Countdown to Vancouver: When the Torch came to Toronto

Countdown to Vancouver 2010 Olympics: 9 days; 1 hour; 22 minutes

Days until departure to Vancouver/Whistler: 5 days

To: Vanessa

Vanessa, doing her own little version of the Olympic "torch" run

along Yonge Street

I finally loaded the pictures and videos from when we went to see the Olympic Torch make its way through downtown Toronto on December 18th, 2009 onto my computer. It seemed like an age ago, and in a way, it was. We had both finished our last exam of the semester, a gruelling three-hour monster on the History of Advertising. In fact, you had two exams that day, one before the other.

It's too bad we were the only two that went. We had originally intended to have Cammy and Jen there with us as well to join in on the interesting piece of Olympic history, though I think the celebratory "We're finally done" beer was the more important piece of the evening. Of course, Cammy's the social butterfly and Jen had to get ready to go home to Vancouver that evening. So we only had each other to entertain.

The torch was supposed to march past Yonge and Bloor Street at about 6:20 PM that day. We arrived some time at 6:00 PM, one hour after our final exam ended. Originally, I had intended for us to buy a beer at one of the pubs in the area first, and then go stand outside some 15 minutes before the torch was to march by. It was dark and it was freezing outside.

Of course, we changed our minds when we got there. Shockingly, there were already a number of people lining the north side of Bloor and Yonge Street waiting for the torch. Actually, there was a pretty decent crowd there. Decent enough that we decided to camp our rears by a lamp post on Yonge Street and wait for it to go by there.

Time passed and more people started to form crowds around us. And when I say a lot of people...

... I mean more than what you'd normally see on Yonge Street at rush hour.

Pretty soon, Olympic promoters, mostly from RBC, drove by in hulking trucks loaded with endorsement covered celebratory paraphernalia for everyone. I managed to grab two paper flags.

But you did me one better though. You got a tambourine too.

The told us that the torch was only about ten minutes away. And for a moment, it looked as if what they said was true, if only because what came after them about 5 minutes later was what can only be described as one of the gaudier processions I've ever seen. And I'm not talking about the escort buses carrying other Olympic torch bearers inside. I mean these:

Honestly, I thought they were awful. And made worse looking by the fact that it was lit up like some horrific Vegas sign at night.

Of course, it turns out that the torch wasn't 10 or so minutes away. More like 30 minutes away. Little did I realize or know at the time, a bunch of protesters protesting Native rights and/or environmental concerns supposedly associated with the Winter Olympics (I've seen the arguments. It's largely hot air. They're just taking advantage of the international stage this event is set on) had sat down at the intersection of Yonge and Dundas Street and were holding up the entire procession. People became restless and the police were clearly becoming more and more annoyed.

Finally, close to 7 PM, after all the waiting...



After that, we decided that we had done and seen enough. Originally the plan was to also stop off at Nathan Phillips Square to take a look at the pomp and circumstance that was likely to occur there. But we were frozen after an hour on the street, and it occurred to me that the place would likely be packed. Plus, having skipped lunch that day for an exam, we were both starving.

Of course, your favourite part of that whole adventure though had to be the drunk couple who ended up in a verbal confrontation with the Toronto police! I still have the video that contains the audio of it if you want it.

Mine? Nothing beats the fantastic combination of sports and then a beer.

Cheers!

Grace