Sunday, the 14th: Dad is in Seattle, picking up the RV from Spider. I'm in San Ramone, performing in a high school theatre for two shows of suprisingly subdued fans. Somehow, Dad drives the Rumblebus across the border into Canada without causing an international incident. However, he nearly causes one later that night when he almost bumps into vice president Joe Biden at the USA house . . .
Monday, the 15th: After a night of no sleep, I drive to the San Fransisco Airport at 4:30 in the morning. I'm in the Vancouver airport by 10. On the cab ride, my first impressions of
Vancouver is how green and temperate it is . . . strange arriving to the winter Olympics and not seeing any snow! The cab drops me off in a quaint little fishing village next to a huge (almost a city block) dirt pile. Just on the other side of said dirt pile, I see a row of gypsyish RV's . . . our temporary home.
We're staying in Stevenson, in Richmond. Richmond is a suburb of Vancouver, and Stevenson is a neighborhood in Richmond. One of the oldest still-operating fishing villages (including a
cannery) on the west coast. It's adorable.
Against all odds, Dad and I met up on-schedule in the parking lot of a community center. Awesome. I got the quick tour of the land: the community center where the bathrooms and work-out rooms were, the Martial Arts center (near the canadian/Japanese
Heritage center) where we ended up showering, the nearest coffee shops, and of course, a tour of our rolling territory . . . the RV. After that, we got our Loonies and our Twonies (sp?) lined up, grabbed our tickets for the day, and headed downtown.
Twenty minute bus ride and thirty/forty minute train ride and we were in the heart of Vancouver. Step off the train to streets packed with strange and wonderful public art, street
performers, and the gobs of fans, sporting local flair if not completely costumed-out! Dad and I made our way to the USA house, which turned out to be the hub of the Vancouver experience. Across the street from the always-partying Irish House, the USA house was an awesome oaisis, with free food, free bevrages, comfortable lounging, and direct-feed TV's. We ate like kings, met a bunch of "old-timers", and generally had a blast.
After Lunch at the USA house, we made our way to the Richmond Olympic Oval to take in the Men's 500. Yes, dad's old event. Awesome. The Oval was fantastic. Between the Klentie Pils (a Dutch Brass Band that kept the place rocking during down time), the roving cameras, the awesomely-costumed Dutch Fans, the cowbells, the merchandise, and of course, the athletes on the ice . . . I was having a hard time trying to take in everything at once!
The races were awesome. From our seats, we had a perfect view of the crossover, where the racers would change lanes as they came into the turn right in front of us. Amazing. Though the Koreans ran away with the 500, the Oval would erupt whenever there was a Canadian, American, or Dutch Skater. The only drawback was the nearly two-hour delay incurred when the brand-new eco-friendly Ice-Shaving machines broke down. That was tough, and as time went on, you could start to feel the general fear that the races might have to be rescheduled. They finally got it useable, though the general concensus was that the ice never really looked as good as it did in the beginning. Throughout the ordeal, the crowd kept their spirits up by repeatedly breaking into the wave, and singing along with the Klentie Pils. Even after two hours of NOTHING going on . . . I couldn't think of any place I'd rather be . . .
After the races, we went back up to Stevenson for some local seafood. My nose was running like a faucet, and I generally felt like poo, so we decided to stay close to the Van that evening. Fish and Chips at a pub, with coverage of the games on the tube . . . a nice laid-back evening at the end of the first eventful day!
No comments:
Post a Comment