Two Days in Vancouver

So we talked with our hosts at the WorldMark, and one suggestion was that we catch the Red Trolley for a tour of the city. It sounded like a reasonable suggestion, and they could provide us a discount, so we signed up. Of course with any kind of transportation except your own automobile, there is some wait time, but we were OK with that. We caught the trolley about a block from our lodging and took both the blue and red loops(see map above). Our first driver had such a low pitched voice, the sound quality of the speaker system was so poor, that Bubby spent most of the time just chuckling at her inability to understand the narrative. When we switched trolleys our new driver was Javier, and although he had a very thick accent, he was far easier to understand, plus he was very pleasant and eager to please us. He took us through Stanley Park, the crown jewel of the City of Vancouver. When we got back to WorldMark, we decided on an adventure, so we consulted again with the concierge. We were bound for Chinatown and a dim sum lunch. A restaurant was recommended, and bus directions given, and off we went. The bus contained an entirely different class of people than the trolley. Suffice it to say, I was getting an education in human behavior when I thought I had pretty much seen it all. The concierge suggested that although Chinatown was near enough to walk, our route would take us through the least desirable part of the city, and it was not recommended. When we found our restaurant, there was no question in our minds that we had an authentic location for our first dim sum adventure. Thank heavens there were pictures, or I would not have known what to order. It was humorous, however. I thought I was ordering two of each item I selected. What I was actually ordered was two orders of each (there a 2, 3, or 4 dim sum in each order). Thank heaven our waiter got me straightened out. We passed on the chicken feet and other offal filled varieties and ended up with a very interesting selection of six different dumplings. At least we can say we did it. The late afternoon involved watching movies in our room and a trip to the Winking Judge Pub for some pub fare. We of course don't venture out much in the evenings. There are more than a few panhandlers on the corners, which makes this country mouse quite uncomfortable. This morning when we rose, we hatched a plan. We were going to catch the trolley again, and head to Stanley Park. Our goal, to rent bicycles and ride the five or so mile bike path around the park. We did our homework on the computer and found a reasonable rental rate, and off we went.

Bubb decided that she wanted to rent a tandem bike, so we did. It took us awhile to get used to stopping and starting together, but we figured it out. Here we are at the totem poles in Stanley Park. There is a helmet law in Vancouver, but I would have rented one anyway. They look really, really cool.

Vancouver sits on a peninsula and this is one of the bridges to the main land. I think it is the Lion's Gate Bridge, but I wouldn't swear to it.

This figurehead is a replica of the one on the SS Empress of Japan, a ship that transported Canadian cargo to the orient from 1891-1922. Pretty cool, I think. How do I know all of this? It's on the plaque under the figurehead, of course.

A view across the harbor looking southeast. A small lighthouse on some point or other at the northeast tip of Stanley Park.

And this lovely lady suns herself on a rock in the bay. I didn't catch her name, but couldn't resist a photo. Once we finished with our bike ride, which included a lunch we packed from our refrigerator, we decided to walk back to our lodging rather than catch the trolley. We stopped in a grocery store for some dessert, and then walked through one of the major shopping districts. I took Bubb into a Roots store and she admired their really cool sweatshirts and the like. She loved the look, but couldn't bring herself to drop $70 Canadian on one. That's my girl. Now that we are getting familiar with the city, we are more brave about striking out on our own. We did a rerun on part of the blue line tour and got off the trolley in the Gaslight district. We then found our way home on foot. It was about 10-12 blocks. Tonight we are having a dinner designed to clear out some of what is in the fridge, and tomorrow, we pack up and head to Seattle. It has surely been nice to get away. Buboppy