The Olympic Torch Arrives in Vancouver

I just don't know how much more excited this city can get. Today was a community day for me with an opportunity to twice see the Olympic torch relay.

The torch was scheduled to pass within three blocks of the house in the late afternoon after it visited City Hall, the Children's' Hospital and the RCMP Memorial. I walked out to the corner about 30 minutes before it was to go by and I couldn't believe the number of people that were there. I had seen a bit of the relay online today and it appeared that it was getting large crowds everywhere it went across Vancouver.

In our neighbourhood the crowd was decked out in red and Canada Olympic team clothing with lots of Canadian flags. There were also a tremendous number of Canadian flags on cars passing by on the street.

After the entourage vehicles went by the torch eventually rounded the corner. People clapped, cheered and waved their flags. In an instant it was over and we were all walking back to our homes.

I don't think I have mentioned how VANOC has purchased all the outdoor advertising in the greater Vancouver area for the Games period and resold it to official suppliers and sponsors. That includes the billboard on the side of our neighbourhood convenience store.

As well as all the Translink buses.

The front of the buses are sporting a different message.

On my way home I stopped to take a picture of  the tree in my neighbour's yard because I thought it was a good graphic representation of the weather than we have been having. (While a conference on global warming in Washington, D.C. had to be postponed because of the snow that has fallen there this week. The CBC said this morning that the U.S. federal government was issuing a severe irony alert.)

I wolfed down dinner then took the bus and SkyTrain downtown to the LiveCity Yaletown site. This is one of the two downtown, free celebration sites sponsored by the City of Vancouver. The Yaletown site was the final stop for the torch relay tonight. 

It was very busy downtown. In what will probably be the norm for events during the Games, I had to line up for about half an hour to get into the LiveCity site. Everyone had to go through a security screening with magnetometers and bag checks.

LiveCity Yaletown is the site of pavilions for some of the corporate sponsors like Acer, Panasonic, and Coca Cola. All the entertainment each night is to be family-friendly and there will be a water and light show each night.

I made it through security in time for the torch relay. The final runner of the night, a local community activist, stopped right in front of me while he was making his run. He then continued onto the stage and lit the same cauldron that I saw lit weeks ago when the torch was in Kelowna.

The torch relay staff looked happy to be done after 105 days on the road across Canada.

After singing O Canada, the show ended with a spectacular show of fireworks, water canons and search lights set to music. Lots of applause.

On my first experience with mass crowd movement to public transportation, everything worked exceptionally well. Lines were stretched around and through the SkyTrain station to keep people from getting bunched up. They only let as many people down onto the platform as could fit onto the train. On the street there were blue coated volunteers barking out directional instructions with megaphones from atop lifeguard chairs. It was all well done and trains ran on schedule. We'll see if they can do as well tomorrow night for the Opening Ceremonies.

So after six years and seven months of planning and preparation, the Games begin tomorrow. I feel like I did when I was a little boy, waiting for Christmas morning. Just one more sleep.