Stuck in the 80s

Before getting sick, I had two full days in Vancouver with kiddo while hubby was at a conference. Those days, oddly, had one thing in common: big play areas filled with plastic balls.

Funny, but I thought these were a thing of the past.... I mean, just thinking of the germs these could harbour? =shudder= Still, at both Lonsdale Quay (pictured) and at Granville Island, there were ball-filled play areas. Oddly, both Lonsdale Quay and Granville Island felt stuck in the past -- specifically somewhere around 1986.

Talking with hubby, we concluded that maybe Vancouver got its last real burst of public creativity thanks to Expo86... and that the next one could come from the 2010 Olympics. (I'd certainly applaud an update to kids' play areas)

... so far though, all I've seen is the stupid countdown clock (above). We were in town the day it was unveiled, but missed most of the action (I did get to catch a reporter complaining about it off-camera, but by then everyone else was cleaning up.)
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