We didn't have anything else on the agenda today, and it was supposed to rain (which it did, earlier, but has since cleared up nicely) so we thought taking transit rather than walking might be a good idea. Also, I walked Mandy around last night through downtown and that probably wasn't a good idea considering she already has been feeling cruddy, so I didn't want to make her walk much today. In fact, we came back a bit early because she was feeling pretty poorly this afternoon, so we may hole up here and watch hockey the rest of the evening anyway.
But we started out pretty early to beat some of the crowds (although, to be honest, no where we have been has been outrageously crowded... there is always a seat somewhere, always an alternative to standing in a line, and things are always moving along pretty quickly), walking over to the near terminus of the Olympic streetcar line, which runs between Granville Island and the Olympic Village. There were long lines for it last night, but this morning there were only five or so other people on board.
From the Village, we got on the Canada line skytrain and took it over to the Coal Harbour waterfront. We did do some walking then, hitting all the tourist traps in Gastown, before doubling back and catching the Sea Bus back to Lonsdale Quay. We passed through there fairly quickly the other day on our way to Whistler and I wanted to explore a bit more. It's sort of a miniature Granville Island, a lot of shops and stands with trinkets, food, and produce. We had lunch there; I'd never had a breakfast calzone before, but it was quite good.
We headed back across the harbour again and caught the Skytrain out to East Vancouver, which runs you right past the downtown venues. We caught a bus on Broadway up to the University of British Columbia, which is where the secondary hockey venue is at. We were with the crowd headed for the US/Russia women's hockey game, a big one for us (still in progress as I write this, but if I am reading the website right, we're up 13-0... sweet) which was fun because everyone was in good spirits. The girl behind us was talking about being on the Sea Bus earlier in the day with the Bronze medal winner of the women's freestyle, who let her wear the medal and have their picture taken together. The bus driver, and indeed all the bus drivers we have met, was in good cheer and talking to everyone about where they were from and acquaintances he had near those places.
Mandy started crashing after we got out there, though, so we grabbed another bus back that let us off very near the Harbour Authority docks. We picked up some ice at the local mini-mart and now we're here, watching the Canada/Norway game. If she starts to feel better, we may head out again, if not, we'll stay in; no big deal. We'll head out sometime tomorrow, with a forecast that looks providential so far... hopefully a quick trip home. We're having a lot of fun, but we're also ready for a return to a regular, and hopefully more restful, schedule!
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