Jaunted Winter Olympics Embed: The Wonderful World of Curling

February 19, 2010 at 3:30 PM | by TuijaSeipell | Comments (0)

The 2010 Winter Olympics are finally here and the Jaunted Embeds are on the scene. All throughout the games we are going to be providing you first-hand observations and tips from a Vancouver local. Tuija Seipell is a Vancouver-based writer and a dual citizen of both Finland and Canada--so she is bound to get a medal or two right? You can follow her on Twitter here, or just follow the Vancouver 2010 Olympics tag.

I went to my first-ever curling event with 5,600 other spectators this week for men�s round robin session with USA-Norway, Canada-Germany and China-France. (Norway, Canada and France won). Surprisingly, curling fans are boisterous, loud and fun. There were cow bells and bull horns, chanting and singing, and wild support for all teams, especially for �Norway�s Pants.�

In a fantastic PR stunt for a game with a dull and boring reputation, Thomas Ulsrud and his teammates from Oslo have drawn huge attention with their clown/pajama pants in the Norwegian colors. There were even some wannabe �Norway�s Pants� in the audience. If Norway wins a medal, curling � and especially curling attire -- may never be the same again!

The curling venue, Vancouver Olympic Centre is brand new. It is located near the King Edward stop on the new Canada Line, so it's really easy to get to from downtown. After the Olympics, the venue will be converted into a multi-purpose rec centre that will include a hockey rink, gymnasium, library, eight sheets of curling ice and a lounge for the curlers.

Insider Tips on Grub and an update about Cypress Mountain
Where to Eat: The downtown area with several sports venues and many of the main celebration sites can get quite crowded. It is tough to find places to eat, but there is an easy solution. Walk down Robson Street � or any other north-south street � towards Stanley Park till you hit Denman Street.

Denman is absolutely full of great little restaurants all the way from Georgia Street to Davie Street. Denman has everything from sushi, Chinese, French, Greek, Italian, Korean, Indian, Mongolian to pizza, burgers, pancakes, cupcake shops and dessert places, and it has some fast-food outlets, too.

You will find several options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Denman Street is not an expensive area and most of the restaurants are small and locally operated.

Cypress Mountain: A clarification for the Cypress Mountain standing-room tickets was issued on Thursday. Standing room only general admission tickets for Aerials are still valid � the standing area cancellations that have occurred at Cypress Mountain DO NOT include the Aerials stadium. Also note that the ONLY way to reach Cypress is on the Olympic bus network.

[Photos: Ted Topping and Tuija Seipell]

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