For the first time at any Olympic Games, spectators are being given the once in a lifetime opportunity to touch an Olympic Medal. Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games are on display at the hugely popular Royal Canadian Mint Pavilion, which is shutting its doors on Sunday at 10.00pm. Located at the corner of Granville and Pender Streets, this Pavilion has consistently had the longest line ups in the city. I waited 5 hours today. By the time we had left at 1.00pm, the line up was about 7 hours. This is not unusual for this Pavilion. But, the 5 hours was totally worth it – I held a Gold Medal today. So cool.

I lined up bright and early at 7.45 this morning. And waited, and waited and waited some more. Over the course of 4 hours, you definitely bond with the people around you. You chat, compare stories about the Games, hold each other’s place in the line for coffee breaks. It is part of the experience of lining up. Everyone remained in good spirits and unlike the line for Ziplining on Tuesday morning – everyone stayed. We didn’t realize how long the wait would be until around 9.00am, but we all stayed. We noticed that while there were tons of kids around, there were very few I-pods, computer games, anything. Kids were running around, playing on Granville Street (which is closed to traffic) and were very well behaved and patient.

It is very important to know that there are three separate lines for the Mint. The really long one is to touch and see the medals. The other two are to either look around the rest of the Mint or to change your coins for shiny new Vancouver 2010 Quarters and Loonies. Note that the only way you can see the Medals is to stand in the really long lineup. It is also important to know that you can’t simply show up and change all your coins to fill up the Coin booklet thing with different coins. Normally, they give out a different coin each day. For instance, today all we could get were the Women’s Hockey coin.

Also, if you are in the Medal line up – once you get inside there is another line – about an hour or so. They stamp your hand and give you a white glove (no longer stamped that it touched an Olympic Medal) to indicate that you have waited in the line for hours and hours. They are also really good at going through the line to ensure no one budges. Bear in mind that school groups or VIP’s may cut ahead of you once you are in the indoor lineup. Frustrating – most definitely. But don’t take it out on the very nice and hardworking security team… it is not their call.

No biting, licking or kissing the Medals is allowed. You are also not allowed to make a victory or peace sign in any photos. Apparently you have to actually win a medal to do that ;). Another quick tip – have one of the attendants take a photo of you holding the medal as the angle is a whole lot better.

So is there more to the Mint than just the Medals? You bet! There is also the million dollar gold coin and the opportunity to hold a gold block (small line up for that also). There is also a kid’s zone (open 9.30am-6.00pm – but some reports indicated that it is often booked for school groups until around 3.00pm), information about making coins, a gift shop.

The words “Once In A Lifetime Opportunity” have been bandied about throughout the Olympic Games for pretty much anything and everything Games related. For me, the Mint is most definitely an incredibly opportunity to touch (but not lick or bite) an Olympic Medal. Unless you know an athlete at these Games, when are you going to have the chance to do this? Yes, the wait ridiculously long. But it is worth it.