A couple of weeks ago M and I headed west to Vancouver. She had business to attend to and her boss was nice enough to throw in a ticket for me. (No she does not work for the government)
The first day while M was working I walked around the down town looking at some of the sights and doing some shopping. It was warm by Ottawa standards but cool according to the Vancouverites It was quite rainy and there was green grass and some dying flowers still half in bloom. Coming from Ottawa’s sub-zero weather and dusting of snow Vancouver was paradise. I met up with my cousin "J" in the afternoon. In the evening Michelle and I went to a Brazilian Rodizio BBQ restaurant. This was a fascinating if not fattening experience. The way it works is the server gives you two cards on red and one green. If you leave the green card up on the table a wandering server will keep bringing you different types of BBQ’ed meat. I think there were 10 or more types of meat being served. The servers are dressed in Brazilian costumes (like gauchos) with bright coloured sash and neckerchief. Each server carries a sword like skewer with the point resting on a dish with a small metal indent in the middle. They bring this skewer to your table and they carve off a strip of meat which you grab with a set of tongs and place on your plate. During the meal there was a dance show (A bit tacky but very carnivalish so forgivable. I hate to say it but I find carnival tacky. I cam back with a rather sizable stomach ache but it was a very good night (too much protein though)
The next day we decided we would work off some of the calories we put on and we went to cypress mountain to go snowshoeing. We took Seabus over to North Vancouver and caught the shuttle to Cypress mountain. The trip up was great we got a really nice view of the city as we went up and it was interesting to watch the weather change from spring like to mid winter in the space of a few miles. The snow depth at Cypress was about nine feet, judging by the wells around the trees. We didn’t see much wildlife as Cypress is mainly a ski resort even if it is a national park. The trails were extensive and well maintained. There were two very nice viewpoints and we saw the largest Cypress tree in the park just beside the snowshoe trail. When we got back to the city we met up with "J" and his wife "T" and went for drinks. We had intended on going to Earls a local bistro lounge but the waiting list was an hour so we went to a Crepe place and had some really nice crepes and drinks. We talked for a good long time mostly about family memories. We walked J and T back toward the sky train and we headed back to the hotel for a well appreciated nights sleep. The next morning we arranged to meet with M’s Uncle and his family (wife and adult son and daughter - very nice people) for breakfast. They met us at the hotel and we walked over to the Crepe place were we had dinner, for an equally great breakfast. After we parted ways with M’s uncle and family we decided to take it easy for the rest of the day as our muscles were some what sore from snowshoeing so we went to the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley park . We watched three shows the beluga show, the dolphin show, and the Otter feeding. The aquarium has the best underwater viewing I have ever seen at an aquarium and the tanks are relatively large, but I could not help but wonder if the animals knew just how close they were to the ocean and freedom.
On the way back from the aquarium we wandered through the park and saw all the damage to the trees caused by the recent wind storm even though the federal government has promised two million to the clean up it may not be enough, the damage is so great. Some of the trees fallen over were over 100 years old. We walked up to the totem poles at the point. It is amazing how big and impressive they are in real life. Even though they are stylised, the figures look real. We walked back past the aquarium to the parking area to catch the bus to the city (not much of a trip - we could have walked) we got off in historic Gas Town and found the only working street steam clock in North America but a street person told us the thing hasn’t been working right for some time since a car ran into it last year. This guy was interesting and I would have handed him some change if I had any. However just to note, Vancouver has many street people, most of which are just poor and sometimes disturbed humans with no other place to go, but some are petty con-men with long lies they tell you to ply your sympathy. I have more respect for the guy that just says "Spare change please" than the well dressed guy that tells you "I’m and American who has lost his passport and the embassy won’t help me because the police took all my other ID to help find my passport, and I need money to pay for a hotel." he had me until he asked for cash. Personally I think that professional pan handlers take money out to the pockets of street people that need the help. It is not a job it is a way to survive when you can’t work a regular job for whatever reason. Gastown is the only place I know in Canada where the stores are open until after 6:00 PM on Sundays. M bought some really classy jade jewellery at a store run by a mining company. After shopping we went to Christchurch Anglican cathedral (I think that was the name) to see a candle-light service of Gregorian Chant It was a great way to end a very nice vacation. The next morning M had a few appointments and I spent most of the morning wandering through the Dr Sun Yet Sen Japanese garden before we headed off to the airport for our flight home.
The first day while M was working I walked around the down town looking at some of the sights and doing some shopping. It was warm by Ottawa standards but cool according to the Vancouverites It was quite rainy and there was green grass and some dying flowers still half in bloom. Coming from Ottawa’s sub-zero weather and dusting of snow Vancouver was paradise. I met up with my cousin "J" in the afternoon. In the evening Michelle and I went to a Brazilian Rodizio BBQ restaurant. This was a fascinating if not fattening experience. The way it works is the server gives you two cards on red and one green. If you leave the green card up on the table a wandering server will keep bringing you different types of BBQ’ed meat. I think there were 10 or more types of meat being served. The servers are dressed in Brazilian costumes (like gauchos) with bright coloured sash and neckerchief. Each server carries a sword like skewer with the point resting on a dish with a small metal indent in the middle. They bring this skewer to your table and they carve off a strip of meat which you grab with a set of tongs and place on your plate. During the meal there was a dance show (A bit tacky but very carnivalish so forgivable. I hate to say it but I find carnival tacky. I cam back with a rather sizable stomach ache but it was a very good night (too much protein though)
The next day we decided we would work off some of the calories we put on and we went to cypress mountain to go snowshoeing. We took Seabus over to North Vancouver and caught the shuttle to Cypress mountain. The trip up was great we got a really nice view of the city as we went up and it was interesting to watch the weather change from spring like to mid winter in the space of a few miles. The snow depth at Cypress was about nine feet, judging by the wells around the trees. We didn’t see much wildlife as Cypress is mainly a ski resort even if it is a national park. The trails were extensive and well maintained. There were two very nice viewpoints and we saw the largest Cypress tree in the park just beside the snowshoe trail. When we got back to the city we met up with "J" and his wife "T" and went for drinks. We had intended on going to Earls a local bistro lounge but the waiting list was an hour so we went to a Crepe place and had some really nice crepes and drinks. We talked for a good long time mostly about family memories. We walked J and T back toward the sky train and we headed back to the hotel for a well appreciated nights sleep. The next morning we arranged to meet with M’s Uncle and his family (wife and adult son and daughter - very nice people) for breakfast. They met us at the hotel and we walked over to the Crepe place were we had dinner, for an equally great breakfast. After we parted ways with M’s uncle and family we decided to take it easy for the rest of the day as our muscles were some what sore from snowshoeing so we went to the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley park . We watched three shows the beluga show, the dolphin show, and the Otter feeding. The aquarium has the best underwater viewing I have ever seen at an aquarium and the tanks are relatively large, but I could not help but wonder if the animals knew just how close they were to the ocean and freedom.
On the way back from the aquarium we wandered through the park and saw all the damage to the trees caused by the recent wind storm even though the federal government has promised two million to the clean up it may not be enough, the damage is so great. Some of the trees fallen over were over 100 years old. We walked up to the totem poles at the point. It is amazing how big and impressive they are in real life. Even though they are stylised, the figures look real. We walked back past the aquarium to the parking area to catch the bus to the city (not much of a trip - we could have walked) we got off in historic Gas Town and found the only working street steam clock in North America but a street person told us the thing hasn’t been working right for some time since a car ran into it last year. This guy was interesting and I would have handed him some change if I had any. However just to note, Vancouver has many street people, most of which are just poor and sometimes disturbed humans with no other place to go, but some are petty con-men with long lies they tell you to ply your sympathy. I have more respect for the guy that just says "Spare change please" than the well dressed guy that tells you "I’m and American who has lost his passport and the embassy won’t help me because the police took all my other ID to help find my passport, and I need money to pay for a hotel." he had me until he asked for cash. Personally I think that professional pan handlers take money out to the pockets of street people that need the help. It is not a job it is a way to survive when you can’t work a regular job for whatever reason. Gastown is the only place I know in Canada where the stores are open until after 6:00 PM on Sundays. M bought some really classy jade jewellery at a store run by a mining company. After shopping we went to Christchurch Anglican cathedral (I think that was the name) to see a candle-light service of Gregorian Chant It was a great way to end a very nice vacation. The next morning M had a few appointments and I spent most of the morning wandering through the Dr Sun Yet Sen Japanese garden before we headed off to the airport for our flight home.
2 comments:
Bill, you really 'talk' a nice vacation - sorry - holiday. Wish I had your gift for such interesting recall. My honey and I are heading back to London for two weeks on March 7, and though I'm planning on several walks I'm sure her photos will far outshine my written description of our 'adventure'. Thanks for the neat tales. I liked Vancouver when we visited there years ago, too.
(Of course it probably looks so familiar to me because so many US films are shot on location there).
Nice to be back, reading and relaxing again.
Cheers
Like I said in my email You're always welcome to drop by our neck of the woods for a vacation. Ottawa is very pretty in the spring.
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