Breakfast at my place, then I walked down to meet up with Steve and Lauren just as they were coming downstairs for breakfast. I sat with them while they ate, and we rang up The Tour Guys and set up an afternoon tour with on of their guides, who coincidentally happened to be a foodie. After breakfast, we walked around behind the hotel, down to the seawall walking/biking path and headed west toward Stanley Park. Stanley Park is a little larger than central park, and is like a big circular park that is attached to the edge of the shoreline. We thought it might be only a few miles around, and we could walk it in a couple hours, but soon realized we’d misjudged the size. We passed lots of bikers and joggers on the path (there are so many good-looking men in this town!), and soon entered the park.
The first thing we saw was a collection of totems, along with the history and significance of each, as well as information on the sculptor.
We continued around the path, until we came to the signs for the aquarium, which was reputed to be small, but to have a diverse collection of marine life. We headed in and scurried to a talk on life in the sea off the shore locally. Kind of silly, but interesting to see all the fish and sea stars (so-called here because they aren’t fish) along with the employee in a dry suit swimming underwater completing the show. When that ended, we spent about 45 minutes admiring the exhibits. I particularly enjoyed the floor that covered frogs, salamanders, newts and lizards. I hadn’t realized how quickly entire species have been disappearing nor how beautiful small, poisonous frogs are in person. We could have spent more time there, but needed to get to the Art Gallery (museums house artifacts and historical paraphernalia and those that house only painting and art are called galleries) to check out some food trucks for lunch before meeting our guide, Jessica.
Only a couple of trucks (we didn’t realize until later that they were around the whole block, as opposed to all together on one street) and we decided to eat at the Mango middle eastern truck. We placed our orders, then stepped back to wait our turn. I chose grilled chicken that was wrapped in flatbread, and filled with hot sauce, pickled turnips, carrots, hummus, carrots, etc.
Yum! So fun eating out in the sun…..and finally, some vegetables!
We found Jessica, who had eaten from the same truck (her current favorite), and started our afternoon learning and seeing the history and culture of Vancouver. First thing we saw were the other food trucks. Bacon truck:
Of course, I had to try the bourbon brownie with bacon!
I know you’re thinking by now, what is it with these food trucks? Yes, food is a big part of my travel blog, but food trucks are actually a big deal here. For years, the only food trucks allowed were hotdogs (Japadog! loved by celebrities and plebians alike):
roasted chestnuts and popcorn. However, the ridiculously long lines at the trucks during the 2010 Olympics convinced the city leaders that the demand was there and they needed to figure something out. So initially only 9 trucks received licenses, but there are now 48 trucks around the city, some of which have been featured in travel and food magazines. And nothing like eating fresh, gourmet food from the street corner.
Anyway, we rounded the corner of the Vancouver Art Gallery:
and headed by one of the many painted terra cotta warriors that have been placed around time for a period of time before they are auctioned off and money donated to charity:
We learned the history of the oldest church in the province and visited the beautiful Marine Building, a great example of art deco and at one time the tallest building in town. Here are some of the beautiful elevators:
the incredibly detailed inlaid wood that creates a different design in each of the five elevators:
and more of the ship motif that is ubiquitous (the light sconces, shape of the ceiling, sea creatures carved along the doorposts, etc):
We then found ourselves at the waterfront, where we admired the convention center, originally built for the Olympics:
and then the glass sculpture that help the Olympic light, still lit up nightly:
We then walked east into Gastown, named for the gentleman who founded it. And no, not because he walked around with an upset stomach most of the time, but because he was so full of hot air and yakking all the time. It fell into disrepair and was being torn down (including the neighborhood where Jimi Hendix’s grandparents lived) until there was an outcry and restoration began. Now it’s full of touristy stores and fake gaslights.
Last stop on the tour was Chinatown and the Sun Yat-sen gardens. Despite what you might think, Chinatown is not really known for its food (you need to go south down to the Richmond area for all the good Asian food), other than a fantastic donut store that opened there about a year ago and closes everyday when they are sold out of their $3 gems (yes, they were closed when we arrived, thank goodness!).
We said goodbye to our guide, who was so wonderful, and walked back toward our respective abodes. Our dogs were howling. I fell onto my bed to relax for a bit and check out the bus schedule for our morning jaunt tomorrow. I got up once to go to the bathroom and man, did they hurt! Luckily, Steve and Lauren felt similarly and so picked me up in a cab for dinner. We headed over to Yaletown (no, I have no idea how that area got its name) to Blue Water Grill + Raw Bar, a pretty hip, kind of upscale seafood restaurant serving towers of crab, lobster, scallops and shrimp, assorted sushi and all kinds of ceviche, in addition to the usual, creative entrees of that genre. Dinner and conversation over, we make a plan to meet in the morning and they drop me off on their way home. So good to be horizontal.