Almost gold...and it's ok

Today was the most exhausting day yet, with even more packed in for tomorrow. We left at around 10 a.m. to head to Canada Hockey Place for the womens bronze and gold medal games. First up was Sweden vs. Finland. By now we have flags for all the teams and have enjoyed cheering for every team. Key to the fun was the cowbells that we got from the Bell telephone store. We became official hockey crazies with this aquisition. And we used them to our full potential. What else would you expect from three people that met while in the college band? Ok, I was a cheerleader and they were in the band, but that's a story for another time. I end up in the band somewhere along the way, playing the french horn thanks to lessons by Angie. Anyway, I had second row seats for the bronze-medal game. Ray and Angie snuck their way down later in the game and the cheering pack was together again. We actually loved the energy of this game. The women on both team played tough, with a few punches and shoves along the way. Finland was overwhelmed with the win and stood with their heads up to receive their bronze medals.
Next up was the anticipated USA/Canada gold-medal game. My superhero cape was the American flag, and we had no problem tredging through a sea of red and white to get into the arena and take our seats. We were pleased to have pleasant conversions with the Canadians around us, and even happier that we had many USA fans in the rows surrounding us. The woman sitting next to me was from Winnipeg, but cheers for Pittsburgh because of Sydney Crosby. I nicely informed her that people from Philly don't like him. I tried to be polite. She had been nice to talk to until she brought up Sid. Differences aside, we talked about hockey and both cheered for our teams. At the end it was just two goals that made the difference. We all clapped for each team, with no animosity or taunting. Allegedly the Canadian women brought beer, champagne and cigars to the ice after most people has left the arena. I don''t think it was proper for them to celebrate like this in their uniforms, with gold medals draped around their necks. Nevertheless, everyone behaved and we didn't get beaten up for wearing a ridiculous amount of red, white, and blue.

We did a little wandering in Yaletown to find any last-minute deals. We enjoyed some stree performances and headed to a delicious Italian dinner in Yaletown. We just couldn't let the night end, so we made our way to Robson Square to see the nightly fireworks show. Then it was back to the condo to get ready for an early departure to Whistler for the bobsleigh event. It's about a two-hour bus ride. After the event, we'll wander around Whistler and then eat at the famous Araxi, featured in Gordan Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen tv show. Then back to Vancouver for our last night. How fast it is here. We've been going nonstop, and loving all of it. Hope you're enjoying reading this. I'm about to fall asleep staring at the screen, so I'll be off to bed.