Day 11 - Spent The Day in Gastown

February 22, 2010 - Day

We had some free time today before we had to head out to the Ice Dance finals at Pacific Coliseum.  I've explored a lot of the Olympic pavillions around me and wasn't sure where to go. I thought about Gastown as it didn't look to far from us on the map. Posing the question to my Twitter friends confirmed that Gastown was indeed within a reasonable walking distance.  I was looking forward to seeing a historic part of the city and doing something non Olympic. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally loving the Olympics but I'm also anxious to see Vancouver, the city.

My brother and I walked out to Gastown and the first thing we came across is the steam clock atWater Street.  I'm one of those annoying people who read those plaques that are on things.  The plaque on this clock explained the origin of Gastown, how the clock works and the dedication of the clock to the citizens of Vancouver.  I'm also one of those people who had to have their picture taken with these kinds of things and so I did that as were many others.  After the clock, I decided to try to find the folks who run the Gastown Blog (@gastownblog).  A co-worker had sent me their way in the hopes that they would have something to contribute to my Canada Loot Bag.  They offered up some of their Gastown pins and buttons and I left them a few Canada Loot Bags as souvenirs. One guy asked me who I was giving the Loot Bags to and I said "everyone". (People are loving them in case you were wondering.) It was really nice to have something from Vancouver to add to the bags.

The main reason for going to Gastown was to check out the shopping.  After picking up my Gastown pins, and getting a latte from Smart Mouth, I was off to peruse the streets for cool clothing to take home as souvenirs.  The first store I went it to was Obakki at 44 Water Street. The clothing was beautiful! I would have loved to be able to buy something but it was really out of my affordable price range.  I spoke to the person working in the store and the items are made in Canada, sold in the flagship store and wholesale, and I just found out sold online too! Maybe I can buy something from them at a later date.

From there I headed to the store next door, ishara. Again a lot of things out of my price range but very beautiful and some brands I have never heard of before which I loved. It is great to discover new brands!  The woman I spoke to in the store was the owner and told me they had recently located to Gastown from a mall location.  She noticed I was wearing pins and gave me some Visa mascot Olympic pins! Wasn't that nice? In return I gave her a Canada Loot Bag. I think that is a pretty fair exchange.  I did find a sweater that was on sale and in my size so I tried it on and bought it! My first non Olympic purchase in Vancouver! I hope that I will be back in Vancouver sometime soon so I can visit Gastown and the stores there again.  With all my new friends here maybe I can fly in for a weekend just to do some shopping! How is that for leaving an Olympic legacy?
If you get a chance I would highly recommend getting to Gastown for a visit. I was focused on shopping but there were also some great looking restaurants and pubs around as well. Another good reason for me to come back, sample some new food!

Soon after leaving ishara, it was time to head back to our condo for some lunch before heading out to Figure Skating Ice Dancing finals.

Opening Ceremony Day

Yesterday was an absolutely magical day. it started bright and early for me as I made my way to the CBC offices at Robson and Hamilton for my first ever radio interview. It was pretty quick but they said they are interested in following up with me and my adventures in Vancouver when I return with my family on the 19th. They have also dubbed me a "superfan" which personally I have no problem with! I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to be here this weekend, that I made the decision to come despite the extra expense because it was worth every penny and more. More on that later.

After my first ever radio interview (which I hope someone can post online for me so I can link to it. Thanks.) I made my way up Robson Street to meet Tomarra and watch the Torch Relay go by. Walking up Robson Street I was getting teary eyed, tons of people have put Canada flags in their windows, every store window has some kind of reference to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, there are signs posted that I think are different languages saying "Welcome"-I am going to take photos of as many of those as I can, and everyone and I mean everyone is wearing Canada head to toe. I saw a family of four wearing Canada jackets and it looks great when you see that approaching you.

One of the things I wasn't expecting to see were all the different team uniforms. It does make sense that some of the coaching staff or other members of the team would be checking out Vancouver but it wasn't something I had thought of. Some of the team uniforms are pretty wild and you can spot them in a second. Some of the ones I saw yesterday were Russia, Czech Republic and Holland-they had the nicest in those bright orange coats. I gave the woman one of my Canada Loot Bags and asked her to leave a comment on my blog about what she thinks of Vancouver.

Member of Team Holland walking around Robson Street.

I saw the Torch go by on Robson and then we walked around for a bit. Tomarra is from Vancouver and she could not get over the number of people in the city. I keep asking ,is it not usually like this and she keeps saying no.

The Olympic Torch Relay on Robson Street

I had to pick up my ticket for the Opening Ceremony so I waited in line to do that and chatted with people around me in line. Everyone I've met so far is from BC! Its kind of funny because they assumed that I was from BC and more likely Vancouver. They find out pretty quickly that I'm not when I give them a blank look to all the places they are describing or referring. It's also funny because when they find out I'm from Toronto, they seem kind of surprised. Can you imagine if they saw this blog? They would be shocked! I did hand out a few business cards and asked people to go to my blog and leave their comments about the Olympics. It will be nice to have a permanent record of people's thoughts on the Vancouver Olympics.

It was mid afternoon that I heard the news of the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the Luge althete from Georgia. I was in a restaurant when they played the crash on TV and everyone in the restuarant was horrified to see it. I'm sure many peoples thoughts and prayes, mine included, go out to Nodar's family, his teammates and fellow althetes.

There was also an impromtu concert by Barenaked Ladies in Robson Square which of course we heard about after we left that area.  Sounds like this might happen often throughout the Olympics, non scheduled performances by some of Canada's top artists.  Hope I can catch the next one.

In the afternoon we saw the Torch Relay come by again in Yaletown. I couldn't believe how many people they were. I could barely see it because I was so far back in the crowd! I stayed back though and let the Vancouver people see their Olympic flame come through their city. I have seen it many times and some of these people were seeing it for the first time.

After that is was take a short nap, return some emails and answer one more request for an interview which I think will be happening today and then it was time to leave for the Opening Ceremony-I can't believe I'm even writing that!!!!!!!

One lesson I learned yesterday is NEVER PUT YOUR CAMERA AWAY! At least it was a lesson for me.  No sooner than you turn your camera off and put it back in your bag there is something right in front of you that you want a  picture of.  I missed quite a few things yesterday that I would have liked to have captured.  Maybe I need to realize it will be impossible to capture it all!

For photos of the day, click here.

Canada Loot Bags

I have acquired quite a bit of Canada, Ontario, and Toronto trinkets to give away to our international guests during Vancouver 2010. It started to be so much stuff I wondered about the logistics of handing it all out. I didn't want to have to fish through different bags for 3 different types of pins, stickers, and business cards. I needed to compile everything so it would be easy, fast and neat when it came time to disperse my goodies. That is when I came up with the idea to create "Canada Loot Bags", you know like the kind you got as a kid at a party. 

These would be loot bags for Vancouver's 2010 visitors given out by me, spreading Olympic and Canadian cheer everywhere I go.  Each Canada loot bag will consist of 1 Canada flag pin, 1 set of Canada stickers and 1 pin of either Toronto or Ontario (pictured at left).  I have also added in my blog business card so people are able to stay in touch.  On the weekend I went to every Dollar Store I could find but Canada stickers were in short supply. I will keep checking though. The loot bag isn't complete without them.

Do you have suggestions for anything else that can be included in the Canada Loot Bag? If you do, please leave a comment with your idea as well as where it can be purchased.
I'll be sure to keep you posted on people's reactions to the Canada loot bags when I am in Vancouver.

My Canada Loot Bag: Canada pin, Toronto or Ontario pin and Canada stickers. My biz card is in there too.