We definitely saw a lot of interesting people today. The game included a lot of Norwegian fans wearing Viking helmets with horns; a Swiss fan with his entire upper body painted red, and another guy who had shaved the Olympic rings logo into his chest hair. Yikes! Not pretty.
The game went back and forth, with Switzerland getting a goal, then Norway tying it. It ended with a 4-4 tie, so the game went into overtime. Both teams had chances to win in overtime, but the Swiss were the ones who finally got their first win of this Olympics.
Later on, Kirsten and Julianna took the Sky Train into town and met up with us after the game. I'll let her pick it up from here...
Hi! Well, the Olympic Organizers are encouraging everyone to take public transportation, and believe me, they are. I think we were crammed into a train with all of them.... Julianna and I managed to find our way to the train station, which was not without its challenges, especially if you know me and my sense of direction... or lack thereof. Turns out, north is not necessarily straight ahead. Whoulda thunk? At any rate, we climbed on a very crowded train, and I heard a youngster say something to her mother about "personal space" and the mother replied, "There is no personal space at the Olympics." Ain't it the truth. But again, the crowd has a genial, courteous nature. There were no seats to be had, but I saw a young man trading places with an older man, a German, I think, so that the older man could at least hold on to the bar to steady himself. An older woman next to me was gripping my elbow so she wouldn't fall, but really, I don't think it was possible to fall. There was just no place to go!
We met up with Tony and Bodie, and Steve and Bob, and we all walked several blocks to the Olympic Flame lit by Wayne Gretzky on Opening Night. It's possible to get fairly close to it, but it's behind a chain link fence. They have built a "Viewing Platform", but there was nearly an hour wait, so we took pictures from a bit of a distance. The crowds were enormous in the downtown area, but again, the police directing traffic are unfailingly polite. Every direction or request is accompanied by "please" or "thank you". Folks saying "excuse me" when they bump you, or waiting patiently for a stroller to work its way through the crowd. There were street performers, a band, a choir, and we saw at least one athlete, a Ukrainian, taking pictures with visitors. The longest line we saw? Outside the Canadian mint. It looked like about a two hour wait, but for those who had the patience, they were rewarded with a close-up look at Olympic medals.
We split up with Bob and Steve, as they had some shopping to do for their families, and headed to the nearest train station. The platform was unbelievably crowded, and so was every train that came by. And every time a train stopped, only half a dozen people got off. We were probably 10-15 minutes waiting before we jammed ourselves on a train. About 20 minutes later we were back to our car. We drove back to the same area we had dinner last night, and this time chose "Boston Pizza". I know it seems like we only eat at restaurants that have American themes, but it's really a coincidence! It was a great sports bar so we could watch Apollo Ohno take the bronze, while enjoying our dinner.
This day included two of my least favorite things: driving in unfamiliar areas, and spending time with large groups of strangers, (Toto, I don't think we're in my comfort zone anymore....) but it's part of the fun of the "Olympic Experience!"
Okay, now I know how jealous you all are about our event tomorrow, but don't worry, we'll tell you all about it. Let's just say the theme will be: "Curling: More Than Just Cold Bowling?"
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