Day 1 - Who expected THAT!?

Week 1 was intense. I knew the city was going to be crazy, but I had no idea how crazy. By the end of Day 1 I was exhausted.

On Day 1 I got to see the Olympic Torch Relay! I was incredibly excited when I was sent on assignment to work with a photographer to get some pictures of the flame as it was in front of one of my clients' buildings. So I got to go and actually see the torch!

I have no idea who was running with it at the time, all I care about is that I got to see it! WOO HOO!

I also got to do a little geeky photoshoot with all of my Canadian gear, just in case anyone didn't believe me.

I watched the Opening Ceremonies with one of my bosses at BC Canada Pavilion, just above Robson Square. Robson Square was one of the Live Sites and they broadcast the events and stuff on the side of a big white building, with the ice skating palace and zip-lining going on just above it.

At the start of the evening, the area below looked like this:

(As taken from my Blackberry)

By the middle of the Opening Ceremony, it looked like this:

Do you see the difference! And that wasn't at it's worst.

The crowds were insane. I thought the Opening Ceremony was nice - I mentioned who I wanted to light the cauldron, but that didn't happen. C'est la vie. I thought they did a good job at representing Canada, and I loved that they had an outdoor cauldron, because it was right by my work, and I got to see it all the freaking time!

The party was cool - free food and free booze and the venue was awesome. I got to see the da Vinci exhibit without all the crowds or waiting in line because the event was at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Those were amazing.

So, that was Day 1. Day 2 was super fun too!