More Vancouver

Our first day trip to Vancouver was Feb.16th when Lupe and I had a very early start. We booked flights on Air Canada from Victoria to Vancouver and the super cheap fares were the first and last flights. That means our flight was a 5:30am (big groan) so our taxi picked us up promptly at 4:15am (double big groan). Taxis are pretty expensive there and it came out to $50 for a ride to the airport vs. the shuttle which is only $11 and unfortunately not available that early.

The flight to Vancouver was super easy and quick (only 15 minutes). Vancouver airport is very clean and we jumped on the Canada line which takes us right into downtown. Of course, it is still early in the morning so the streets are pretty empty of crowds. We had breakfast at Tim Hortons which is are all over the place. After that we walked around the corner and came across a long line in front of a department store called The Bay. Some people in line told us that this is the official Olympic Superstore for clothing and the doors open at 9am. It was only 7 am so we decided to wait and see what was inside. The couple in line in front of us began chatting with us and sharing helpful tips. At 9 am we started moving in and it was crazy. People were grabbing Canada sweatshirts and clothing by the armfuls while Lupe went off to search for the hoodie she wanted. Yikes. I was supposed to look for a USA hockey jersey but the section that we were in was only for Canada apparel and official Olympic related items. I had to leave the fenced off area and was warned that once I leave I'd have to wait in line again to get in. I think I shocked them by saying I didn't want Canada stuff but oh well. There is a lot of really cute Canada clothing but I bought plenty of red Canada mittens in Victoria. The Bay is really huge; 5 floors of stuff and they kept all the other countries clothing etc on the 5th floor (naturally). I saw Russia, Finland, Sweden and finally USA items but the USA jersey was $165  and a bit out of our price range. Lupe and I finally found each other and she got another sweatshirt. Phew, time to get out of there. We heard that the line is long all day long until midnight so we were happy to get in first when items were restocked.
It was almost 10am and time to start heading over to the Canada Hockey Place. We had fun walking through downtown checking out the buildings and sights. There are high rise condo building and offices and people hung Canada flags in the windows. We followed people to the hockey area and noticed a Costco right next door so I made a mental note for lunch the next day. :)
Security checkpoint and we get to enter early for the 12 noon game. Yeah. Hector found us some awesome seats in the 9th row in the corner so I got  a side view of the USA bench too. People started filling in and everyone is very, very nice. We met people from all over the world and saw some strange get-ups. The game was cool since the USA won over Switzerland 3-1.
After the game, it was time to explore! We were told that we MUST try Japa Dog so that's what we did after asking some wondering volunteers and other people. Only a line of 5 people at 3pm and I tried the #1 which is Kurobuta Terimayo with mayo, teriyaki sauce and onions. Absolutely tasty! Of course later in the week I saw at least 3 more features on TV about Japa Dog and the huge lines. Phew! We managed to avoid the lines.
We spent the rest of the day viewing the torch (day and night), gazed at city/harbor views from the Harbor Centre tower (day and night) and checked out Robson square where there is ice skating and a zip line. By 9pm I was extremely tired so we headed back to the airport. Our flight was scheduled for 11:45pm but the nice employees moved us to the 10pm flight at no extra cost. Thank You very much! We walked into the apt at 11:30pm so I went to bed to do Vancouver the next day but that's another story....