Beautiful, beautiful Vancouver
Let me start by saying it's really hard to believe that my week in Vancouver is nearly over. It's been a wonderful visit full of friends, favorite sights, great food, and new ideas.
Once I arrived I took a taxi over to Rachel and Mike's place in Kerrisdale and we enjoyed a BBQ on their balcony and then poked around the little boutiques and shops in the area. Friday morning somehow got spent organizing and planning and in the afternoon I followed Rachel to the pool at Kitsilano beach where she met up with another triathalon buddy and swam for over an hour and a half. During this time I sat and chatted with some people, napped, and splashed around. We then had a terrific sushi dinner at the foot of Yew street. Don't ask me for the name because I can't remember. But all I can suggest is to order the Chef's special sashimi because that pretty much guarantees you the freshest fish. After this we headed over to her friend Renee's place prior to heading downtown for a night of live music and then DJ dancing until the wee hours. I forgot how great it is to do that when you don't have to work the next day.
On Saturday, I went into Granville island for a bit and then took the Aquabus across to downtown and walked to the church. I had carried everything I needed in my backpack all day...or so I thought. Let me just say that the relaxing 40 minutes I had given myself to get all pretty was completely necessary for me to sprint down to Robson street, tear into La Vie en Rose, fix the problem, and then run all the way back with my dress mostly done up in the back. We sat down just as the minister was starting to get everyone's attention. The ceremony was beautiful. Traditional and warm. I couldn't stop smiling the entire time.
After the ceremony but before the cocktail hour at the Vancouver Club, Rachel and I had a chance to walk around downtown a bit. The reception was great. Rachel and I tore up the dance floor so much that one of Richard's cousins asked us if we were wedding crashers. Tempted to say yes.
On Sunday I had a bit of a visit with Megan and Richard at Megan's family's home and the Rachel and I drove to North Vancouver to check out the Caribbean Festival there. Hugely hot, huge crowds, ginger beer and good tunes are the impressions that I left with. We cooled down a bit in the forests of Lynn Valley at the foot of the mountains before heading home.
Yesterday I went back to Granville island and took the Granville Island Brewery Tour. During the introductions round I announced that ever since the Yukon Brewery tour of 2001, I was on a quest to see every micro brewery in Canada. I really don't know what possessed me to say that but I now feel like I have my life's work laid out before me. We had a few tastings after the tour and since we were a small group sharing 4 pitchers of beer, by 1:30 I realized that I now had to face an hour or so of trying to walk through artists' lofts without looking buzzed, without knocking anything over, and without buying anything for fear of having altered my sense of good taste. But luckily the feeling passed and I had a great afternoon. Rachel dropped me off at Gary and Tara's last night and the day ended with dinner on their rooftop patio.
Today has been a great day. I went to Kinko's and printed off some very important instructions and directions to various places in Hong Kong and Japan so now I at least feel partly prepared to leave tomorrow. I also bought something Mark had asked me for and picked up a first-rate fantasy novel at Chapters. It's been a long time since I read one of these books and I am very excited to get caught up in a good story during my flight over the polar ice caps. It's great how you never really grow up. I got a few more things I needed and then book Tara's bike into downtown and biked the perimeter of Stanley Park along the Sea Wall. I now understand how that is something that everybody has to do at least once. I reapplied sunscreen SPF 60 at least twice but I'm sure that I will come back from this vacation looking quite a few shades darker than my normal white self.
I think that tonight we will go out for some Vancouver sushi and then I can say goodbye to Canada for a little while.
Thanks for reading and I welcome your comments. I am computer-free this time around and am relying on the hospitality of my hosts and coffee shops. I'll try to post again soon.
Leslie
ps. If anybody has any suggestions how to make the photo not sideways, let me know.
