When we woke up this morning the difference was palpable. It started when Kim reflexively turned on the TV and what came on was championship bowling. Yup, bowling! We didn't watch.
We had a lot to do today: laundry and cleaning up the condo so that we can return it to Ann and Arnold in the same condition it was when they entrusted it to us. We also had errands to run outside the condo. The city was quiet. The pavilions are already closed; they were taking the cow decals off of what used to be "Swiss House" and transforming it back to "Bridges" the restaurant. We had our choice of restaurant for lunch, without a line up and without a crowd.
We ate at "Cat Social House" on Granville island, on the patio with a view of the water. The setting was pristine. The waiter was friendly and said that the difference between today and yesterday was astonishing...it was like somebody hit the "off button". We had a pleasant meal, tried some excellent local beer (not sold in cans, so we couldn't bring any home) and ate at a leisurely pace.
We stopped at a local art store and had a similar conversation with the proprietor as we had with the waiter. We told her that the city and its people had won us over. We had come for the Olympics but we would be back--for the scenery, the food, the recreation and the activity. We meant it and we think that others who came will feel the same.
We also truly hope that the same energy is there for the Paralympics. We wish we could have gone to both the Olympics and Paralympics; commitments and budget required us to choose. It's too bad that they are separate events and not one Olympics which includes events for all.
We still haven't seen the Closing Ceremonies. We had planned to watch it "On Demand". Unfortunately, there seems to be a technical glitch. It seems wrong not to see the Closing Ceremonies before we leave Vancouver tomorrow. Shaw is supposed to call us when it's fixed. Here's hoping.
We leave tomorrow evening, taking a red eye flight, arriving back in Toronto at 6:00am. During the day tomorrow we plan to take in a Leonardo DaVinci exhibit that, while special for the Olympics, is open until March 2. We may also go to Northern House, which is staying open until April and which was truly breathtaking.
It certainly hasn't all sunk in. We have done and experienced so much in three weeks. We have more than 1000 pictures to sort through, but the photos cannot and do not evoke the true impact of this trip. There will likely be one or two more entries in this blog before we stop to cover the trip home and some final reflections.
Not ready to get back to life and back to reality,
The Entity
Kim Boara Alexander
Paul McCulloch Alexander
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