Walked 19.2 km / 29 053 steps
Day 2 was our first full day to explore Vancouver.
We started off on a quest for breakfast that was not fast food… and this was surprisingly difficult! All we saw for blocks and blocks were Starbucks!! Do people eat breakfast in downtown Vancouver?? Breakfast is not my favourite meal of the day and I was not looking for a three course meal but I wanted something I could eat with cutlery and not my hands!!
We finally found a place that looked promising at first but turned out to be really lousy. I ordered a mimosa and got this monstrosity! What the hell? A mimosa should be served in a champagne flute, this is a poolside cocktail… and full of ice! Ice in a mimosa? No thanks. And what’s with the ginormo watermelon ‘wedge’??? This was just wrong wrong wrong on so many levels.
Breakfast was no better. I ordered a veggie frittata and essentially got veggie bits in boiled tomato sauce. My husband asked for the same thing but the meaty version with toast on the side - he got two floppy pieces of Wonder Bread, barely warm let alone toasted. I didn’t bother with pictures. Still, we were finally fed after a long search and ready to keep moving.
We wandered around the waterfront area near the Vancouver Convention Center and Canada Place …
… admired the Olympic Cauldron …
… and the Digital Orca (I think Pixelated Orca would be a better name!)
It was a lovely morning.
We eventually ended up in Gastown but the sun seemed to always be in the wrong place to take clear pictures! Still, we got a good feel for the area. We listened to the Steam Clock Toot…
… meandered around, scoped out potential places for lunch and finally stopped for coffee…
After that short beak, we walked through Chinatown…
… and finally back downtown to the Vancouver Lookout. Nice views from up there, but I think this type of activity is best once you’ve explored the city a little more beforehand and so you have a better understand of exactly where you are looking and what you are seeing!
We eventually decided that we wanted to eat by the water for lunch instead of heading back to Gastown and so we set off across the city towards False Creek and then North along Beach Avenue to look for something atmospheric; we ended up almost back at the hotel. Across the street from yesterday’s great lunch at the Cactus Club Café was the Boathouse Restaurant and I settled in for another feast. I even had dessert believe it or not!
Full and satisfied after that meal (was around 3PM by then), we headed out to Sunset Beach Park to see the sights at the 420 Festival. I've never smoked a joint in my life, but I was curious at least to see the festival even thought this is FAR from my preferred scene! I'm pro-decriminalizing, but the STENCH and the crowds started making me wonder… they all seemed peaceful enough but the ratio of what we’d characterize as “pot heads” versus the “responsible adult who smokes the occasional joint like someone who drinks the occasional drink” was VERY VERY VERY skewed towards the zombies. Of course, that might be because this kind of festival attracts a certain type of person more than the other. I said to my husband that if we continue to use smoking-up versus drinking metaphor, then this was a convention of alcoholics. Lots of good arguments on all sides of the debate, I am sure.
Needing to get away from the smoke, we took a ferry to Grandville Island…
Meh, I was underwhelmed. I spotted the “Cathouse Café” and hoped it was a real cat café but it wasn’t. Still it was great weather for a drink on the terrace. ;)
We then decided to go back to Stanley Park to wander the “inside paths” this time and not just the seawall perimeter. SO MANY flowers!! I couldn’t get enough; I always say that flowers are good for the soul – we spent over an hour just taking time to smell the roses … so to speak!
Supper was an early nibble back at the hotel restaurant so I could sit and admire the tree out the window some more!!
I think we were in bed by 8PM - Good night!
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