Today in Vancouver is Super Sunday which is confusing since I'm pretty sure that occurred two weeks ago. Apparently, rivalry matchups in hockey are bigger than football - who knew the Canadians loved their hockey? In addition to hockey, there are some events that Canadians are supposed to medal in (like speedskating, ski cross and ice dancing). In reality, people only care about the US-Canada hockey game. People starting lining up outside of bars at 8 AM this morning to be able to get a spot to watch the game at 4:30 PM. We're going to end up watching the game in our hotel since everything is packed.
The crowds over the last couple of days have been crazy. You can't even walk down the street easily, which is even more impressive given that a lot of streets are closed and people can walk freely down the middle. The weather has been great - about 50 degrees every day - and sunny which apparently never happens here so I think a lot of people decided to come in for the day from surrounding areas. The good news is the weather should hold for a couple more days before the rain comes back. The bad news is that it's tough to even find places to eat - yesterday around dinner every place had a two-hour wait to get a table.
Yesterday was a fun day going up to Whistler. It was definitely an interesting experience going to a sporting even where we know nothing about it but the atmosphere was great. Even on the mountain the weather was great so that probably helped the crowds as well. The announcers are pretty entertaining in the ski jump which makes sense since they are former ski jumpers and you have to be crazy to do that sport. It was a little disappointing that the village was too far away and there was nothing really around the ski jump area. In fact, there weren't many concession stands and there were only blue restrooms.
The drive to and from Whistler was awesome and worth getting up early and having a long day. It was probably the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen in person and was better than I even read about.
Today we're going to watch the US-Canada game in our room and then head out to see the Finland-Sweden game. We're both looking forward to this big rivalry - I'm sure the crowd will be fantastic.
That's it for now...as the Ski Jumpers say, "May your jumps always reach the K line". Note: No one says this.
Ryan-you make me laugh :) I think the last sentence in your blogs are my favorite!! I am glad that you all are having such a great time! The USA/Canada game may have been one of the best hockey games I have ever seen! I can't wait to see all your pictures! We miss you all!
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