Canadians lie and they are not our friends, oh and Travelocity sucks

*note: this post is a gross generalization and not meant to reflect all Canadians

Erin and I went to Vancouver for the weekend, and we learned some things about Canadians.

1. Canadians lie.

A. I booked a room at the last minute through Travelocity because I guess I hadn't learned my lesson that I shouldn't use such agencies to book my travel accommodations. I've had issues in the past when things went wrong and I couldn't change or cancel a reservation, but none were quite like this. I booked a room on Travelocity, but shortly after, I realized that I got the wrong type of room. I clicked "change reservation" and went through the steps to switch the room type, but instead of switching it, Travelocity booked a second room. I canceled the first one and since Travelocity said it was canceled, I figured it wouldn't be a big deal and I'd work it out when I got to the hotel.

We arrived at the hotel, and the receptionist said that we had 2 rooms and that she had to charge us for both because they hadn't gotten confirmation from Travelocity that the 2nd room was canceled. We called Travelocity, and they said it was canceled, and the hotel even talked to Travelocity on the phone, but the hotel still needed written confirmation that the reservation was canceled. It was cute when the hotel manager referred to the random Indian lady who answered the phone as our "travel agent." Anyway, our first "travel agent" didn't send this written confirmation, so we had to call again and go through the whole process a second time (waiting on hold for 10 mins, explaining the complicated story, etc). Finally our second "travel agent" sent the hotel a confirmation, but I think the hotel had a conspiracy against us. Maybe they even threw the first confirmation away. (Ok, this one isn't such good support but more so a reason for why you shouldn't use Travelocity if there is a slight chance that you will have to change anything)

B. The concierge (read: guy standing next to the shelf of pamphlets and newspapers) said that the paralympics was over and that the closing ceremonies were the next day. Good thing we didn't listen to him because in fact the sledge hockey gold medal match was the next day! We went and cheered on the USA to victory. (Note: paralympic sledge hockey tickets are over $50 each! I guess it's for a good cause, though).

C. The complimentary water bottle in our hotel room was definitely refilled. The seal came off with the cap, the water level was much higher than the other bottle, and it smelled/tasted really bad.

D. The aquarium advertised sea otters that clap their hands and wave at you, but this one was sleeping. Liars!

2. Canadians don't like us. Most of them rooted for Japan in sledge hockey. This surprised me a little bit because I would have rooted for Canada. People were handing out Japanese flags, but no USA flags. Betrayed by our own neighbor!