Much ado about much: Jim & Jean go to the Olympics

The Flame!

Well we didn’t really go to the Olympics, just to Vancouver to see the sights. Inspired by a local columnist, Jack Knox, we and half of Victoria decided to do the patriotic thing and make the supreme sacrifice by going to Vancouver to wave the flag. And also like everyone else from Vancouver Island we forsook our car and took public transit. You’ve probably picked up the implication that there were a lot of us. Over the weekend (we are WAY too smart to have gone on a weekend) the foot-passenger traffic on the ferries was overwhelming, at one point leaving 600!!!! passengers behind. The ferry terminal is not an airport, no lounges, and the expectation is that most folk will have a car to sit in, which of course these people didn’t have. Some have complained that BC Ferries should have done better planning but how were they to anticipate that a) Victorians would break down and go to Vancouver and b) they would go on foot? I/we think they’ve been pretty good about putting on extra “flights” and keeping us moving. But the numbers have been staggering; keep in mind that our ferries carry upwards of 2000 passengers.

Early ferry rider

Building wraps everywhere

That was an aside, the main story being that we went yesterday, Monday Feb 22, and had a fabulous day despite the hesitation when the alarm went off at 5:00am. Thanks to the ferry website we figured out where and how to park at Swartz Bay and joined about 500 red-mittened and like minded folk for the 7:00 ferry which got us to Tsawwassen at 8:40am. We bought seats on the PCL bus which drove us off the ferry and deposited us outside the Art Gallery 45 minutes later but we also got day passes for Translink which we used all day and to get back to Tsawwassen. Another aside is that PCL and Translink send extra buses to the ferry when their agents let them know they’ve sold more than the usual number of tickets so there isn’t a wait for a bus and that all this organizing takes place on the ferry.

We spent the day just wandering and being part of the crowds and hype that has marked these games as unique and un-Canadian. We may have to redefine ourselves from reserved to über unreserved. Our first stop was to the torch at the waterfront and we can’t figure out what the complaints were about. Sure the sightlines from street level were improved by the time we got there, but it didn’t seem like the chain link fence would have been much of a problem. We thought we might go to the Mint but the line-up to see/touch the medals was two blocks long and I figure they’ll probably keep a set for their archives so we can see them later.

Outside the Mint

On TV the medals look huge! Another super long line-up was to get into The Bay (open 24 hrs till the end of the Games) for Olympic paraphernalia. Has ever a retail store/chain made such hay over an event? The marketing has been brilliant; as soon as Oprah said she wanted a pair of mittens The Bay sent her 300 for the studio audience. I really want one of the red and black checked scarves but doubt I’ll get a special delivery from HBC. And the knit sweater that I didn’t buy three weeks ago thinking they might go on sale? Forget that pipe dream.

The Bay: the building wrap and the line-up

We went to Canada House and were there when the Stanley Cup made a guest appearance, and we went to Robson Square and Robson Street where the crowd was thick and happy. There lots of police in evidence, but having fun and chatting with the throng.
Belgium has loaned Vancouver a tram that runs back and forth from the Canada Line to Granville Island for free but sadly will terminate after the Paralympics. We lined up for it and everything else but it was all good and the day was perfect.

Granville Island

Does this even look like Vancouver?

At 3:30, standing on Robson Street, we decided we were tired enough to head home (how do people stay until midnight?) figuring there wasn’t much chance of making the 5:00 ferry but we’d give it a shot. So we elbowed our way the 4 blocks to the Canada Line station, got off at Bridgeport 20 minutes later and directly onto a 620 express bus to the ferry which pulled into the terminal at 4:30. All of this detail is tedious if you don’t live in Victoria but for us it is something of a Miracle Tale because it worked! We learned this morning that, in keeping with our blissful good fortune, the decision to come home at that point was the right one. The foot traffic was huge for the next two ferries with people left behind again and that despite it being a foot crowd like we had never seen before on our ferry.

To cap off our perfect day we were in front of the TV drinking a very nice bottle of wine, thank you Mary & Sydney, in time to watch Virtue and Moir in their exquisite gold medal ice dance, which if you missed you really missed out.
And yes, I am stiff and sore after only 6 hours of walking and standing.

Robson Street

Magnolia Tree on Robson Square