You'd never know all that was going down
Just 45 minutes south in the city
The crowds and events making the streets all pretty
Hahahaha...what a lame poem. Well at least I tried (mental note...stick to the sciences hahahaha)
On Sunday, my friend Ian and I went down to Vancouver to see all the events that were happening downtown. The weather was great, the roads had no traffic. The day started out great. As we enter the city from the Lion's Gate Bridge, we were welcomed with a few people smiling and holding Happy Valentine's Day posters. It filled my heart with happiness and joy.
We started our day by GM Place and the Edgewater Casino, right next to chinatown. Since it happened to be Chinese New Years as well, there was a huge celebration happening right in front of the casino. There was a huge stage with local bands, a farmers market, and booths full of free stuff you could win.
On our way over to downtown, we passed by many Olympic Venues and tourist attractions. One of the coolest things I saw while walking around was this huge sphere sculpture that had the word Welcome written in all different kinds of languages. There were also different "houses" for different countries. We didn't get to see all of them but we did get to see the Irish house and the German house as well as seeing a museum for the first nations of Canada. They were all really awesome!
Walking down Granville St. was when we finally got to see the popularity of the events. The streets were PACKED! But they were packed with excitement. Giant art sculptures and Olympic photo booths lit up the pathway on Granville St, all very colorful and fun.
Robson Street was the place to be! All the roads intersecting were closed off so that it created a pedestrian walk way. There were people everywhere! But it wasn't like the unpleasant crowded feeling that you experience at concerts. Everyone was in good spirits! People were waving flags from their home countries, watching street performers, checking out the local musicians, and overall enjoying themselves.
As we were walking down Robson, we came across this street performer name Dom-o-mite...or something cheesy like that. With his multi-colored hair, tattooed arms, and bright orange socks, he preformed some really cool balancing and juggling tricks (Even one where he balances a bicycle from his mouth!). He had to be one of the funnest street preforms I had ever seen. His jokes were about everyday things, not like other performers who seem to use variations of jokes used in the past. What was really cool was that he chose Ian as one of his assistants in the show. The entire time he was bashing on Ian for being American but it was all in good fun. hahaha.
Also, while walking down Robson, we came across a street performer painted in bronze paint, trying to disguise herself as a statue. I wiggled my way through the crowd surrounding her to get a quick pic :)
We ended the day seeing the Olympic Flame which laid beautifully along the coast of the city. Seeing the flame up close was like a dream come true. And knowing that it came all the way from Greece just blew my mind.
Overall, visiting Vancouver really made the Olympics feel like they were actually happening. It's funny how little we hear about the events happening, other than what is said on the tv and radio. It made me realize how quite and peaceful it is in Squamish and how little people are celebrating. It was great to see people from all over the world having such a great time. And Vancouver (or more of BC) has become my second home so I was so happy to see all the people enjoying our city. :)
Later this week I am heading to Whistler to see all the excitement that is going on up there. I even might attend one of the events. Yay!
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