2010 Hype and Hoopla

Here we are. After almost 7 years of waiting for the Olympics, they're finally here. Bella age check: 3 months and 2 weeks. As much as I am opposed to spending billions of dollars for two weeks of city-wide lockdown, I was curious to see what the downtown core would look and feel like on Day 1 of Vancouver 2010. So I packed up little Bella banana:


and took to the skytrain. Expecting a crowd at the station, I was surprised to see only a handful of people waiting for the downtown train. We got on a fairly vacant train and made our way to Burrard station. The train started to fill up at Broadway and I noticed that the two groups of people around me were not from Vancouver but rather from elsewhere in Canada...the woman and her husband (with little baby bean in a carrier) said out loud "oh this must be where Expo 86 was"...something any Vancouverite would be well conscious of. Another group of kids oohed and aahed at the waterfront view at False Creek. I felt so proud to call this my city! Bella stared out the window, taking in all the sights, also in awe but mainly because her eye focus has by now fully developed. It's been about 4 weeks since she's really been able to take in all the sights and she stares with wonder and amazement of everything.

We made it to Burrard station and I noticed the throngs of people, mainly clad in patriotic red, walking up and down Burrard. As Wendy said over the phone earlier that day "it's such a historic moment!" We made our way back to the skytrain and got off at Main St. Science World. I thought that Science World would make for a great back-drop for a picture. I asked an Olympic volunteer to take pictures of Bella and I, joining in in all the hoopla:


We took a few pics and then trekked back home, happy to have witnessed the first day of the Olympics. We might even attend some of the free events around town now that I know that the commute won't be as crazy as it was hyped up to be.