Re: Part IV of the XXIst Winter Olympiad Or All Your Hockey Are Belong to US
Just back from Vancouver.
I've been to a lot of Olympics, including the last 5 in a row, and this one was amazing. Hundreds of thousands of people in the streets, incredible weather and a gorgeous, friendly and sophisticated city made this visit quite epic. Canadians, normally a little reserved, have embraced the games in record numbers, really swamping all the street entertainment, bars and restaurants national pavilions and public transportation and making the winter games feel like a summer games in terms of scale. Almost every Canadian was dressed in red and white, and the multi-cultural atmosphere of the Olympics fit great with the whole Canadian multi-cultural mosaic of races and languages.
Quite a few Americans in town too, and tons of Russians and Koreans as well. I imagine far more Europeans were at the Alpine venues outside the city, but I didn't get to the Alpine venues as I have found that those events are better watched on TV.
Got to see two hockey games - Russian vs Czechs and Norway vs Switzerland, and both were easily the best overall hockey atmosphere I've seen at any Olympics, or even the Stanley Cup finals. Packed arenas cheering everything in play, and joyous cheering at every break as fans from all over the world coming together to celebrate the Olympic spirit. If you've ever been to an Olympics, you know what I mean, and if you have never been, you need to go and see it for yourself. Canadians really love their hockey, Also saw Apolo win bronze in the short track, which was very cool to attend live. Those guys are incrdible athletes. Even curling was fun in front of 4,000 fans filling the rink.
Transportation was pretty good - buses and subways were usually plentiful and free all with an Olympic event ticket, but lots of long walks from bus stops to venues - good thing weather was exceptional. Might have been a drag in the rain. No car parking allowed at any Olympic venue, which is now becoming the standard in all Olympics.
Arena food ranged from typical hot dogs, to excellent asian teriyaki beef bowls that I got addicted to - prices on the high side. Beer was $8 for Molson Canadian 10-12 ounce pour at the venues. Pizza was also handmade and surprisingly good. Nachos were grim, but on balance, arena food was much better here than at other Olympics.
Olympic merchandise was expensive save for the ubiquitous $10 red mittens, and there were 2 hour waits at the Olympic Superstore, but a very good selection once inside, especially hockey related gear. Restaurant food was exceptional, and didn't see any price gouging there.
Security waits at venues were not too bad, and the search intensity varied greatly from cursory airport-style metal detection minimums to full tilt, every-pocket-of-everything-you-own search depending on who was doing the searching, but everyone was friendly about it.
All in all, an amazing experience.
