Officials: Olympics offer plenty to frugal travellers
Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press
By Dene Moore, The Canadian Press Posted Monday, December 28, 2009 1:33 PM ET
VANCOUVER - If you should come across an extra $1,100 hiding in the cushions of your couch, prime seats for the opening ceremonies are surely one of the best ways to enjoy the 2010 Olympic Games.
Or, if you have a few ounces of old, broken gold that you could send to that guy with the ads on TV, then you might just be lucky enough to pick up a resale ticket to the Men's Hockey final.
But, if you're one of many Canadians worried that their credit card company might order their arrest on the spot if they tried to buy either, don't despair.
It doesn't mean the Games are beyond your rather limited monetary reach. Tourism officials say there's plenty for the frugal traveller to do at the Winter Games this February.
"Certainly there are some really hot tickets . . . but there's lots of things and ways to experience the Games that don't have to be really expensive, and sometimes that means not even necessarily spending all of your time and money watching sporting events,'' says Amber Sessions, spokeswoman for Tourism Vancouver.
It's been difficult to predict how many visitors will come just for the Olympics but Tourism Vancouver has estimated a quarter million more people than usual will be in the city for the event. Sessions says there's still time to book a trip to see the Olympics and accommodations are available.
There are dozens upon dozens of free events, including the Ozone at the Speed skating Oval in Richmond, 24 hectares of food, fireworks and fun. The Ozone will have live entertainment including Our Lady Peace, Hawksley Workman, and Bedouin Soundclash, not to mention Heineken House.
Heineken House comes courtesy of the Dutch and will provide the ambience for their national hospitality house, where medals will be handed out to athletes from the Netherlands. And yes, it's free. This is why the world loves the Dutch.
But the Ozone overall is focused on being a family-friendly venue, with an outdoor skating rink, live entertainment and ice art.
A popular tourist draw at any time, Vancouver's Granville Island will be home to the hospitality houses sponsored by Francophonie nations, including France and Switzerland.
Rebecca Bollwitt, or Miss604 to her followers in the blogosphere, says she doesn't have tickets to any events but she's not leaving town, so she'll be looking for ways to enjoy the Olympics on the cheap.
The 29-year-old blogger and web designer says hospitality houses sponsored by various Olympic nations will be on her list of must-sees.
"I'm sure athletes will be stopping there from their home countries,'' says Bollwitt.
"There's (Molson Canadian) Hockey House. I'm not sure if I can get into there . . . but it'll be the home of Hockey Canada so a lot of players will be going there,'' she says, adding that she'll just try to spot people where she can.
Hockey House is far from free. It will cost about $500 a day for food and drink and the possibility of rubbing elbows with NHL stars.
Vancouver's downtown LiveCity venues will feature entertainment and big screens airing Olympic events.
"First thing, if you want to get that Olympic experience without necessarily paying for those gold medal hockey tickets, go to something like the LiveCity Vancouver sites,'' says Sessions.
"It's going to give you the opportunity to feel like you're there without actually paying the ticket price. They're completely free.''
Canadian provinces will also have their own pavilions, including Atlantic House featuring bad-boy fiddler Ashley MacIsaac and regional fare from the four East Coast provinces.
Canada House, the nation's showcase at the Games, hasn't announced its lineup. Officials promise "interactive exhibits, multimedia presentations, information and innovative content.''
The four host First Nations of the Games will have their own pavilion, which is sure to be a big draw with international visitors with its traditional Coast Salish longhouse and plethora of aboriginal talent, including Inuit throat singers and hoop dancers.
Surrey, which doesn't play host to a single Games sporting event, will host a winter festival showcasing the RCMP musical ride. It also will offer a toboggan zone for kids, a skating rink, and live Games broadcasts, as well as free nightly concerts from the Sam Roberts Band, 54-40, Jully Black and Randy Bachman, among others.
And for a frugal first-hand experience of the Olympics, remember that not all sports are created equal. A mere $25 to $30 buys a ticket to many of the alpine events in Whistler and $50 will get you into the cheap seats at the Olympic Speedskating Oval or the preliminary rounds of hockey.
Training sessions for figure skating are open to the public for $30.
And the nightly victory ceremonies at B.C. Place stadium cost a positively un-Olympic $22. Of course, they used to be free, but these are hard times for everyone.
Olympic broadcaster CTV will be airing Olympic highlights in 64 Cineplexes across the country for 12 hours a day for the duration of the Games. A $29.95 passport covers the entire Games or a one-day ticket will cost $9.95.
For those who prefer Pilsner to popcorn as a side to their sports, most of sports bars in Vancouver are planning day-to-night Games coverage. Try Mahoney's Sports Grill on Robson Street or Maverick's on Pacific Boulevard, with its waterfront view. Or venture beyond the Olympic bubble into the wilds of Vancouver, at Score on Davie Street or even Mosquito Creek Sports Bar & Grill in North Vancouver.
In addition to the sporting events, the Cultural Olympiad is bringing hundreds of artistic events to town beginning in January and continuing through the Paralympic Games in March.
In Whistler itself, the venue for the alpine events, there's not much room for penny-pinching on food, drink or lodging.
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http://www.ctvolympics.ca/about-vancouver/news/newsid=23939.html
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