Postcard from Vancouver
A few snapshots from the final weekend here at the 2010 Winter Games.
The Olympic Cauldron at the convention center in downtown Vancouver, early Saturday evening:
The Olympic Rings on a barge just off Stanley Park in Coal Harbour, early Saturday evening. Every time Canada won a medal, the Rings changed color for a little while accordingly, to gold, silver or bronze.
By mid morning on Sunday, every single drinking establishment in the downtown area had a line around the block in anticipation of Canada facing off against the United States in the hockey gold medal finale. Some people were offering $100 just for a guaranteed spot to watch the game… in a bar. On Saturday night, some tickets to the game for sale online apparently were going for as much as $10,000.
A building at Georgia and Burrard streets draped in the Canadian flag:
Vancouver is an international city on a normal day, but for the past couple of weeks has transformed into a truly global village, with legions here from all over the world. It’s been fun just to walk the streets and mingle with the excited and friendly (and youthful) masses:
Bonus question: Is it really true that Russian skater Victor Plushenko was once an American rock star?
Mark Follman 
[…] notorious Downtown Eastside — a neighborhood much changed these days, particularly since the 2010 Winter Games — is linked above.) In another piece reported in 2006, one of the most striking things I […]