Thursday, February 18, 2010

My Day Downtown

After I had finished looking around in the Yaletown LiveCity I decided to hop on the Canada Line a go to the heart of the 2010 Olympic Games. Downtown Vancouver was jam packed with thousands and thousands of people. It made me feel so globally connected because I was standing next to a guy that was from Sweden or Russia or a country that I have never ever heard of! There are so many people in Vancouver from all around the world and it makes Vancouver busy but it also helps show people our stunning city. I spoke to some people that were visiting Vancouver and they are impressed by our city; the love what they are seeing and I think some are thinking of coming back!

The first thing of my list of things to do in the city was go to the Coke Cola Pin Trading Centre in the Olympic Superstore to get two things. I needed the last pin of the CTV pin collection and I was hoping that someone had it and they were willing to trade. I had food poisoning the day they were giving out the pin so I could not get it. The second thing I want was a pin with my picture on it! Unfortunate you had to line up to get inside the Olympic Superstore, and the line was very long. I could not wait in line for that long, it was just way to long for me. Disappointed I walked to West Pender and Granville street.

If you are wondering why I walked there, that is location of the Canadian Mint Pavilion. There was a line to go inside the pavilion but it was medium sized so I waited in line. It was much shorter than the line that let you go and see the 2010 Olympic Medals! If you were willing to wait around three hours you can go inside and touch and see the Olympic medals. I was not that interested and frankly did not have that much patience in me. While waiting I line I started to talk to a couple from Victoria, BC. They did not have any tickets to the Olympic games but were enjoying all the other Olympic items that Vancouver had to offer. They had to leave and still was about half way to the entrance. So I started to talk to the American couple in front of me, they were wearing American jerseys. ☺ They were from North Carolina and had a couple of tickets to the games. They were enjoying their time in Vancouver.


Once I got in the Pavilion I walked around and saw all the different types of coins that the Canadian Mint had made. There was also a video playing on how exactly they make all the different type of coins. I looked around and then found a line of people waiting, they were waiting to take pictures. I joined the line and found out that it was line to take a picture or make a 30 second video of why you are the best Vancouver fan ever. The winner will get a trip to Ottawa to see the Mint, get their face on a coin and other prizes. I decide to take a picture, there were many options to choose from for the picture. I picked one I thought was good. What do you guys think? After that I went to the Gold room to see the 1 Million dollar coin, I did not know that this existed. I was stunned to see a huge pure gold coin weighing 100 kilograms. It looked really pretty, but no longer is worth 1 million dollars. It is now worth around 3.5 million dollars!! ☺☺ WOW! Along with the coin there were other gold coins and items that the mint had made. A very special thing that was their was a real gold bar! Yes, they ones that they show in movies, you can go and take a picture with it. The only catch was that you had to wait in line, but it was short and it was worth the wait. The gold bar is heavy, I could lift it up only for a couple of seconds!
I exited the mint with a new pin and a 2010 circulation quarter, they were trading quarter. I am also collecting the quarter but I am just getting them from my change. I decided to walk back the the Vancouver City Centre skytrain hoping that the line for the Olympic Superstore was now shorter. When I got there the line was much shorter and I was in the store in 15 minutes. The store was full of people buying up all the 2010 Olympic merchandise. I skipped all that and rushed to the Pin Trading Centre. I asked a couple of people did they have a the last CTV pin but sadly no one had it and if they did they are not trading it. So I got my picture in a pin which was fun. I think it turned out good. Don't you?
Tomorrow I will be Downtown again! Hoping to see the BC Pavilion and LiveCity Downtown!!

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