Day 2 at Whistler I woke up Friday morning stiff and sore, mostly due to a spill I took while skiing. But this was Spa Day! Le Scandinave Spa just opened a week ago here in Whistler. As the name implies, it is a Scandinavian themed spa with Finnish sauna, steam bath, hot and cold pools and a couple of solariums. You start somewhere hot, drop into a cold pool, then rest, and then do this cycle over and over for as many times as you like. There is also a whole Massage Pavilion, where you can have a variety of massages. Denis and I both had massages. Boy, that felt good on those sore muscles, let me tell you! Then we spent hours cycling through the spa: hot, cold, rest, hot, cold, rest. We even napped for a bit in one of the solariums. Ahhhh! Over 6 and a half hours … Great day!
Then Friday night we went to the Fire Rock Lounge at the Westin hotel in Whistler. This is the “Home of the Canadian Alpine Ski Teams” and has a “Canadian Cowboys” Harley sitting outside by the door.
We went there to see the Opening Ceremonies, which were fantastic! We really enjoyed the atmosphere: people from different countries coming together to watch the Ceremonies. The tragedy of the day saw a standing ovation for the Georgian athletes when they marched into the stadium and later during the moment of silence, the bar went absolutely quiet and people again got to their feet out of respect for the Georgian athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili who died on the luge track.
The applause and excitement hit a peak when Canada marched into the stadium. The team looked great and Clara Hughes looked positively regal as she waved the flag slowly back and forth. The performances were great and I thought the ceremonies were quite creative. Highlights: the opening snowboard sequence, the giant polar bear spirit, K.D. Lang’s performance of Hallelujah and the torch relay of famous Canadian athletes. Great show!
Saturday we were meant to ski again and take in the Men’s Downhill event at Whistler. We woke up to the disappointing news that the event was being postponed until Monday due to adverse weather conditions. As we will be in Vancouver to take up our duties as Family Correspondents, we will now not get to see the guys do the Dave Murray Downhill. Oh well, like I said, that’s Whistler.
Because of the cancellation and because Denis wasn’t feeling good (something he ate) we bailed on the skiing with a plan to go Sunday – too bad as there is apparently over a foot of powder when you get higher than the rain. While Denis drank Pepto and rested, Steve and I headed into Whistler Village to “see what we could see.” One of the striking things was the makeshift memorial for Nodar Kumaritashvili at the Olympic rings. We tried (unsuccessfully) to see into the medal ceremony stadium, but it is closed in and you can’t really sneak a peak at the stage. We wandered around the village, snapping pics and taking in the vibe of the place. There is a great atmosphere here. People are so friendly and you hear lots of different languages, see the colors of a lot of teams. It was nice.
Tonight we dined with Ted and Laurie Spearin (see our previous Weasel Workers post) and are watched the ladies moguls on TV. We were rooting for Jenn Heil and though hoping for Gold, we were so proud of her getting the Silver! It was a great run for her and I personally am glad she was our first medalist of the Games. So, that’s the story from Whistler for now. See you in Vancouver!
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