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Published: August 15th 2016
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Day 9 at the Olympics in Rio and the 9th day in a row that Canada has won a medal. Starting at the end, but the drought is over for the men and Canada has another medal courtesy of Andre de Grasse. It was a spectacular night in the Olympic Stadium and great to see on TV that it packed to the rafters for the 100m Finals!
For us, the day began very early as we made our way to the Olympic Golf Course. For those of you that don't know, this is the first time in 114 years that golfers will receive Olympic medals. With three rounds already in the books, the fourth and final round began bright and early this morning under a clear sky and blazing hot sun. The golf course was (to put it lightly) controversial in the media. It is located in the Marapendi Reserve which was created to protect some native species and plants to Brazil. To Canadians at least, this is not a crazy idea. We have celebrated golf courses in places like Banff National Park and it certainly does not detract from the mass of beautiful nature around it. There was also
discussion about who would use the course when the Games were over. Judging by the size, scale and price tags at the (literally) hundreds of malls in the Barra region of the City, there are lots of native Rio residents and visitors alike that will enjoy the course for many years to come and have no trouble paying for it. The reality is the course is gorgeous, a real feat in turf management in it looking as good as it does, despite an unbearably hot summer and now a very warm winter. The salt water doesn't help either! The other reality is that Brazil is blessed with what seems like endless nature and completely unspoiled areas of dense land. It is the largest country (by far) in South America and takes up almost 50% of the land mass of the entire continent. The moral of the story? We don't think the media needed to get the locals and non-locals alike tied up in knots over the prospect of this course or its location.
Back to the actual golfing. We really didn't know what we were in for. We've never been to a live golf event as spectators and so
we didn't know what to expect, where to go, who to follow, where to sit, etc. We felt like fish out of water truthfully. So we followed the masses for most of the day. Got to see some of the 'big names' in golf that actually decided to show up like Sergio and Bubba Watson and ya, the list was pretty short of known players. It was too bad that the PGA pushed golf so big into the Olympic program and then hasn't done much to ensure the players people want to see are actually herer. As for the Zika, we were near water and plants and trees all day and in the words of Ricky Fowler "I've seen a few..." and went on to say he has been there for four days straight and felt sorry for those who skipped the tournament. We couldn't agree more. By now, we're sure you know the results -- here's hoping for a better result for our Canadian star Brooke Henderson when the women tees off very soon here in Rio.
Our second (and impromptu) adventure of the day took us to one of the Olympic Cultural Sites. Many people don't realize
but there is essentially a cultural Olympics going on at the same time as the Games. All over the host City and host Country are various cultural sites, exhibits and experiences. We went to Olympic Boulevard today, located on the eastern coast of Rio. It is so big that we only visited one side of it. We will be back in a few days to check out the rest as the other side has the Olympic flame. Along the side we were at today is the old piers of Rio which for many, many years had been run-down and the area had been a hot spot for crime and despair. Today, it is a whole new world. After more than 100,000 local spectators took in the Women's Marathon, many ventured (as they have for days) to Olympic Boulevard. It was bustling with street vendors, street performers, exhibits, a brand new museum, the obnoxious USA Men's Basketball team cruise ship, Brazil house, art installations, a live site (where locals can watch the Olympic for free on a huge screen), local musicians playing on small concert stages, a dance party, food trucks and on and on. This is just one of many
sites where visitors can sign their Cultural Passport as they see the artistic and cultural side of a City unfamiliar to many. We had a really great time. Enjoyed a few beers, tried some local food and took in the excitement and energy of the crowds. Two highlights for us were the Wall of Faces and an incredibly talented violinist. The Wall of Faces is just one of many creative ways Rio came up with to disguise a building, that for years, had been an eyesore to look at and took away from the newly revitalized piers. As for the violinist, we stood there listening, song after song, not being able to turn away. He played Imagine, Hallelujah, a very cool version of Thinking Out Loud...we likely could've stayed all day. Tons of people were stopping to listen and it just reminded you that you never know where you might unexpectedly find something beautiful.
Tomorrow we are up early again to head to Track Cycling. We first saw this live at the Pan Am Games and it is the coolest and most unique venue there is. It was a must see event for us here in Rio and we
lucked out getting tickets. After that, we see the last two games on Men's preliminary basketball. Should be awesome with the home team Brazil playing in the first game and the other South American power house, Argentina playing in the last game. Looking forward to it for sure!
More picture below.
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Kim
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:)
Love the Wall Of Faces! Each one tells a story. The artists did an amazing job! We see some of the big artistic pieces on TV. Can only imagine how cool they are up close and personal. The Olympic Spirit was loud and crazy with Brazil's men's beach volleyball. Fun to watch. Can't wait for tomorrow's post xo