WO day 4

We got up early this day to go shopping in Chinatown..sadly, we were there too early and nothing was open. It wasn't too much of a stretch to get up early, it's in Rachel Claire's DNA to do so. We did have a few rough mornings, probably because of anxiety about being away from home and not knowing what each day would bring. But we made the best of no stores being open by going to the Sun Yat Sen Gardens which were lovely! We did make a quick stop at a store in Chinatown once they opened before we headed over to speed skating. Got a Chinese flag which was one of Rachel Claire's favorite souvenirs.

The trip to Speed Skating was a bit crowded and I was worried we would not have enough time to get there...mainly because there was a 1.5 km walk from the train station to the venue. It was a beautiful walk along a river but we're talking about walking with a 5 year-old who would love to be carried at all times...and since I had my purse and camera on my back, I wasn't looking forward to adding 35 lbs to that! But luckily the stop and go game (kind of like red light, green light) distracted Rachel Claire enough to get almost all the way there. And when we were almost to the public entrance of the venue, a nice security man at the Credentials Entrance asked if we wanted to come in his way because I had a the small fry with me! Are you kidding me, of course we want to take a short-cut, particularly on this trip.

That short-cut made it easier to sneak in our food to this venue...after figure skating we didn't have too much hassle...not to mention I figured out how to hide it in all of the pockets of my coat. They did have interesting food at the Olympic venues (and almost each one was different): churros, seasoned spuds, salads, etc.

Speedskating was absolutely awesome, it was probably my favorite event...although curling was a close second! It was the ladies 500 meters...which made for quick heats. There was an interesting man doing the Ready-Set-Go announcing, he had a cool voice with what sounded like a Dutch accent.

We took a very leisurely walk back to the train station, and that was good because there was still a LONG line to even get up to the train when we got there. The Salvation Army kindly had coffee and hot chocolate for people to stay warm while they waited. When we got on the train, we were completely smushed among many tall people. Rachel Claire was such a trooper, she didn't seem scared at all. Later she said she was worried that people were laughing at her because everyone was amazed that she was so brave amongst all of the tall folks. Something I often worried about as a kid, other people laughing at me in situations like that.

Will Brooks, the younger son of our hosts, has been just adorable to Rachel Claire. He is so friendly and considerate to her. I must say, I jotted a lot of this stuff down when I was in Vancouver so I wouldn't forget it and boy am I glad now...that it is May when I'm actually getting this posted!