The Excellent Olympic Adventure: Day 1

The Day is FINALLY HERE!!

I’m so flippin’ excited…..after about a year and a half of planning, our trip to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics now begins!

Over the 17 days of the Games, I’ll be hopefully doing a ‘Daily Preview’ for each day……a quick overview of where we will be for the day, what events we will be at, what else is going on around the Games, and how Canada is doing. Hopefully there will also be lots of other posts…and tonnes of pictures….but this will be a good place to start each day!

Today is firstly a travel day for Pam and I. As you read this, odds are I’m on a plane headed from Toronto to Vancouver! We are leaving Pearson at 9:00 AM Eastern, which will get us into Vancouver for about 11:00 AM Pacific. Thank goodness for the three hour time change today, as I wouldn’t want to ‘waste’ all of today on a five hour flight. It’s pretty cool that we can have breakfast in Toronto, and then lunch in Vancouver!

Of course we will still be in the air 5 hours, but I say that doesn’t really count :) I’m actually really looking forward to the flight itself….everyone who is on that plane is going to be headed to Vancouver for the Olympics…so I think the buzz on the plane will be amazing. I could feel the ‘Olympic Buzz’ in the air even at the Hamilton Torch Relay Celebration…so I can’t even fathom what it’ll be like ‘for real’. I plan on having my laptop out and all set up with Olympic and Hockey Canada DVD’s, just to build up the mood for myself!! I’d really like to catch a nap while on the plane, as the time change adds to what will already be a super long day…and I don’t want to start this all out exhausted. Doubt it will happen though, as I’m probably going to be way too pumped….

Once we get on the ground in Vancouver, the plan for Pam and I is to hop the Canada Line downtown. I’m a little worried that it’s going to take us a while to actually get a spot on a Canada Line train…I bet that it’s going to be absolutely packed. So if we get into YVR at 11:00 AM, I think best-case we might get downtown by 1:00 PM…but it might be closer to 2:00-3:00 PM on account of crowds.

Soon as we get downtown, the first thing I want to do is actually a photo-op. We’re going to get off the Canada Line at the Vancouver City Centre stop…which is only about a block away from the
Official 2010 Countdown Clock at the corner of Hornby and Georgia Streets. I’d love to just quickly sneak over and get a photo with it when there are only a couple of hours left on it before the start of the Opening Ceremonies!

Next up, if we're there in time, I'd like to catch the tail end of the torch relay. It finishes up in downtown at about 1:45 PM.

After that, it’ll be time to get rid of our gear and check into the Hotel. The YWCA is about a 10 minute walk from the Vancouver City Centre stop, and only a block away from BC Place! Hopefully we’ll still have a couple of hours to spare before the Opening Ceremonies start at 6:00 PM. I’m not really sure where we will watch the Opening Ceremonies from. Our Hotel has common areas, which might be good, maybe we’ll hit a bar, or if the weather is nice, we can probably pop across the street to the Vancouver Downtown Live City site!

Ben and Andrea will also be arriving during the course of the day. They’re driving in from Calgary, parking their car on the outskirts of town and grabbing the Skytrain in. Not completely sure what time they’re going to get in…but I’m sure it’ll be ahead of the Opening Ceremonies…don’t want to miss that!

It’ll be a super busy day, lots of running around…with a cross-continent flight thrown in…but I’m so glad that its finally here!!!!

The big event today for Canada is of course the Opening Ceremonies…that should go without saying! They kick off at 6:00 PM Pacific, or 9:00 PM for those back on the east coast.

I had the opportunity to grab tickets to the Opening Ceremonies, but at $550 each, I took a pass. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be very happy still catching them on TV…

In terms of the Ceremonies themselves, I’ve got two big ‘hopes …and they both have to do with the Torch lighting. First off, I really hope that they choose someone ‘of note’ this time around, rather than go with a ‘symbolic’ person. In Montreal (1976), it was a Francophone and Anglophone kid, representing ‘Unity’. In Calgary (1988), it was a young girl, representing ‘Future Athletes’. It was lame both times, a cop-out, and I hope that they make a real decision and give someone the honour of lighting the flame. Talked about options include Betty Fox, Wayne Gretzky, Cindy Klassen and Rick Hansen. I don’t really care which they pick, or if its someone else, I just want a choice.

Secondly, we know that there will be an Olympic Cauldron set up in the middle of BC Place. That’s A-OK with me, but I also hope that there is a twin, or even just a secondary flame, somewhere outside in Vancouver. It's almost for certain that there is one at Canada Place, but I won't be happy until its 100%

Anyways, thats it for now....look out for more once we get on the ground:)