While there is much going on in Vancouver and Whistler this week to remind us of those 17 glory days in February, and while Friday's opening ceremony was every bit as spectacular and entertaining as its predecessor a month ago on Feb. 12, make no mistake: The 2010 Vancouver Winter Paralympics is not the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.And much of that is good.
The lineups? They're gone. If you want to get close to the relit outdoor cauldron, for instance, you can walk right up on to the viewing platform and snap away, because on Sunday, arguably the busiest day of the 10-day Paralympiad, there were only a few dozen folks milling around the site.
Never made it to Canada's Northern House? Wander in, until April 18. The big white tent that is Canada House? It's still on the LiveCity Downtown site at Georgia and Cambie and, on Sunday, both were open, with a wait of about 45 minutes.
Across the street, at the Vancouver Public Library, where the Royal Canadian Mint has relocated its popular display, it was also 45 minutes to see the coins and three to four hours to see the medals, half the time it took during the other Games.
1 comment:
Maybe you were out earlier than the rest of us on Sunday (or later)...The Mint Medal line up was already at max 5 hours and closed by 1215 (it opened at noon). 4.5 hours for ZipLine line. Lots of people in line at BC Pavilion/Art Gallery. PowerSmart Village was busy but not crowded. The viewing platform for the Cauldron, was fast, took only about 20 minutes.
So the crowds were there on Sunday but definitely not in Olympic volumes. We'll see what this coming weekend brings as the Paralympics wrap up.
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