Olympics.

Neal, Wendy and Maeve in front of the UBC Thunderbird Arena.

Quatchi and Miga. Joe captured the essence of the moment, no?

(no one in our group would stand with them, so he captured strangers)

Maeve, Wendy, Steven, Neal and Joe. Go Sweden Go! Go Slovakia Go!

Sweden won. It was fun to be in a crowd of very enthusiastic fans!

'Summer' Olympics!

Well, we've arrived here in Vancouver for the 'Summer' Olympics.
I'm walking around in my Tshirt and the crocuses are starting to bloom. It can't be the Winter Olympics.

No problems getting here, but it was an awfully early start to the day. Neal and Maeve bounded into their sleeping parents bedroom at 4:30am. Fully dressed and chattering a mile-a-minute. Both airports were uncrowded, and we must've had a strong tailwind because we surprised Wendy by landing 40 min early. Our luggage was some of the first to circle the carrousel, no taxi queue to speak of and we were at her place within a half hour! It's like we were competing or sum'n... or maybe we're just well seasoned travellers now.

We're planning on doing a wee spot of shopping tomorrow morning (Joe wants to buy his own Blundstone's) (and Maeve just wants to shop. sqeeeeel!!) and then Women's Ice Hockey in the evening. Sweden vs. Slovakia. Considering the score between the Canada vs. Slovakia match (ouch!) I don't think I'm going out on much of a limb when I predict a win for Sweden am I?

Yvonne

next: Winter Olympics

Today is Day 1 of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, BC. We'll be leaving very bright and oh-so-early Sunday morning to start our Olympic experience.

We were lucky enough to get tickets for the following:
Mon Feb 15 from 7pm - 9:30pm; Women's Ice Hockey at UBC Thunderbird Arena
Tue Feb 16 from 9am - noon; Men's Curling at Vancouver Olympic Centre
Tue Feb 16 from 6:30pm - 9pm; Victory Ceremony at BC Place
Wed Feb 17 from 5pm - 7:15pm; Short Track Speed Skating at Pacific Coliseum

I'll letcha know how it goes...