Olympic recap Day 02

Every good day begins with a even better cup of coffee. On Day 2 Robb and I bolted out of the house at 11 am. I love sleeping. We walked past the Bay's Official Olympic Superstore. Or rather, we walked past the Bay Official Olympic Superstore line to get in. Over a block long and rumored to be from 2 to 3 hours wait time. All just to get in and give them money. I'm a savvy shopper and will only wait half an hour. So we went for coffee.

There were many foreign pavilions and and cultural houses to see in the city. Robb knows me best and we immediately hit the most important places to see in Olympic town, shopping. We started at Holt Renfrew (the Neiman's of the North) and then H&M (Robb, you better have purchased new jeans by now) then Gucci. You know, to round out the internationalness of it all.
We did manage near the end of the day to capture some Olympic magic. Robb and Graham are holding an official Olympic torch. If you look closely in the background you may be able to see Catherine and I ready to start our bobsled race!

As we toured town, the clock was ticking to our actual Olympic event. This would be the Men's Hockey match between Canada and the Czech Republic. Canada had to win this game to move forward to win Hockey Gold. Mikka's friend Tanya & Derek had a bar in Gastown they were meeting a gang of people. These venues would fill up quickly. We were told to be by 4:45 for a 6:30 game. Derek & Tanya got there at 3.

Historic Gastown was decked out in all things Red & White.

So much to buy, so little I needed.

Mind you, I did manage to grab a "Canada" T-shirt so I could fit in like a native.

Derek wins the prize for best Canadian shirt of the night!

After the game ended (Canada won and advanced to the Gold medal round!), we made our way down the street to the German Haus. A culture envoy from the people of German to the people of Vancouver. Rumor has it that after the first 5 days they had run out of beer and had to send back to Germany for reinforcements. Canadians definitely love their "culture".

Tanya's best photo of the night with Mikka.
Your eyes are open!!!

The mood inside was über-celebratory and the beer was undeniably tasty.

The band on stage played mostly 80's music and added that German twist of an Oom-pa-pa swing to it.

Nearing midnight, we left Germany and walked over to see the Olympic Cauldron and off in Coal Harbour, the Olympic rings. It was slightly raining and everyone had their umbrellas up. I kept waiting and waiting to line up my perfect shot of the gorgeous golden rings, then I snapped my photo.
BLUE? They were gold a second ago! "Oh, it must be midnight," someone said as they looked at their watch. And then it was explained to me that the rings are blue unless Canada wins a gold medal that day in competition. Then the rings change to gold and remain that way until midnight. Curse you umbrella lady in my way! You'll only outwit me once!

Then we paused in front of the Olympic torch.

Pretty stunning.

Cathy got her photo taken with it.

So did Mikka.

I think we all knew that was going to wind up on my head sooner than later.