Olympic Moments

Having left the snow behind in D.C., the weather in Vancouver was absolutely beautiful, with temperatures on some days getting into the 50's and 60's. This warmer than normal weather has caused the daffodils, crocuses, cherry blossoms, and other flowers to bloom earlier than expected.

Crocuses in Bloom


Colorful Vancouver Flowers


Snowdrops (But No Snow)

The Canadians are incredibly warm and friendly hosts. They also wanted to make sure that we enjoyed our stay in British Columbia, even providing us with Maple Leaf pins and B.C. flags.

Rebecca Displays Her B.C. Patriotism


Walking around the city of Vancouver or attending an Olympic sporting event, you are sure to see athletes wearing their country's uniforms. Its a lot of fun to guess where everyone is from.

Czech Athletes


The Beautiful Mountain of Whistler


Around the city were many places you could go (for free) to experience the Olympic spirit and watch the games on the big screen. These locations also provided Olympic sponsors a chance to show off their products.

Marie and Rebecca at LiveCity Yaletown


At the Olympics, the first thing you need to get used to are the lines. There are lines for everything. To get on the train. To go through security to get into the venues. In Canada, unlike the United States, the lines are orderly and well organized.

Waiting in Line at Curling


One of the most talked about things at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver were the red, blue, white and beige argyle pants worn by the Norwegian men's curling team. Love them or hate them, these pants have their own facebook page with more than half a million friends. For those people who love them, you can buy them online directly from Loudmouth Golf Pants, that is, when they get them back in stock. (The other popular item to buy at these games were the red Canada mittens, which seemed to be harder to find than just about anything else.)

The Most Popular Pants in Vancouver


The Royal Canadian Mint circulated a special series of Olympic coins for these games. They also set up a pavilion where you could see and hold the medals being awarded to the athletes. Alas, we never made it inside the building; the lines were always a two to three hour wait.

Olympic Coin Collector

We figured out that we could get most of the Olympic coin collection by visiting the local branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. While waiting in line for our coins, we all had an opportunity to hold an actual torch used in the Olympic Torch Relay.

Our Olympic Torch Relay

Robson Square was transformed as the hub of much Olympic activity. The zipline ride across the square had waits that approached six hours. There were places to take photos, stages with international entertainment, and cultural displays around the square.

Josh on the Snowboard

Rebecca Gives Us a Smile

Korean Dance Troupe

Lanterns for Peace

Big Totem Pole Lantern

Collecting and trading pins is one of the most popular activities while attending the games. This activity was originally created for the 1996 Atlanta Games as a way for athletes to get to know one another. Little did they know that this would become the phenomenon it is today. The twins were especially excited about collecting pins and even got into trading old pins for new ones.

Josh Trading Pins

An Olympic Pin Trader

No visit to an Olympics isn't complete without seeing the Olympic Cauldron and Flame. Vancouver was the first city to host the Olympics where the opening ceremony was inside. Hence, a second cauldron was set up along the waterfront so that all could see the Olympic Flame.

The Olympic Cauldron

The Flame Burns Bright

Olympic Flame with Mountains in the Background

A Bird's Eye View of the Olympic Flame

Throughout Vancouver, huge billboards were splashed across the skyscrapers announcing the Canadian spirit and enthusiasm for the games. Here are a few examples.

The Largest Maple Leaf in the World

Support Team Canada


Samsung at the Olympics

The theme of the XXI Winter Olympics was "With Glowing Hearts", or in French "Desplus Brillants Exploits." This phrase is some of the lyrics from the Canadian national anthem. At each venue, this theme prevailed.

Marie and Allison

The Canadians love their ice hockey. Many Canadians walked around the city wearing hockey shirts with the name of the starring goalie emblazoned on the back.

Luongo!

There is so much to see and do when attending an Olympics, that I strongly recommend that you rest your eyes and feet every chance you get! You certainly don't want to miss anything.

Taking a Cat Nap