Pavillions for Free, but what is there to see?

Being peniless (kinda), but mostly so busy with work that I haven't stopped, has meant that I've not seen all that much of the Olympics. I've watched a little on the TV in the Staff-room, I've kept track of how we're doing, and whenever I'm free I've tried to see the free stuff downtown - though the sheer volume of people has prompted me to give up more than once!

The problem with doing the Olympics on a budget, while you and all your friends are working your ass off, is that you can't really see the Live Bands and go get drunk. Alcohol - already rediculously expensive - is twice as much as The Beaver at all the Olympic venues, plus the cover charges tend to be around $20! Even the Irish House, famed for its party-atmosphere, has sobered more than one of its punters with its prices.

If its not the price which gets you it's the queues... oh dear lord. Some of them move surprisingly quickly, but still! Who wants to wait in the rain for several hours, to pay $20, to see an act which could theoretically be shit, whilst sober because they can't afford to get drunk? Exactly.

So mostly I've been on the Cultural trail, checking out Pavillions and buskers etc.

I've been lucky enough to avoid queueing longer than 20min, and I have to say that if any of these things had made me wait longer than that I wouldn't have bothered!

The Aboriginal Pavillion has had a huge fuss made over it as Canada tries to maintain its image of being First-Nations-Friendly, and isn't a bad start. They project a 10min video/light-show onto the dome-ceiling which is kinda cool. But it doesn't really tell you anything. I left with only a vague impression of what it means to be an aboriginal Canadian, and really, none-the-wiser as to their traditions, regalia, communities or language.

Live City Downtown is one of the several LIVE sites where they broadcast the games, and is also home to Canada and Manitoba Pavillions. It was raining when I went, and cold, so it wasn't so busy. Canada House was the best pavillion I'd seen - with interactive games, and the opportunity to be photographed holding the olympic torch. That being said, it was still over in less than 15 min. Manitoba Pavillion was even more boring - basically consisting of several tourist-industy driven adverts. You'd have thought that the best advertisement would be actually giving us a clue as to what you're all about - right?

Anyway, I'd managed to get into Live City just before the hockey game against Russia - wooo! So I stuck around to be a part of this crazy nationalistic atmosphere I'd been hearing all about. Maybe it was the rain... but I wasn't feeling it. I just don't think the Canadians have it in them to be ferocious spectators. The crowd inside the stadium was going absolutely wild, for the first time I heard that old footie-ground soundtrack of roars and cheers. But the Live sight was pretty tame. Even when they scored, five seconds of whooping and cheering would give way to utter passive calm...

See what I mean? ...Wierd.

Canada did very well in that game though, I watched the rest of it at home after grabbing some popcorn.

Robson Square however, has a good vibe about it. There's music and acts throughout the day and an ice rink with cheap skate hire. The zip-line queues go on for miles, but I'm not gonna do that anyway! The BC Pavillion is upstairs in the Art Gallery, and it's not bad. Again, mostly an advert for the area, but at least they had a "3D immersive experience" and some interactive boards! So BC did a pretty good job as far as pavillions go.

The German House on the other hand had nothing - which is why it's free during the day! They have over-priced German food and beer (might as well have it in Germany), a few screens (might as well watch it at home), and some tables. They have a stage with live acts after 7pm - but like I said, you have to pay a cover charge then, so it's too expensive. So all I did there was pick up a tourist booklet about Thueringen - which, as it turns out, is where Jules comes from! Whad'ya know?

So overall, the pavillions are a bit of a disappointment and I pitty the poor sods who waited hours to see these things!