It may start sounding like a broken record: I am having a terrific time at the Olympics in Vancouver! I feel very fortunate for the opportunity to be here and had no idea just how moving and energizing an experience it would be.

Today was a great day. No tickets to any events, no big plans on my agenda, just a day to explore Vancouver again a rediscover this city I love so much.

Here’s a recap of my day …

After breakfast at the hostel with Richard before he had to go catch the Canada Line to the airport for his flight to the States for a vacation, I took in several laps at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre. Last summer, I visited the indoor pool there nearly every day and being back in that pool was like being home. It was a terrific feeling.

Afterward, I walked along the path beside False Creek towards English Bay. Some new public art has been put up since we were here, including this incredible aluminum sculpture from a Spanish artist, entitled We. It combines many of the alphabets from languages common in Vancouver: Latin, Greek, Russian, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Arabic, & Chinese.

And yes, that is some blue sky you see in the photo. The day had moments in it that were absolutely gorgeous!

Walking along Beach Avenue, I met some geese … Canada geese, of course.

Last summer, we noticed that a large stone Vancouver 2010 logo had been erected beside English Bay. Seeing it again today brought back a lot of memories from the warm summer days biking past it. Now it has giant red mittens around it – the real thing are impossible to find here, thanks to Oprah.

It was such a good, yet odd, feeling walking along the paths we walked every day last July for a month. I continued down Denman Street, a street we were on several times a day last summer and had lunch at one of my favorite neighborhood joints — Olympia Pizza & Souvlaki, where I enjoyed a great pizza.

After lunch I continued down past the condo we rented last summer, where three crows posed … knowing full-well that they had a crow admirer on hand.

The view down the street by the condo was stunning today with the blue sky and sun.

I continued down a block to the Seawall and walked that familiar path, too, with plans to make it to the Olympic Cauldron. Along the way, I felt at home, a bit wistful wishing Clint was here with me, and so impressed with the natural beauty all around me.

Out in Coal Harbour, a barge is anchored with the Olympic rings affixed to it. If you’ve been watching the Olympics on TV, you’ve no doubt seen them.

When I made it to the queue to view the cauldron, I was happy to find that it was only a 30-minute wait. It was well worth the wait. I knew I wanted to see it, but I had no idea the goose-bump feeling I was going to get when I first saw it. I guess the Olympic Cauldron is one of those quintessential Olympic icons and seeing it really affirmed for me that I am at the Olympics!

The atmosphere at the cauldron was very festive and happy. I hung around there for a bit  and enjoyed the moment. I think it is a moment in time I will always remember.

In the evening, I went back towards False Creek and got to see the We sculpture lighted, which was quite interesting and visually stunning with the Burrard Bridge in the background.

After some more walking around, I had a great Thai meal in Yaletown while watching the women’s free skate on TV in the restaurant with a very international clientele.

Tomorrow, I’m meeting a friend of our friend Richard to watch the Canada v. Slovakia game on TV. The winner of that game will go on to my gold medal game (!!!), the loser goes on the bronze medal game. I’m definitely hoping Canada comes out on top.

Thanks for reliving my day with me. I enjoyed sharing it and getting to relive a bit of it again.