Day 2 Hockey Game/Salt

Saturday we were up early to leave at 9:00 for the 12:00 hockey game at UBC. Having Jen along as the tour guide sure made it easy as I didn't have to figure out buses or anything. When we arrived at the venue, we were sorted into two groups (big bags vs. little bags). Dave, Shawna and I were in the big bags group, but since that line was shorter, we got through faster. We went through having the bags x-rayed and the metal detector just like airport security, except the volunteers were nicer.

Inside the UBC Thunderbird arena, it was decorated nicely for the Olympics. Our seats, in section 219, were at the end. We could see well, but instead of seats, we had steel benches. so it wasn't the most comfortable seating. You couldn't lean back and your personal space was small. But everyone was friendly and in a good mood.

They had great music, just like a regular hockey game, and had us doing the wave, chicken dance and YMCA. It was very exciting to be there, thinking, "We are at the Olympics!!!!"

The game itself was good, but Sweden had a bigger, better, team. Switzerland put a lot of effort into it, but in the end, the Swedish women outshot the Swiss by a lot and the final score was 3-0. Not like the 18-0 slaughter of Canada's first game, so the teams were not as unbalanced, and the whole game was exciting to watch. I look forward to following the series.

We all wore our Olympics clothes, mittens, etc., and looked like real Canadians, as did most other people. It was a sea of red, except for the pockets of yellow and blue (Sweden). You couldn't tell who in the stands was Swiss as they are red and white. It was definitely fun to be part of. Being polite as Canadians are, we cheered for both teams. In the 3rd period, after Sweden's last goal, you could tell the crowd really wanted Switzerland to get a goal, as we cheered for every little thing they did.



After, we took a bus down 4th Ave to the Kitsilano shopping area and had lunch and wandered the shops for awhile.

For dinner we all went to Gastown, down Blood Alley to a little place called Salt, which was really unique. They had a blackboard with a list of meats (mostly pork, with a few beef), cheeses from all over the world, and condiments.

Each person orders 3 meats and cheeses in total (tasting portions). I went together with Shawna and Emily, so together we tasted 9 meats and cheeses, with all 10 condiments. We let them pair the condiments up with our selections, and we ordered flights of wine which they paired up with our selections. For example, I had blue cheese from France with real honeycomb and a deep rose to go with it. It was delicious. We had baskets of bread with all this. For dessert we had a trio of pear and a trio of chocolate desserts.

This picture shows the two plates Jen and Dave shared.