Another spectacular day in Vancouver. Honestly, it is so beautiful here right now. Mild, sunny…. Amazing.

Today, I headed downtown to check out the Bell Ice Cube. Located on Robson Street by Beatty, it should not be confused with the fancier and exclusive Bell Hospitality Suite, which is pretty much right next door. There is no admission to the Pavilion  – free!

The line up moved pretty quickly, probably because there really wasn’t that much going on inside. That’s not too say they don’t have some great things going on, it is just a matter of timing. The temporary building itself looks really cool (no pun intended) and is open daily from 11.00am to 11.00pm until the end of the month.

When you get inside, they give you a pair of Bell ear buds that you can plug into the cables hanging from the roof as well as into the interactive display tables. The screens down both sides of the room show HD telecasts of events in both French and English. The interactive tables are decent, wave your hands over an icon and it plays a clip – but I couldn’t figure out how to stop what was playing once it had started. This could have been me and not the machine though.

As I said, timing is everything. Daily at 3.00pm, former Olympian Charmaine Crooks hosts a live show called “Ice Talk” – athletes show up and chat about their Olympic Experience as well as sign autographs etc. Word is that Alexandre Biledeau made an appearance after his Gold Medal winning performance earlier this week. There are also (almost) daily performances from the internationally acclaimed vocal Group Naturally 7. Check here for the daily schedule for Naturally 7.

Oh I almost forgot…. The Bell Ice Cube is where you may be able to snag one of the coveted Cowbell’s. Just ask at the retail store at the back of the Pavilion and they will let you know how to claim one. The have a limited daily supply so consider yourself warned!