Day 13 - July 9 - Tourist for the Day!

Today was a blast! We woke up this morning expecting to attend yet another full day of lectures, but instead we were told that we were going to VANCOUVER!! We left around 9:45am and took Vancouver city transit to the heart of the city. We went on the new "Canada Line" that was created for the Olympics. It's pretty much a subway system, but the loading zones/terminals/underground is air-conditioned, and the ride is much more comfortable and smooth. We got off the subway, and headed past Canada Place I think it was called, straight for the Olympic torch. The torch is a lot smaller than I imagined, or at least what it looks like on T.V. It is placed in a pool of water with a little fountain/waterfall in the center. No fence though! We were then given the opportunity to travel Vancouver in groups of 3 all on our own-yay for freedom! Ricky, Andjela, Julie, and I proceeded onto Stanley Park, and boy was it a long hot walk in 30 degree weather. It probably took us almost an hour prancing along the coastline. My feet killed. If I were to do it again, I would highly suggest renting bikes. Everyone was either on roller blades or skates. There are actually lanes designated by a median for those on bikes/skates. We were so tired and beat by the time we made it to the main entrance of the park, that we walked just past the Vancouver ROWING Club (got a pic with that!!). We never actually went into the park, which was a bit upsetting. Andjela wanted to shop, shop, shop. We met up with a group of 7 boys, with whom we went to an authentic Korean restaurant, BBQ style. It was so good, and guess what?! I have finally mastered the art of chopsticks :) We ordered 11 dishes of food consisting of BBQ chicken, BBQ pork, fried chicken, rice, and more. It was super good!

After lunch, we carried onto Robson St, the shopping district of Vancouver. Very similar to Toronto. Me and Julie split from the rest and went in some stores together. I didn't buy anything except a $40 dress on sale for $20 from French Connection. That was it, not too successful really. Shad Valley UBC is hosting an alumni BBQ for those in the Vancouver area so I figured I could showcase the dress then. We eventually made our way back to the torch, our meeting place @ 4:30pm.

All in all it was a very pleasant day. I absolutely love Vancouver and have officially fallen in love with it. The landscape is breathtaking. The water surrounded by mountains is so close to you, something I have never quite witnessed. I regret having toured with the people I did though (shhh!). They were a hoot, but I would have loved to have done more "touristy" things. I would have liked to have gone into Stanley Park, visited the Aquarium, seen the Steam Clock, gotten marble ice cream, and shopped at an official Olympic store. Next time for sure though, with bikes. So we got back around 6:30pm. We had take-in Chinese food because the caf had closed. We had some Shad speaks, and that was pretty much it. Tomorrow we are attending workshops organized by our PAs. We had to choose, and because my group won the scavenger hunt on the first day, we got first choice. I chose one on ethics-should be interesting. I'll let you know all about it tomorrow. Until then,

-Carolyn