Belated And Somewhat Wordless Wednesday…

On other Blogs, I have seen Posts, where people take pictures, and let them do the talking for themselves.

I am unable to simply post pictures without adding commentary, so here we go:

For those of you who have been here before, you have probably discovered that I am JUUUUST a little excited about the Olympics, and all that the Lower Mainland has to offer.

Yesterday, I went into Downtown Vancouver again, this time on the West Coast Express, intent on exploring and trying to relay some of the opportunities for joy and fun that friends and I, encountered.

I was getting myself sorted out, in a spare office at the company where my wife works, when a Tweet came in from Stacey Robinsmith, of StaceyRobinsmith.com, saying he was at the W2 Opening, and did I want to come down ?

On my way to the temporary offices of W2, I encountered a stereotype of the Downtown East Side… A pawn shop and closed grill gate beside it.

I got to W2, just in time to hear Irwin Oostindie talk about the goals of W2, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson speak, and hear a vocal group perform.

When I left there, I headed to Canada’s Northern House, and had fun with their video presentation…

On the way by, I assisted a delivery man into The Royal Canadian Mint House, and followed him — “oblivious” to the “We open on the 12th” sign. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures, but it will be worth a visit, THAT I can tell you!

Had lunch with my wife, and some friends, and then went to the Bay’s Olympic Super Store, where we had to line up outside for a few minutes, before the very friendly and most conciliatory security team let us in. It was just that busy — and the Olympics haven’t even started yet!

After poking around there, my friends wanted to go to the Roots store, so we headed over there. Employees from every corner of the country have been brought in to help out. I spoke with employees from Edmonton, Ottawa & Montreal, who were here to help out the Vancouver crew. Along the way, there were a number of people we helped with taking photos, and some passersby and store clerks took pictures of US!

In lineups, we met, amongst others, folks from New York, Ottawa, Russia and a poor soul who had travelled ALL the way from Richmond!!! The man from Ottawa is most excited to be here to see his friend, who will be competing in the Luge competition.

Again, I am struck by the amazing variety of Flags, Banners and Store Windows that (even if they are not an Olympic Sponsor) pay homage and reflect the joy and spirit of the Games.

This brought to a conclusion Day 2 of Downtown exploration.

I am SO looking forward to the starting of the Games and continuing to explore next week.

Stay tuned!