Yes! I have finally drawn a winner for the 2010 Olympics Men’s Curling tickets contest for the Canada-USA game on February 22nd. We had 180 contest entries but only 171 were eligible. Watch the video to find out who won! Please note that the winner must contact me by e-mail (allie@vancityallie.com) by the midnight this Friday, February 19th or I will have to draw someone else.

This past week, my friend Amy took my camera up to Grouse Mountain where she got the chance to meet and see Michael Bublé and Matt Lauer on the Today Show. They are up there throughout the Olympics and they have quite the set up.

Here is Amy and her friend with Matt Lauer.

She took a number of pictures while there. Check them out.

Also, it was the torch relay in Vancouver all last week. I finally made it out on Friday to see the torch in person (after a failed attempt to see Trevor Linden carrying the torch… I missed him by one minute). I teared up several times. I was so proud to have the Olympics in Vancouver and seeing the torch passed from person to person throughout False Creek and Yaletown is an incredible experience.

Downtown Vancouver was CRAZY this past weekend with the streets completed filled with people partying, dancing, and singing O Canada.

Allan, Amy and I also got a chance to watch the Omega clock countdown to the start of the Olympics before rushing back home to watch the Opening Ceremonies (fortunately PVR-ed so we didn’t miss anything). It was a real thrill to have everyone countdown to the start. Watching the Opening Ceremonies with my closest family, Allan and my friend was so emotional. I thought it was beautifully done and really spoke to who we are as Canadians. I also thought it was a very diverse ceremony. Well done!

After a full day of watching the Games at our apartment with a group of friends, we somehow managed to wake up early to head to the House of Switzerland at Bridges on Granville Island.

I was asked to provide some coverage of a chocolate competition going on. When we got there, I picked up my media pass and we posed in front of the restaurant.

We also got to see them making the chocolate inukshuk and posed in front of it.

A note to visitors: Although we were there to check out the chocolate competition, please note that the House of Switzerland differs from other houses in that it is almost purely a restaurant (open for breakfast, lunch and dinner) but they don’t have an exhibition area or anywhere where you can walk around. The food and coffee is great there, but I recommend only going there if you are wanting a dining/eating experience. We ordered the Swiss Nespresso expresso and the Raclette macaroni and cheese.

We headed upstairs to check out the chocolate competition. They had a number of judges and we were there especially to cheer on Miss604 (Rebecca) who was a JUDGE! Wow!

We also saw Keira, John and Duane there. They got to sit at a special Friends and Family table with lots of different tastings! It was great to see Rebecca and Keira again, and to meet John and Duane for the first time. It was particularly neat to see Duane as he helped me through a difficult time when I had a surfing injury last year.

We got to taste the three different chocolates made by the competitors. They were all very good (Pecan chocolate bar, chocolate mousse, and heart-shaped chocolate biscuit), but we also loved the one that won the best… the Pecan chocolate bar. John has a great photo of the three chocolate pieces here.

Then we headed to the Atlantic House where we sat on the patio and sampled free seafood tastings for the afternoon. They were surprisingly good. We had a great view on the patio.

The Maritime beers and drinks were really delicious, although the most highly recommended beer of the day by my friends was the Blueberry ale. So definitely try it out if you get a chance to go there

And that was it! A really great weekend so far and I just CANNOT believe it is only Day 4. How are we going to get through the rest of the Olympics? It was fantastic to see Canada FINALLY win gold on home soil. Congrats to Bilodeau, Jenn Heil, and also all of Canada’s other medalists! Coming up… a special announcement also coverage from the Canadian men’s and women’s hockey games!

What did you do this past weekend?