Travel Tips

Vancouver 2010 Blog: Opening Ceremony Anticipation

Peter Greenberg Worldwide
Locations in this article:  Vancouver, Canada

Vancouver Olympic Committee Logo (VANOC)We picked up new and improved tickets for the Opening Ceremonies, which was a very good thing indeed.

We moved from upper deck to lower bowl, and the seats were awesome.

I gave the extra pair of seats I had to two lovely Irish lads we met at the Raincity Grill the night before—I didn’t want them to go to waste.


Yesterday afternoon, four hours before the start of the Opening Ceremony, we obeyed the recommendations to show up three to four hours early at BC Place because of stringent security lines. But they were so well-staffed that we were inside in less than 15 minutes.

Olympics Opening CeremonyInside was all blue and silver and ice, floor covered with paper snowflakes. There was plenty of time to people watch and take pictures in front of the Olympic rings. No one hassled us as we moved from section to section to get closer to those rings.

One each seat is a cardboard box shaped like a drum. It turns out the opening ceremony is interactive. Inside the box, lasers and electric candles and flags and a mystery blanket. We have jobs!

The box was to be used as a drum, and our audience leader was walking 40,000 people through our paces, in between performers for the pre-game show singing their hearts out. It also turned out we have ponchos to wear, so we could be canvas for the lighting!

Best guest to light the flame: the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, who has been seen in Vancouver, but has had no comment. More later!

By Theresa Corigliano for PeterGreenberg.com.

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