Today was another off day for us. Kind of wish we were able to get some events in town for these days, but at between $500-3000 per ticket for an event, no way! That being said, the rest day is nice. 12-16 hour days are hard.

Now, go figure, today was a long day with lots of waiting, not much of a rest.

We headed out into town around 10 with the intentions of just wondering around and soaking it all in. Walking along the waterfront we ended up seeing a live filming of the Colbert Report? Seemed pretty lame to me, but he sure had his followers. Anyway, we only watched some of that and wondered off. We ended up byt the Russia House, which we were told was a place to see. Last time the line up was insane, this time only a few people waiting so we jumped in line.

Now we quickly realized that they didn't even open until 12! That's going to be 1.5 hours of waiting. Dammit! We figured it would be less of a wait now than any other time. So we wait. Within a few minutes I was pretty impaitent. I hate waiting.

So the hype is that Russia is holding the next Winter Olympics, so this place was suppose to be show casing that. Turns out the only thing they were show casing were large corporate sponsors! The cell company, oil company, even Voltzwagon had a "booth" (more like a large room). It was very lame. Nothing to even do or really see. Totally not worth the wait. They had their clothing sponsor there, so we checked out the store. I really liked the gear, but at $300 for a hoodie!!! NO WAY!

Off we went. Lunch time.

After lunch we decided that we wanted to head over to the Mint Pavilion. Here you could again, wait in line, to see the Olympic Medals, and even touch them! Ugh. So again, we wait. It was starting to get cold and all I had was a sweater. We were told it was going to be a 3 hr wait, but within 1.5 hr we were inside. Woo Hoo! Wrong..... now, we wait inside. Dammit. At least I was warm.

Finally, with our white glove on we finally got inside to see and touch the medals. I've seen a lot of medals in my time, but this was by far the best medal I've ever seen. I think this will set a new standard for Olympics to come. Every medal is different. They each have their own etched design on them. The coolest thing is that they are not just flat, they have a wavey contour, representing waves and mountains of BC. Really cool.

After the short visit with the medals it was back home for that rest. Skeleton was on the schedule for us next.

Well, a 6am start wasn't as bad as the 4am. Off to the Whistler Sliding Center to catch the Women's Luge medal runs 3 and 4.

It was another rainy start to the day, and a long uncomfortable bus ride. Why can't they make bus seats more comfortable? It's worse than airplane seats! As we neared Whistler the rain turned into some heavy slushy snow. We pulled into Whistler Village about 3.5 hours before the Luge start. We toured around the village a bit, pretty busy already. The hill is also open for ski/snowboarding, so most were heading up the hill. We checked out a few of the broadcast studios that are live in the middle of things. That was interesting to see. The CTV booth was the biggest.

Me, being impatient, decided we were going to the track. Need to scope things out and find the best spot to watch. Took the gondola up. Security line up was empty, one great thing about going in early. This time we brought more food with us since they didn't seem to be stopping anyone. All the granola bars in my pocket set off the metal dector this time... guess it's because I had about 10 of them in the same pocket :)

The first view of the main finish corner and grand stand area was almost jaw dropping. Again, TV doesn't do justice to these sports. It was so impressive and massive! As the place was empty, we decided to hike to the top of the track, checking things out. Damn, again, something you don't see on TV is how steep the track actually is. It's crazy.

We walked up along the final stretch where the sleds slow... and it's uphill! Again, you don't see this on TV. I always assumed it was a long flat straight away. Nope, it's serious up hill. We walked passed the area where the unfortunate deadly accident occurred just a few days ago. I quietly paid my respects.

The walk to the top was very tiring and took a good 30 min. Along the way they mens doubles where doing their training runs. Wow, it's odd to see two men squished on a little sled going 100 km/hr plus. You hardly see both people.

Near the top the racers are much much slower, so it's easier to watch, and see more. We decided to setup camp in corner 11. It was long and we had a great spot to watch where people would not be able to stand because it was blocked off for TV. Gave a great long view for taking pictures. We pulled out the thermarest and took a seat. Only 1.5 hours to go.

While hanging out we meet another older Aussie couple and a dad and his young son from washington state. It's a lot of fun to hear others stories of coming to the games. The rain continued on and off for a bit, but finally let up.

Before we knew it the first rider was flying tow the track. Now when I mean flying, I mean doing mock 10! Seriously, if you blinked you missed it! The sleds are also so quiet that you don't know they are coming until the last second, and that's too late. The first few went buy and everyone in the corner watching were in amazement and just couldn't get over how fast they were going by. Most were just laughing and beside themselves, trying to get that picture. I managed several great photos (which i will post). But seriously, you can't imagine how fast these ladies were flying by. It was amazing.

After about half of the ladies had zoomed by, we decided to start walking down hill to each corner, checking out some different views. Turns out that most of the corners are just so short that you only see a blur. Also, in the upper corners you can't watch the entire run on the big screen, you need to be in the lower section for that. So, that's where we headed.

The lower main spectator area was an entirely different experience. It had filled up with thousands of people since we walked through on our way to the top. It was a buzz of excitement. Standing back in the middle you could watch as the ladies flew through the last long corner, as well as the big screen. It was pretty cool.

A few hours later and it was all over. We were wet, exhausted but had a great day. Got to watch an event live, that we've only ever seen on TV. It was the Olympics, and it was the medal runs. Wow!

Another long uncomfortable bus ride later and we are back home with another rest day tomorrow. Then, the skeleton. Now that's going to be scary.

Today was a day off from sporting events, but an on day to check out the action around town. The atmosphere and people is something you cannot describe. There are thousands of people out, checking out everything ollympics. We checked out Robson Square where they have a little skating rink, zip line and some olympics/aboriginal art and cultural sites.

We then wanted to see if we could check out the mint where the medals were made, and to actually see one, but the line up was several hours long! No thanks. We then walked towards the water front to get a look at the olympic flame. Unfortunately there is a chain link fence and you can't get closer than a few hundred feet, nor can you see over the damn fence. What a rip off!

We then checked out a few of the different "Houses" for different countries. They are really just tents or buildings that host some cultural stuff about the country or area, local food and a place to meet up with others cheering on you country. We wanted to go to the Russia house since that's where the next winter games will be, but so did everyone else! Another insane line up. No thanks!

I must say security around town is impressive. The athletes village is in town, but pretty much an isolated island, you can't get very close. We managed a few pictures, but nothing exciting but some flags of each country that are in the different buildings.

After a nice lunch we took the "demo" Bombardier tram over to Granville island. Not a lot of olympic stuff there, except the Swiss house, but it's a fantastic place to go anyway. I've been before, but Chloe hadn't. Great market and arts area. Although some of the "art" was just plane shit if you ask me.

Then it was a water taxi back home for the evening to catch up on the days happenings in the events. Go Canada Go!