Canada Trip.co.uk

Well, should anyone not have watched, the Winter Olympics in Vancouver were everything they were expected to be – Especially for their Host Nation; Canada.
Ice Hockey is Canada’s national sport, and they’re as passionate for their national team as the England is for its football team. It was said that if Canada was to win only one gold in the whole of the Winter Olympics, the Men’s Ice Hockey was the one they were going for, and boy did they go for it!

Strangely familiar to the roller coaster ride which England Football fans are used to, Canada’s trip to the final was bumpy, and early in the tournament, being drawn with the USA in the same group a giant of a game was played, leading to Canada actually loosing to the USA team. Hope wasn’t lost however and Canada pulled themselves up, fighting back with even greater ferocity, and beating all those put in front of them finally emerged for the fairytale final of the Men’s Ice Hockey.. Canada vs USA. The Canadian Women’s team had already won the gold, so now it was up to the Men to box it up…

Like all games that have dreams resting on them, this game was never going to be simple. The Americans looking to get the Gold, having defeated the world champions, not once but twice.. and regaining some pride having had to settle for Silver in the last Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.. And the Canadians, national pride at stake, having waited so long to play and win a national Hockey match on home ground .. oh and having had the best Winter Olympics of any host nation – looking for the final cherry on the cake…
After a tight game it seemed to be won by Canada, just seconds before time was up – the score read 1 – 2 to Canada .. but just one second more snatched the gold back, the score 2 – 2 at full time.. This meant Canada was now looking at over time.. after almost already starting to party – they had to pick themselves back up, having conceded a goal and go out there and get another… sudden death.
The teams came out, and from the start Canada was showing an incredible show of strength – only allowing the USA having two chances before Sidney Crosby of Canada sealed their victory. Canada finished the games with 14 Golds at the top of the leader board, tailed by Germany with 10, and the USA with 9.

The games ended on an almighty high for the Host nation, they’d never done so well in a winter Olympics before, and for them to do so well on home soil – it’s instilled an enormous sense of national pride, Canada is now more than happy to stand up and wave their flag knowing they can set out on a task, do it, and do it well. The men’s ice hockey match was the perfect summary for the games, nothing is easy, but they believed in themselves, and pulled through the victors.

The closing ceremony was fantastic. There’s not much more to say when summing it up.. It was Canada picking up the final chance they had to show the world who they were – and they did it with masses of humility and humour! Canada is a country which has no problem in laughing at its self, but in doing so knows that no matter what – they’re Canadian and proud to be! The ceremony featured huge inflatable mounties, beavers, moose and ice hockey players as well as dancers dressed as the nation’s symbol the Maple Leaf. Along with proceedings came appearances from well known Canadian celebrities such as William Shatner and Michael J Fox – all with the underlying theme ‘I am proud to be Canadian’.

The Olympics are a sporting fixture, but designed to bring nations closer together, disregarding political differences, and uniting it under one banner. But certainly Vancouver 2010, as well as doing this brought one particular nation closer together, and with a new found strength and pride ~ qualities well earned by the Host Nation; Canada.

Anyone traveling to Canada this year, returning or going for the first time will get to experience the atmosphere and witness the thousands of red and white Canadian flags flying everywhere, from city streets to the solitary farmsteads down rural roads. This truly is the year to see Canada.

Vancouver may be your first choice of destination. You’ll get to visit and see the sights you’ll be familiar with from having seen them on TV during the Olympics, but there are many other cities sharing in the same glory with their own unique brands of culture and attractions to visit from British Columbia all the way over to Nova Scotia. Why not visit Ottawa, Calgary, Toronto or Halifax? And for your first trip to Canada is there really any excuse not to visit Niagara Falls?

2010 truly is Canada’s year – don’t miss it!

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 2nd, 2010 at 11:10 am and is filed under British Columbia, Vancouver, Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.