Vancouver is truly a remarkable city. The vibrant downtown area just feels new, with lots of tall metal and glass buildings. It's completely walkable and there's so much to see and do, not to mention one of the world's great parks right on the edge of the city. Water is in abundance, which means terrific seafood in world-class restaurants.
I think we sampled every crab cake within a five-block radius of our hotel and ate everything that could possibly come from the sea -- the sablefish at Market in the Shangri-La was absolutely tremendous. We ate there several times, including after the closing ceremonies when we saw Evan Lysacek, who became the first American man in 22 years to win a gold medal in figure skating, and Kristi Yamaguchi, who was one of the first athletes I ever interviewed when I started at Bloomberg.
Outdoor activities are in abundance in Vancouver, which is just a very fit, very hip place to live. It's little wonder its regularly ranked among the best North American cities in which to reside. 
These laughing-man statues were in a small park near the seawall that rings much of the city. The artist designed all of them in his own likeness.Heading to Vancouver, I didn't expect to see dark green grass, flowers on the trees and convertibles with their tops down. The weather itself downtown was great most of the time, save for a few days of rain at the beginning and end of the trip. Notice the flowering trees behind the statue above...
It was cool to see road signs that were written in English, French and sometimes Inuit. Above is the Inukshuk, a traditional symbol of the Inuit culture that was traditionally used as a landmark and navigational aid. The Inukshuk, in addition to being fun to say, also represents northern hospitality and served as a creative symbol for the Games -- it was used in the main logo for the Vancouver Olympics. 
It was excellent having prime seats to the best events -- I covered hockey, alpine skiing, snowboarding, freestyle skiing, short track speedskating, figure skating and bobsled.. The one I didn't get to that intrigued me was curling, though I'm still a little confused on the rules.The media center was a good set-up. Accessible, well-located and not a bad office-away-from-office for a short period. 
They even brought in the macots in for us to visit with...
And the medals themselves. We had to wear white gloves to handle them... They're a bit unconventional, but that seems to be the case with the Olympic medals nowadays.
I was a big fan of the free massage area in the media center for overworked journalists. Our shortest day was probably about 12 hours, with days up to 16 hours, so it was nice to get the kinks worked out of the neck, shoulders and back. Lack of sleep, stress, carrying heavy backpacks and being hunched over a computer for hours on end can take their toll.
The long days made for late dinners. I don't recall once eating dinner before 10 pm and most were after 11. That said, most of our dinners were first-class… No complaints there. From Market to Town Hall to Coast -- I usually don't eat at restaurants that have a flaming rock tank out front, not to mention a Lamborghini.
The long days made for late dinners. I don't recall once eating dinner before 10 pm and most were after 11. That said, most of our dinners were first-class… No complaints there. From Market to Town Hall to Coast -- I usually don't eat at restaurants that have a flaming rock tank out front, not to mention a Lamborghini.
It fascinated me that Canadians say "zed" instead of the letter Z. I remember interviewing some fans at one of the first events I went to -- a father with his 7-year-old son -- and he spelled his name for me. When he got to the Z in their last name, he said "Z" and his son immediately said, "Dad, why did you say "Z"? The father then stopped and explained to his son that folks in the U.S. say Z instead of Zed... So why Zed? I don't know.. But it's different.
Speaking of different, I'm intrigued by the 2014 Winter Games coming up in Sochi, but the apparel the Russians were wearing was absolutely hideous. They were decked from head to toe in garish red and white unstylish athletic garb every single day. Not a fan at all…
I was a big fan of "Canadaman." He was everywhere. Decked out in his own version of red & white with Canadian flag for a cape. Some mixed in special touches such as body paint, full hockey gear or a helmet with a siren on top... It seemed we had thousands of sightings of Canadaman every day.
While Canadaman was a popular phrase for us, the word from the Olympics that will stick with me is a simple one, but the way it was uttered was truly memorable. I went to the short track speedskating events at the Pacific Coliseum to see Apolo Ohno and the rest compete in one of the most entertaining winter sports you can witness in person. Pure chaos. But the starter may have been my favorite part -- just before the start of each race, as the skaters would glide up to the line and take their positions, he would issue his deep-voiced, slightly drawn-out and accented "REAADY" that echoed through the stadium. Awesome. And then the gun would sound, the racers were off and the controlled chaos ensued..
Unquestionably the most popular item at the Games were the knit red mittens made by Hudson Bay. They sold for just $10 a pop and were the must-have item for fans visiting for the Olympics. Unfortunately, they sold out extremely quickly. I walked into the store at the media center to send postcards on my second or third day there, right when a shipment came in. I didn't pick any up, figuring I'd wait until later, and there were no more to be found... I had several requests come in for the mittens and searched and searched, but to no avail.
I was more successful searching for an elusive beer made by a Vancouver brewer R&B. Cirullo told me about it right after I got out there -- R&B Ravens Cream Ale, on tap. I did my due dilligence, searching restaurants, bars and pubs, but had no success. At one point, I'd tried 16 different establishments without being able to locate the brew. Then a helpful waiter at one of the excellent restaurants said he'd heard of it and inquired with the bartender, who gave me the phone number of the brewery. I called and left a message. They got back to me that afternoon and I asked if there was a place in the Gastown District that might have Ravens Cream Ale..
Sure enough, about eight blocks from the media center there was a restaurant called Chill Winstons that had it on tap.. I searched it out in the far reaches of Gastown, just across the street from the statue of Gassy Jack, as seen above. The district was apparently named after him. Why he was gassy, that I don't know...But the beer was damn good. And the search was a fun one, allowing me to sample different regional ales along the way. Quest completed..
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