other parts of town

I was reading an odd snippet of commentary from a foreign newspaper (foreign = non-Canuck) yesterday. The bit mentioned that there are parts of Vancouver the city and the Olympic organizers don't want people to see. Parts that are unsavoury (or, perhaps, too savoury).

Well of course. No, really. Why would they promote those areas or encourage people to go see them? I don't think that the city is being unreal - it has long had an especially deep problem with homeless and drug users and more thanks to its mild climate and its port setting (among other contributing factors). Moreover, it is a big city, and it contends with the same issues that bedevil other big cities.

Could Vancouver do more for the downtrodden among its population? Yes. And in some minds, I am sure, it can never do enough. I do find it odd, however, that the protests still go on. The money is spent, people. Horse, barn door.

Oh, I oversimplify. This blog is musings, after all, but hardly deep thoughts. Conrad and I, it should be added, are part of the gentrification of one of the poor neighbourhoods (so chide us or laud us as you see fit), owning a condo in an area that is sketchy at times though seemingly improving.

I was out walking early this morning, a favourite time of mine in cities. I had a quick errand, needing cash from a bank machine at our branch in Chinatown. Chinatown, once a glorious little area, suffers some. The newer and more affluent Chinese families live in Richmond and elsewhere. The drug users and mentally ill have been swept east from downtown through Chinatown and beyond. The sidewalks and buildings are grimier than they might be. At 7:00 on a Saturday, however, it's calm out, and with the sun having risen, the neighbourhood has its own haphazard glory.





We've seen a few foreign tourists in the area - we're not far from venues and some pavilions - and I do wonder what they make of it all. I would hope, at least, that they think not too poorly of the city. I don't think Vancouver deserves it, and where it has not done well enough for its citizens, well, let's hope it will do better by them in years ahead.

Brian is right

Brian is right: returning to winter in Chicago tomorrow will suck. Sorry. Strong words, I know. While I await boil-in-the-bag dinner's from ViJ's to finish cooking up, and before I open the lovely BC Pinot Noir we have to go along, I just have to sort of rub it in and sort of moan and grown wistfully that I'll be leaving this behind:

Sunshine, cherry trees (and other trees and bushes and bulbs) all in bloom.

Darn vacation, ending. Must. Win. Lottery.

Olympics as shopping experience

Well before the games began I was already gearing up, so to speak, shopping bit by bit for pieces of Olympic and Team Canada clothing and more. A great t-shirt for me, some requests from a friend whose brother will be at the Games, accessories for Conrad's family, even Olympics leashes for two terrific dogs.

Since I've been here, though? Oh, the fun of it all! More requests from friends (the scarf is sold out, sorry to say), mittens (the hot item of the Olympics, or so I've read). We've got scarves for ourselves, a tie for me, a sweater, jackets, long sleeve t-shirt, other gifts for friends, non-wearable things. Oh, the fun of it.

Oh sure, maybe a year from now all of us Canadians will feel slightly foolish, being so patriotic, wearing all this gear with our country's name emblazoned about. We're Canadian, after all, and we're rather meek and timid in our national pride. Ah well. I'll still wear mine and think fondly of a great week in Vancouver. May all my friends who are getting some items think fondly of me, of the city, of the Games as well.

hockey

My sister Marie gave me and Conrad a very generous gift two Christmases ago: tickets to go with her to see an Olympic hockey game.

OK, I'll pander a moment to stereotypes: I don't follow hockey (or football, or baseball) much. Fleetingly - enough to have some conversation about rankings or standings. So yes, let's make jokes about the gays not following sports for a quick moment.

Got that out of your system?

Good. Now re-set. I do like sports, a great deal. Hockey, though, eludes me. I never played it as a child (I barely skated at all - non-frozen water is my medium). I don't know the rules. It always looks to me like a bunch of people skating randomly with no set plays, no strategy. Chaos and chance. It alternately bores me and bugs me because of those aspects.

Heresy from a Canadian, right? Hey, at least I can get a grasp on curling!

Still, live events are always different than watching them on television, I like spending time with my sister when we're here in Vancouver, and as it turned out, she had picked up some pretty good seats.

Two other things:

• Conrad had never been to a hockey game - I've seen NHL games in a few cities myself.
• The Swedes were playing, and so we knew who we were rooting for. In fact, because two star Swedish players are also Canucks, it was like a home game for the Swedes against Germany. And, certainly there were German flags and face painting in the arena, but the yellow and blue of Sweden was oh-so-visible.

Conrad and I left curling (more on that in another post) early to get to the game. Loads of people being funneled through check points, but it all kept flowing, and in short order, we were with Marie and her friend Gavin. Regalia on, a light snack (no beer for us, but Marie enjoyed her own cup, and we stole some of her pretzel later).

And then the game.














You know what? It wasn't a great game. That sounds ungracious, but I think that Marie and others might agree. The teams were tight in the first period. Sweden scored the only two goals in the second. In the third, Germany got aggressive, but to no avail.

It still looked a little chaotic out on the ice to me. Oh, and I wish the Kiss Cam operators would realize two things:

• not all men and women sitting together are romantically involved
• those two guys or two women sitting together might be romantically involved and might want to show it

Getting back off my soapbox, I have to say that was a good capper for our Olympic events. Our team won. We had great seats. We have the photos and memories.

Thanks Marie!

everyone loves a Mountie!

I think every American in the throngs outside curling yesterday must have had shaky knees and swooned at the sight of Mounties in red serge. I know Conrad didn't mind going up to get a photo with them.



;-)

In fact, this calls to mind something very small that I am loving about this Olympics experience: the tiny interactions with people. Volunteers are super friendly and helpful. A smile and a thank you are the currency of this land, and they go far. Before Conrad went up to the Mounties yesterday, a couple from China (perhaps?) who didn't speak much English asked him to take their photo. Of course, we were delighted to (and the Mounties were all smiles and graciousness with the many wanting photos, I should add). Then, when Conrad went up for his photo, the man whose photo he'd taken asked me for my camera and indicated I should go get in the picture, too. It hadn't even occurred to me, but I was pretty tickled.

I guess the Americans weren't the only ones a little weak in the knees!

cool things for free

The Olympic posts will jump around now on this morning of catching up. Two days ago, yesterday, whenever.

For example, I had wanted to post these images and video last night, but I was rather tuckered out. We were on our way from the hockey game in search of dinner, and we stopped in at La Maison du Quebec. Ultimately, the four of us ended up at Campganolo for a late-ish dinner and a bit of wine. However, we did have the good luck to hear the tail end of some music and see this guy with his hoop.






Conrad and I had seen him a few nights ago during the performances at the medal ceremony at BC Place, though not so close. This time, he almost got out of control and ran a couple of people over in front of me.

I don't get a lot of the media complaints about this whole event. I wonder if the media are actually getting out and seeing the crowds enjoying the free or inexpensive entertainments like this. I was so very glad we stopped in to Quebec House, and I think I must take advantage of the free download the musical act gave out.

warm up

A quick check in through the blog, a quick hello, a simple post to get me warmed up for the blogging (and e-mailing, and Flickr-ing) ahead. I'm battling the cold still, but not quite as run down as yesterday. Which is remarkable given that I was at two events today as well as shopping and dining out.

Anyway, there's so much to catch up on in the next couple of days. My Vancouver 2010 experience continues to be ever-so-rewarding.

Onward!

Dan Mangan rocks

No, really, he does. And strums. And sings. And jokes.

(This was cute: how many flies does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Two, but how do they get in there in the first place?)

We just spent 4+ hours at the Yaletown Roundhouse. I have a cold bearing down on me. We're tired and trying not to be cranky. So, a quick post, a hasty good night, and a focus on the positive: Dan Mangan was great.

Do yourself a favour and check his stuff out.

Night!

#1 on today's NOT-to-do list

A small detail about me: I am not comfortable with heights. Well, except heights over water - I can swim, after all, and well.

So while it's tempting and all to do this just for the "coolness" factor, I think we can safely cross this off my list:








Zip line across Robson Square.

Crazy. And yet, it really would be cool, wouldn't it? Not so cool would be my girlish screaming the entire way.

Safari Cafe morning

The past two days have been BUSY. Wildly so, it feels, and at my age, it's a lot. An easy morning over at Safari Cafe is just what I need. I may need it again this week.

I wasn't up too too early. I little after 6 or so. I started the morning quite enjoyably, catching up with a good friend over chat. As we typed at each other, I noticed the sunrise reflected in the nearby buildings (we face west, they face east).

Quite a cheering sight (as if I needed more cheering this week!). In the photos you can also see the globe of the Saskatchewan Pavilion so very close by.

After a bit, I wandered over to our favourite Vancouver coffee shop, Safari Cafe. We're here almost every morning when we're in Vancouver, and happily so. Adam makes a great cup of coffee, the closest thing we've found in NA to our beloved flat whites. He also spoils us with breakfast items. Egg, fresh tomato and avocado?
Wonderful. Small wonder I'm parked over here chatting still with friends, e-mailing, and blogging.