I faced some difficulty myself in navigating the city streets today when I wanted to walk over to Costco from Pacific Boulevard. Normally, I could cut across BC Place Stadium over to Expo Boulevard but because of the road closures, barricades, fences, and security personnel manning the premises, I was directed to take a detour East along Pacific Boulevard to Quebec Street and walk back West along West Georgia Street to Costco. I decided not to go after all as Costco will have closed by the time I get there.
As I made my way towards BC Place Stadium, I had stumbled upon a large group of volunteers coming and going to and from their orientation. They would later be known as the “Blue Jackets” as they were all given these really cool jackets in blue with the reflective Olympic logo on their backs.
Across the street from the stadium along False Creek were provincial pavilions and houses recently constructed to welcome the world to showcase the diversity of this vast nation called Canada. Among others, there was the Ontario Pavilion with a series of ropes from top to bottom wrapped around the entire façade of the structure, the Saskatchewan Pavilion shaped like a giant air-supported golf ball similar but smaller in scale to the TELUS World of Science directly across, a white cubic structure known as the Maison du Québec which radiated a cool blue at dusk, and the Molson Canadian House with a giant cutout of a maple leaf on the front as its entrance.
On the waters edge, someone constructed a series of balanced rocks and a few Inukshuks. While taking a break here on the jagged rocks, I noticed a Great Blue Heron standing still and silently with concentration. Other photographers and bystanders started to take notice.
Jay joined me a little after with his new telephoto lens and we continued walking towards the Plaza of Nations and further West to Yaletown. Vancouver’s new development known as Millennium Water, better known as Olympic Athlete’s Village during the games came into view. In keeping with the “City of Glass” reputation Vancouver architecture is known for, the Olympic Athlete’s Village will provide accommodation for the many athletes and coaches from around the world and keep them happy with panoramic views of our west coast living.
We continued our walk around False Creek, crossed the Cambie Street bridge, and took the newly installed, but sadly temporary, LRT train called the Olympic Line. The Canadian made Bombardier trains on loan from Belgium shuttled passengers to and from the Olympic Village Canada Line Station to Granville Island on a short five minute journey. Best of all, it’s a free ride! Here’s hoping that Mayor Gregor Robertson will find a way to find a permanent solution in the municipal budget.
It was dusk by the time we got around to the TELUS World of Science which temporarily turned into the Russky Dom (Russia House). A banner above the entrance read “Russia meets Vancouver”. The lights from the city of glass reflecting off the waters on False Creek had Jay and I spending a considerable amount of time trying to capture the sheer beauty of this magnificent city through our glass. Although we’ve both been here a number of times, the city’s nightscape was still breathtaking. We kept shooting and shooting.
The digital countdown clock to the opening ceremony read 5 Days, 22 Hours, 1 Minute and 18 Seconds, yet the overall feeling in Vancouver didn’t seem all that different from the usual. Aside from an increased presence of tourists in the city, the road closures, baracades, fences, the construction of pavilions, Canada Line and the Olympic Line to Ganville Island, the overall fanfare seemed slightly muted for a host city. It’s like we’re waiting for someone to take the covers off for that much anticipated “TADAAA!” moment after which everyone comes out of the woodwork. Perhaps this is the calm before the storm.
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