O Canada…

The 2010 Winter Olympics or the XXI Winter Olympics Games begin in just a few short days… The Olympic Torch is currently en route… Scheduled for February 12-28, 2010 in Vancouver British Columbia and surrounding areas.

Having a good friend who lives in Richmond BC [Site of the Richmond Oval], his reports of the security provisions being enacted in preparations for those games and that will be enacted when the games commence make me long for those by-gone simpler days, of Expo 86, the International Fireworks competition on English Bay and just heading up there to holiday, or pay a visit.

Vancouver British Columbia is a shining jewel in the crown of the Pacific Northwest. Surrounded by the cities of Richmond, Burnaby, and North & West Vancouver. One can’t forget the incredible Horseshoe Bay, Stanley Park and the village of Steveston. Vancouver and these bordering cities provide just about something for everyone and the titillation of all the senses.

Having visited there frequently; getting around is easy! Most cities here in the US are striving to achieve or maintain a public transportation system… that works!
I say, look at Vancouver! There are NO freeways! Don’t feel like driving, or taking one of the many regularly scheduled buses? How about taking the Sky Train or Streetcars? Still not convinced? How about the West Coast Express or the Sea Bus? When all else fails, you can bike or walk!

If you plan on walking, I suggest you set aside a day and stroll the entire length around English Bay. It’s only a couple miles along a paved seawall and well worth the scenes and vistas you’ll encounter. You’ll walk under the Lion’s Gate Bridge [A smaller version of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge]. You’ll walk through Stanley Park and its many attractions… Stroll past the many beaches on English Bay and when you glimpse the totem poles and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, you’ll realize, you’re in a whole different environment!

Is there a downside?
Perhaps there are two things that might be considered a downside.
I enjoy conversing with people. It wasn’t till I returned from one of my trips there, that I realized that my pronunciation and diction had both improved noticeably!
[I only encountered a handful of people that said, “Eh”!]
Secondly, to leave from the airport, you have to plan on surrendering ten dollars Canadian as a departure tax.
Seems to me, they should charge to get in!

So the Olympics are coming… I hope they prove to be beneficial to Vancouver and when they safely depart, they return that area to its original beauty and allow its citizens to return to the business of living their lives in one of the nicest areas in the world.

“Holding an Olympic Games means evoking history.” Pierre de Coubertin