VWO (Day 13) – My Last Full Day in Vancouver

Last night, a group of us went back to Gotham Steakhouse for dinner and, I believe, set the Winter Olympic record for dining. We arrived at 7:45 p.m.; we left at 1 a.m. In between, we ate way too much great food, drank a wonderful bottle of wine and had great conversation. It’s just one of my favorite ways to spend an evening: surrounded by friends, chatting (and chatting, and chatting and …) and listening to live music. Steve the manager and David the owner are definitely on my list of the nicest people I’ve met in Vancouver. If you ever make it up this way, you must have the black-and-blue ahi and an ice cream sundae at Gotham. And tell them I sent you.

Today (Sunday), I went back to Cypress Mountain for the Olympic debut of men’s skiercross. Although our two American racers did not make it out of the round of 32, the fact they raced at all was deserving of ink. They were both injured less than a month ago and made seemingly miraculous recoveries to be here and compete in Vancouver. You can read my story about the race here.

After I turned in my skiercross story and my preview of Monday’s events, I caught up on some work in the MPC. Sadly, that’s where I watched the USA-Canada game I planned to attend. Sometimes, the Olympics is not so glamorous. It was a great game, and it was so exciting to see the U.S. team pull off the win. But it just wasn’t as exciting to watch with the volume turned off and in a room full of mouse-quiet journalists. (Shhhhhh!!)

ANOTHER TIME THE OLYMPICS IS NOT SO GLAMOROUS? LAUNDRY DAY …

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After the game, I met my friends Tricia and Kelly at the Official Olympic Store, waited in line and bought some souvenirs. I also found out the entire city is supposedly sold out of red Canada gloves. They still had the kid gloves, so I bought a few pairs for some friends, but I am still on a hunt for the adult gloves. Supposedly, they have them at the airport.

Then, tonight, I had the first of what will inevitably be a few birthday dinners. We met up with Lindsay and ate at Cin-Cin, an Italian restaurant on Robson. Once again, dinner was awesome. It was also so much fun, and ended with the “Happy Birthday” song, a candle and tiramisu. At midnight, I entered my Year of Enlightenment … in the Year of the Tiger. I’m not sure what that means. But I am excited to find out.

THEY EVEN WROTE “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” ON THE PLATE IN CHOCOLATE SAUCE!

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Tomorrow, I’m off to Whistler for the next week.

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