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Vancouver’s Winter Olympics turn frosty

February 08, 2010 — Toronto
Writer: Christopher Frey

Airspace restrictions are in effect, naval frigates are patrolling the coast, and the surveillance cameras have been switched on. An omniscient eye-in-the-sky blimp is now circling above the athlete's village. With a phalanx of a more than 15,000 security personnel, including police, soldiers and private guards, famously laid-back Vancouver is preparing for Friday's opening of the Winter Olympics with the city's largest show of force since the Second World War.

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In the attic of our family house in Winnipeg, in the living room at my grandmother's house in Ottawa and in the guest-rooms of uncles and aunties in Toronto I could lose whole afternoons flipping through the pages of National Geographic. As much as I was fascinated by epic illustrations of Spanish galleons, maps of lost treasure, recreations of medieval battles and excavations of Pompeii, I was equally attracted to advertisements for tourism boards and airlines that promised exotic adventures to any reader who might book a trip.

Click here to read the rest of our editor-in-chief
Tyler Brûlé's Fast Lane column at FT.com

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Monocle Bulletin

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Liguria features in the first-ever Monocle Regional Survey, a 28-page special-edition supplement arriving in issue 30 that explores the diverse coastal province of north-western Italy. The Monocle team of photographers and writers roamed the opportunity-ripe region to produce this in-depth guide, and to celebrate its launch we're teaming up with representatives from the region of Liguria to host a cocktail party in London on Thursday 4 February.

issue 30 . volume 03 . June 2009

For Monocle's February issue we bring you a round-up of the world's best hotels and hosts, comments from hospitality experts and our illustrated guide to perfect inn-keeping. It also features a 28-page regional survey of Liguria, Italy.

 

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