Thursday night after a very stressful few days of work, Joep and I headed to the airport to fly to Vancouver. Thanks to the time difference we arrived in Vancouver just after midnight and made our way to Casa Julz & Rog. For those of you who don’t know, Julz is a friend of mine. We met one fateful morning in Athens as we both ate breakfast alone in our backpackers hostel. Hours later (literally, only hours later) she booked flights to Amsterdam to come with me on a road trip to Munich for Oktoberfest. The rest, as they say, is history. It was now my turn to visit her and lets face it, its not much of a task when you get to go to the Olympics and visit one of your favourite people in the world simultaneously!
After a brief late night catch up with Julz during which Joep struggled to get a word in, we hit the hay ready for our Olympic adventure to begin the next morning. Before going to bed Joep and I both commented that we should really check what time our bus left for our ski event the following morning however neither of us actually got around to doing this. Julz was up and ready for work at 7am the following morning and I had a lovely chat with her before she left. Then, at 7:10am I decided to check what time we needed to be ready to go. Panic.
Our bus to Whistler was leaving from the Holland Heineken House (HHH) at 7:30am. The HHH is 30 minutes drive from where we were staying. We were still in pj’s. Uh. Oh. What does one do in such a situation? Naturally, I ran on the spot for at least a minute with my hands on my heads screeching ‘OH NO! OH NO! We’ve missed it! We’ve missed it!’ Joep, not realizing the urgency of the situation, stretched luxuriously in bed and reached for the piece of paper I had throw across the room in my panic asking calmly what was the matter. He then sat up. Slowly adjusted his eyes (by this stage I had taken to literally spinning in circles on the spot muttering ‘We’ve missed it! What a waste! We’ve missed it!’) … and then he read the paper. As he got to the 7:30am bit he threw the paper in the air and immediately pulled on some jeans. This triggered me into action and I began to the do same. The next 60 seconds were a blur of the two of us running around the apartment looking for clothes. I vaguely remember Joep having the audacity to take the time to go to the bathroom. I reminded him in no uncertain terms that there was NO time for that! Madness. We dashed out the door at approximately 7:17am and were in a taxi within seconds. Mr T told us it was 30 minutes to HHH but he would do his best to get us there on time. He was not lying. He drove like a crazy man, screeching around corners and running all kinds of lights. At one stage he almost ran over a couple of pedestrians on a crosswalk. I’m not going to lie to you … I was more concerned about making our bus that the lives of these poor innocents. Panic brings out the worst in us all.
Mr T was a hero. Joep and I had given up all hope and were beginning to plan how to rent a car to drive the 2.5 hours to Whistler as Mr T flew around the final corner and we saw the HHH bus still there! RELIEF!! We gave Mr T a ludicrous tip which made his day and ran to the bus. It’s the first time I haven’t been irritated by a bus running late. Ironic.
Once settled on the bus, Joep and I turned to each other and began to belly laugh. We looked like 2 crazy people, hair everywhere, clothes all crumpled and out of breath from the panic. The tone for the weekend was set. Hilarity.
The ride up to Whistler was breathtakingly beautiful. All the tour books say that the sea to sky drive is phenomenal. They do not lie. It is amazing. Around every corner is another even more beautiful view! We didn’t even nap! Upon arrival in Whistler we wandered up to Creekside where our event was being held. The men’s Alpine Skiing – Super G. It’s the one where they come down the mountain at about 150km/hr. It is insane. In order to get to the event you have to catch a chairlift up. It was all just too exciting!! The event itself was crazy to see. These athletes are incredible!! The Norwegian (Aksel Svindel) won gold with American’s bringing in the silver and bronze. Whilst it was great to see this, my favourite participants were the people from random countries like Serbia who were just happy to be there and when they saw their ranking of 20th or 30th they would cheer as loudly as the winners. True Olympic spirit. I loved it!
After enjoying the event we wandered back down to Whistler town for a late lunch and some relaxing in the sun. Yes. It was sunny. And close to 10 degrees above zero! Years ago when I was a permanent Australian resident, 10 degrees was the coldest winters day. Now it is t-shirt weather. I have become one of those people we Aussie’s used to laugh at. Boy do I appreciate the sun these days!
We spent the next little while eating and checking out all the Olympic madness in Whistler. The excitement is completely infectious. Everywhere you look people are celebrating something, anything! Everyone is in a good mood, everyone is interested in where you are from and what you are there to see. It is just incredible. We caught the bus back to Vancouver city with big smiles on our faces feeling very excited about what the next few days had to offer!
Arriving back in Vancouver, we headed straight to the HHH. This is the Dutch country celebration tent (lots of countries have their own, it’s a cool idea!). The queues are massive but Dutch nationals get to skip the queue … perfect! Within minutes we were immersed in a sea of orange and drinking Heineken. Glorious! Even better when Julz joined us after work!! The night was a success. I would love to explain why it was so great but … well we were drinking Heineken and dancing our hearts out so perhaps you get the idea. A couple of highlights of the evening … Firstly, a Dutch band called the Corona’s were playing. Part of their routine is that random people get up on stage and request songs into a telephone. Lots of Canadian’s and American’s got up to request songs and the party was in full swing so of course I felt the need to request something … I wanted Joep’s & my favourite song (for obvious reasons), ‘Heb Je Even Voor Mij’. So I got up. And spoke Dutch. And requested it. It was all very bad and I’m not going to lie to you, I’m pretty sure that the Dutch that I thought I was speaking was much better than the Dutch I was actually speaking … yikes. But Joep was proud of me and we continued groove shaking.
Another highlight … Julz was accosted by many men in the HHH. This is because she is ludicrously good looking and the men like her very much even when she very clearly does not like them. Whilst being accosted by one such man she informed him that I am the Australian Olympic Figure Skater. He believed this instantly. The following hour was spent discussing my figure skating career including how terrible my partner was coz he is not strong enough to lift me. He said I was a true Olympian and demanded photo’s. We obliged. Mean, we know. But funny too.
After a long, crazy night we headed home for a few hours sleep before waking early Saturday to check out the city. Vancouver is an incredible city. Mountains in the background, beautiful cityscape's and an incredible waterfront. It literally has it all. We spent the morning wandering around and eating before hiring bikes and biking around Stanley Park. Breathtaking! The views were incredible plus we were blessed with yet another beautiful sunny warm day! Content.
A few hours later we returned the bikes and continued our city tour by wandering along the waterfront to check out the Olympic rings and the Olympic flame. Both were pretty cool to see and this is coming from someone who is typically not a huge sports fan. The streets were packed with people and yet again, everyone was in a great mood and the atmosphere was infectious! We strolled around completely content for ages before retiring to the couch for a few beers prior to the hockey match we had tickets for that evening.
Germany v Belarus. As you may know from my previous blogs, I have really taken to the hockey since we moved here. It is a crazy sport! So we were both really excited to be heading to the Germany v Belarus game. Joep had decided that we would support Belarus. I didn’t argue. The crowd was a mishmash of all different nationalities but, like us, everyone had picked a team to support proudly! Despite all the excitement of being there, I was exhausted from the previous nights partying coupled with the busy day and so … I fell asleep (I’m sure this doesn’t surprise you mum & dad!!). I have a very special talent for falling asleep when I am tired. I can do it anywhere. However when attending an Olympic Ice Hockey match it is not such a good thing. Thankfully, Joep woke me after the warm-ups were finished so that I could enjoy the match. It didn’t take long to get back into it and the game was highly entertaining! The crowd was crazy AND our team won! Always a good thing J
After a celebratory stroll through the streets we headed home for a good night of sleep which was well deserved!! Sunday we awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed (that’s an Aussie expression if ever I heard one!) and made the decision to enjoy a long brunch!! We headed off to NU on the waterfront across from Granville and were instantly pleased with our choice. The walk there along the waterfront was glorious and the weather was so good that we were able to eat outside! True story!
Adding to the beauty of the morning, when we ordered our first bottle of bubbly we were informed that we had come on the day that it was 50% off all wines. What? Does this mean … could it be …. ??? Yes. Two for One!! Most people would just be glad to get half price wine. We were excited to get 2 bottles for the price of one. I hope this never changes.
We sat at our outdoor table enjoying too much food and bubbles for hours. Literally. It was heavenly!! As the clock came up to 3pm we decided that we should make a move to the HHH to watch the Dutch in the speed skating. It was a good choice. We got there in time to watch Ireen Wust win gold! What a buzz!! Joepinator was ecstatic. As were most of the Dutch naturally! After gold was won we were stuck at the HHH. The crowds piled in for the celebrations and boy was it a crazy night. Ireen Wust herself was on stage (And no, Maxima did not come. I know. I am as disappointed as everyone. I was sure once she met me she would be my best friend but its not meant to be. Boo.) … the highlight however, was Guus Meeuwis!! You have never seen Joepinator more gleeful (that’s not technically true, he is often very gleeful but normally it involves beer or bacon … or an episode of King of Queens … ok so lots of things but still …) …. The show was fantastic!! So good in fact that the Dutch felt it necessary to throw entire cups of beer into the air! Joepinator joined it of course. I was hesitant. But after a bit of convincing I did it too. It wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be.
Another crazy night of dancing and laughing ensued until we called it a night and, with aching feet, headed home.
Monday morning we were up early to have delicious breakfast with Julz & Rog, 2 of our favourite people. After this we headed out for a last wander around this incredible city. Our wanderings took us across the bridge to Granville Island. Beautiful! We grabbed a bite to eat in the markets and then sat out in the sun soaking up the rays and enjoying the buskers before catching the aqua bus back the city to go out to a delicious dinner at Stepho’s with Julz and Rog. Vancouver dining is amazing. The food, the service, the atmosphere. Even during a crazy time like the Olympics, every restaurant we ate at was great and the service impeccable. Plus we were lucky enough to have great company too!
We finished our Olympics mini break with a few beers / cups of tea and great chats back at Casa Julz & Rog before Joep and I made our way (with heavy hearts) to the airport.
We are now officially Olympics nuts. I honestly thought that going to Vancouver during the Olympics would be a great way to enjoy the Olympics but a terrible way to see the city. I was totally wrong. Vancouver is at its best these 2 weeks! The atmosphere everywhere you go is one of complete euphoria. People are just happy to be there and so were we!
It will definitely go down as one of the best trips we have done. I’m not sure how we will top it but will certainly try! Thanks Julz & Rog for a fantastic weekend! Till next time …
