February 17th, 18th, 19th, 2010

On Wednesday the 17th, I was supposed to chaperone at the short track speed skating event, but there were too many chaperones kicking around so I ended up just watching the races...which was totally Ok with me as I got to watch the women's 500 meter quarter/semi finals where 4 Canadians qualified...as well as the final where we won a silver - the crowd at the Pacific Coliseum is so enthusiastic and always has fun...lots of Americans and Koreans as well as Canadians so it is always electric during the races.  I also watched the Men's 1000 meter qualifications where both Charles and Francois Hamelin qualifed as did Apolo Anton Ohno (USA)...the men's relay semi was also that night, and if you haven't seen the relay, you need to watch the final (Feb 26th) - it is crazy and fast and anything can happen!!!!!

On Thursday I was at the Village for a shift where we did no testing at all...but we did get a chance to walk around the village and take some pics...and chat with our colleagues...I saw Evgeni Plushenko (Silver Medalist in Men's figure skating) walking to the transportation centre to catch his bus to his competition.  And apparently Alex Ovetchkin was strolling around the village shirtless...unfortunately I wasn't there at the time and have yet to see any hockey players...

These are pics in the village - the Canda Residence, which if you think looks a little crooked, it is - that's how it was built...the other pic is the moose that is in the village (there is one in Whistler also) - many of the athletes/visitors have taken to signing them...

This is a pic that I took from the village - BC place is on the left and Canada Hockey place is on the right...the night pic shows Science World (round) which has been coverted to Sochi House, the Russian Pavillion and the blue building is Quebec House...






Yesterday Courtney and I went up to Whistler for the day - we went on the Peak 2 Peak which is a gondola that goes from Whistler to Blackcombe Mountain - it is the longest unsupported lift span in the world - 1.88 miles long and 1,427 feet high...it was an absolutely glorius day and the views were spectacular...the pics below are me on Whistler Mountain, Courtney and I in the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, and the view from the Gondola (the one with the trees was taken at the highest point through the glass bottom of the gondola)

After the Peak 2 Peak, we met our good friend Randy for lunch and an afternoon of strolling around the village...as I said before, it was a spectacularily sunny day and there were tons of people in the village - all the restaurants were busy and their patios were filled to capacity.  One of the fun things about Whistler is that everything is happening right in the promenade - there are bands playing, people are dancing in the streets (and this is during the day), the media is everywhere and everyone is having a great time...pics are taken in the village and include Randy and Courtney, the Olympic Rings in Whistler Village, USA dancing in the street,