Our Odyssey Comes to An End

Yesterday and today feel like one long day so we'll use dates. On March 2nd we got up, put the last touches on tidying the condo and packing and left the place that had been our Olympic home. We found out later that we had missed packing our camera charger but everything else was in good shape.

We had picked up an extra piece of luggage and now had four larger bags and three carry on sized bags. Our flight wasn't until 9:00 p.m. and there was no way we could lug all that around all day, so we had called the day before to confirm that we could check our luggage in the morning at the airport. The Canada Line makes travel to the airport so easy that we could then go back to Vancouver, spend the day and return to the airport for our flight without any problem.

While there were some glitches with the plan, it worked out in the end and we found ourselves back downtown sans luggage with the bulk of the day ahead of us. We had a quick bite at a Cafe Artigiano, (an excellent coffee house chain that may we think soon be giving Starbucks a run for its money in Vancouver). The City was still disassembling and cleaning up from the Olympics and many people looked a little lost without the constant buzz of activity. We read in the paper that VANOC will be providing counselling for the thousands of people who have defined themselves for the last few years by their work towards the Olympics and who, now, have no idea what is next.

We went to the Vancouver Art Gallery where there was an exhibit of original Da Vinci anatomical drawings, with Da Vinci's marginal notes--it was a special exhibit that came to the city with the Olympics, but that will be staying until May. One of the points Da Vinci makes in his notes is that it is useless to try to describe in words what needs to be shown and we won't try to fully describe the intricacy of the drawings, except to say that modern textbooks are in many respects no more accurate than was Da Vinci. In some ways it is analogous to our Olympic experience--it was impossible to capture in words or pictures--you simply had to be there.

The exhibit was larger than we expected and was fascinating. The papers were in glass, suspended vertically so that we could see the work on both sides. Da Vinci had personally dissected many cadavers and made extensive drawings and notes. His anatomical understanding was centuries ahead of his contemporaries.

In fact, his intent had been to publish the drawings as part of, essentially, a text book, but he died before he could complete the work. His heirs simply kept the material with his other things and it wasn't until almost 1900 that anyone realized that Da Vinci had been so in advance of the world: one of the most casual and dramatic wastes of work and knowledge perhaps in human history.

The rest of the museum was a mix of modern socially aware art and Group of Seven classics. There was some good photography on display and one piece of sculpture - a whale skeleton (to scale) made from plastic lawn chairs - was quite striking. From the patio on the cafe we overlooked Robson Square, with its skating rink empty, its entries barred off and crews of workers taking down the zip line, the information booth and ticket area.

At the back of the art gallery is the Olympic countdown clock, showing 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes and 0 seconds to the Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. On the opposite side is the countdown clock for the Paralympics, which start in only 10 days. Somehow, the flip side seems forgotten.

From there we made one last visit to the Bay, where there was still a line up to the Olympic store. A friend who shall remain nameless only a couple of days before thought to ask us to get him a pair of the red Olympic mittens. This was, needless to say, very late to that party. The things had been on Oprah! There were none, nor were any of the other things we were looking for in stock. The staff at the Bay looked shell shocked, but maintained a helpful attitude.

Then came our last meal in Vancouver - and what a meal it was! It was at a Belgian restaurant that served food for the gods. It was called "Chambar". From drinks made with both pisco AND absinthe to a mushroom/truffle soup that was served in an esspresso sized cup because the human palate couldn't handle more to venison and mussels that were beyond compare, this may have been the best meal we had in Vancouver. Take that Vij's!

The Canada Line took us back to the airport and Westjet took us back to Toronto where our friend Tracy very kindly picked us up at the airport (thank you, Tracy!). We didn't want to come back. As we said, some of the Olympic employees are receiving counseling for the post Olympic let down. We'd like some too.

This will be our second-last entry; we will do one more with our final thoughts.

Back on the ground,

The Entity
Paul McCulloch Alexander
Kim Boara Alexander