Catching up!

On Tuesday February 22, I readied the house for Margaret and Heather who were coming back from Hawaii later that night and then headed off to Granville Island. Not really an island, but a piece of land that juts out into the water, this is a great shopping location. Home of Granville Market, this spot offers a massive fresh food market and a ton of little artisan’s shops. It has been made really accessible by public transit for visitors to the city by a short LRT tram ride from Olympic Village skytrain station. It was raining, but not heavily and although I had brought my umbrella, the hood on my jacket was enough to keep me dry. Granville had a couple of Olympic venues – Switzerland House, Francophone House and Atlantic House. I started with Switzerland, near and dear to my heart, and was disappointed to discover that it was a restaurant and not an exhibit type space. I stood in line for a free sampling of gruyere on baguette, but they ran out of bread before it got to me. I managed to convince the young man that I would be happy for the cheese without the baguette and maybe I still have a touch of Swiss in my French, but in any case he smiled and agreed. Yum.
Sauntering over to Francophone House, I made several stops in between to ogle jewellery, watch some glass-blowing, try on a couple of hand-crafted hats and admire beautifully crafted wood furniture. This house didn’t have too much to offer, an exhibit space about tourism, education and business in Quebec. Radio Canada had a broadcast station and people were lining up for a chance to say something. I wasn’t too interested, so wandered into a cafe (French style with beer) where everyone was speaking French almost made me forget I was in English-speaking Vancouver. Another line-up though, so since I wasn’t hungry, I headed over to Atlantic House, with hopes that the east coast might be a bit more stimulating than the two previous houses.
I knew I was close when I could hear the music – a fiddle playing and the sounds of feet stamping about a stage floor. This was more like it and I decided it might be worth waiting in line this time. This area had two or three spaces, the exhibit – food sample hall, the entertainment hall and the beer room. Since the exhibit hall was closing early for a special event with guests such as Mischa Grugergossman, I wanted to make sure I got in. The line moved quickly and I got a taste of beer – Alexander Keith – a package of King Cole tea, a yummy cake of some sort and little cups of candies. The people were your usual friendly and smiling east coasters, cracking jokes and inviting everyone to come for a visit.

I discovered I had just missed a performance and the next one wasn’t for another 90 minutes, so headed into the market. Flowers and food were overflowing, and the crowded market was a lively spot full of colours and scents. First stop JJ Bean. Now if you have never had a JJ Bean coffee, well you are missing something special, especially if you like a full robust flavour in your java. Grabbed a couple of bags of beans to split up as gifts for friends back home – yes Tom, I got you some – and for my purchase I got a free hot steaming cup to drink. Oh, the aroma! Next stop – flowers – to get some fresh tulips for Margaret’s place. After spending 10 days in Hawaii tulips might be a little tame, but there were lovely bright colours, so I bought some orange and yellow parrot tulips that were just that little bit more exotic. So the picture isn't the tulips, but the most interesting flower I have seen - it's a banana flower and grows wild in the Philipines, but you can get it here for a mere $49.99. 

A little peckish, I made a stop at the food court – lots to choose from and although I just wanted something light to take away, I had to stop at the Ukrainian food booth – pyrohy (perogies) and kobassa and all sorts of other yummies – I loved the menu board – it said it all and then I laughed at how Canadian this was – the people in the kictchen and serving were definitely not Uky – although perhaps long ago ancestry from the Mongolians may have had a connection – but I suspect not. This was a family of Asians preparing Ukrainian food! In case you are wondering, I did not buy this but settled on sushi from the spot next door. This is BC after all, with fresh fish and I wanted to get my fill while I was here.
It’s easy to spend a long time in the market, admiring the displays, comparing prices between stalls and of course wandering through the artisan’s booths. Picked up some postcards, and a couple of other little gifts and headed back to Atlantic House. By this time it was pouring rain and the line-up was long and I was tired, so decided to head back to Steveston. I had seen lots and it would soon be dinnertime for the dogs anyhow.

I headed over to Larraine’s after Thursday’s shift. Larraine was taking Friday off and she and Scott (her son) were taking Emily (her granddaughter) to see some of the venues on Friday. Planning an early start to beat the crowds, we started off at one of the larger venues, with GE Place (home of the hockey games), Molson Hockey House (an exclusive venue for those with deep pockets), the Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan Houses. It was raining but that had not deterred anyone by the looks of it. The US-Finland game was on and we got caught up in the throngs of people heading to GE place. Scalpers galore and many people holding little signs saying “Tickets wanted”, it was amazing to feel the energy and the buzz – whoever won this game would play Canada (of course we knew Canada would win the semi-final later that day!) I overheard one scalper say he had sold 20 tickets so was feeling flush. Someone asked how much he was asking for one seat and he said between $400 and $1000 depending on the ticket. Who carries around that kind of cash? We weren’t buying, so we moved on.
Ontario was first as we had heard it was a great pavillion, but the line-up was horrific – ant least a 90 minute wait (in the pouring rain). Quebec House wasn’t open until 1230, so off to Saskatchewan we went. Shorter line and free samples of yogourt-covered lentils snacks, but the most exciting part was the feet of the duck on the roof dome. The pavilion was in a huge white balloon –like tent and there was a duck walking across the top – the webbed feet were comical to see and a great photo. Needless and sad to say, this was probably the highlight of this pavilion. So far none of the houses I had been to measured up to Canada North.

Ontario line was now 2 hours waiting time and Quebec still closed so we wandered away from this area, with a minor detour to the water. Across the way we could see the athlete’s Village, with the massive food tent and on our side of the water some very enterprising person(s?) had created their very own little village of Inukshuit, along the banks.

We headed over toward downtown and stopped for lunch at Frenchies, a cute little Quebecois diner style resto. Although we hadn’t made it into Quebec house, we managed to get the flavour, ordering steamies and poutine, we ate up and fortified ourselves to mingle with the crowds once again.

Live City downtown was packed, so we passed as there was nothing worth lining up for there and headed to Aboriginal House. Another line-up – poor Emily – we despaired whether she would get to see much of anything today! But a nice woman told us about a spot down the road that was exhibits and booths of aboriginal crafts and foods that had no line-up. Yay! And when we walked in they gave a us a pin – finally a memento from one of our stops. Mostly art and crafts, prices were a little high and we bought nothing, but enjoyed the view. Of course, I fell in love with the tree outside and its fabulous white blossoms.
Off to Robson Square and it was time for me to leave my friends while they explored more of the venues and I headed in to work. It was pretty exciting at the airport – busy and lots of performances planned to entertain the masses. They were beginning to get ready for the masses of visitors coming and going over the next week.