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Posted May 2010

My experience at the Vancouver Olympics

By Paul Lewkowicz

From February 23-27, I stayed in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics. It was an amazing experience! Here is a short summary of my stay:

As my trip to Vancouver was last minute, I did not have any tickets to events. So, I relied on purchasing tickets off the Vancouver Olympic website, scalpers or finding extras. When I searched for tickets, I found that the prices ranged from $300-$1,000 (if not more) for non-hockey medal events. As a result, I only managed to attend a curling event (Sweden def. Great Britain 8-7 in 11 ends to qualify for their semi-final loss to Canada).

However, being present during the Games allowed me to watch live games, soak in the Olympic spirit and atmosphere, and attend Olympic celebrations. I got goose bumps from the throngs of people crowding the streets singing “Oh Canada” after Canada beat Germany and Russia in men’s hockey and after Canada won gold in women’s hockey. Many Canadians, young and old, had tears in their eyes as a result of these celebrations and patriotic cheers and songs. Canadians are not known to wear their patriotism on their sleeve, but during the Olympics, we sure let it show! It was amazing thing to see and something I was incredibly proud and happy to be part of!

While visiting friends and not attending Olympic celebrations, I had a great time exploring the city. The weather made it quite easy, as it was either rainy or sunny and made you feel like you were at the Summer Olympics and not the Winter Olympics. Yet, just one hour away, skiing events at Whistler were postponed or made difficult due to white-out conditions. Vancouver is interesting in that way! Even so, Vancouver is definitely the Seattle of the north.

In terms of the Olympic facilities, they were well designed, state of the art, and relatively easily accessible (except for the Richmond and Whistler facilities, which were a bit of a trek but nothing close to the travel time of some TTC routes). Many streets had Olympic-vehicle and transit-only lanes. The Olympics really highlighted what world-class facilities and transit can be brought to a city. The transit, made possible by express bus routes and the Sky Train light rail service, was quite impressive, with a fast link to the Vancouver airport in the suburb of Richmond. There were more lines than we have in Toronto and they were well connected and provided decent service to far-out areas of the Greater Vancouver area. Also, unlike Toronto, there were easy payment kiosks at nearly every station where you could purchase a day pass or ticket by credit or debit card or cash. Also, the system was similar to that of GO Transit, where fares were based on zones and where there was an honour system with fare enforcement officers.

Vancouver’s downtown had many bars and entertainment, cheap flea markets and great restaurants in a neighbourhood called Yale town, and a decent waterfront with Olympic rings lit up with LED lights. The Olympic flame was nice to see (and was visible due to a break in the fence blocking access to it). The waterfront wasn’t as spectacular as I thought it would be, but it did have a nice view of the athlete’s village andfeatured the pavilions showcasing Canada and its provinces and the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

One really impressive thing about the Vancouver Olympics was the many volunteers to assist people and tourists! Every transit station had transit volunteers who would help you find where you wanted to go and every corner had volunteers in blue jackets offering advice on directions, where to eat or have fun, and where to go for certain events! This was outstanding and a very positive feature of the Olympic Games.

Posted Mar 24th 2010

I guess it comes to a point where criticism needs to become a catalyst. My complaint deals with the slow destruction of the Highland Creek Watershed. With all of the conservation that has been expressed and enacted dealing with the Rouge River it seems that our neighborhood (that borders the Highland Creek) always seems to get ignored. For lots of reasons (none of which I agree with) more and more waste water is dumped into the Highland Creek. The resultant erosion and pollution has continued to get worse, with major sections bordering along Colonel Danforth and Beechgrove deteriorating to the point where homes, private property and trhe natural environment are in jeopardy. Shame, Shame, Shame on the City for its lack of conservation. I am asking the CCRA conservation chair to start to take an active position in this matter.

Joe Pileggi

Posted Mar 24th 2010

I want to commend the Editor of the CCRA news and the news staff for their fantastic work. Each month over 3000 CCRA news are delivered to our neighborhood homes and local services. The website is populated with pertinent concerns and issues that effect us all. Thank you and best wishes for helping to make this community special.

Joe Pileggi