Vancouver 10th - 14th Sept

September 17, 2007 by paulandnaomi.

We absolutely loved sunny Vancouver, where we spent three action-packed days, and still didn’t get to see everything! Our first morning was spent up Grouse Mountain photographing grizzly bears, watching the world-famous but somewhat cheesy (although entertaining) lumberjack show and eating our picnic lunch with one of the best views of the city of Vancouver there is. In the evening we had the opportunity to get to know a number of N’s (3rd,4th and 5th!) cousins at an entertaining dinner arranged by Wendy and Ann, our wonderful hostesses.

Wednesday brought us an excellent lunch in a Vietnamese restaurant in China town, and Moira and Tim (Paul’s mother and brother) on the evening flight from Glasgow. Their undamaged bikes were tossed into the back of a taxi and we sped off to the somewhat (in)famous Patricia Hotel, unfortunately located in the middle of Vancouver’s dodgiest area, the streets of which were populated by pimps, prostitutes and various crystal meth casualties trading single cigarettes and marshmallows (apparently this is all they eat).

The following morning a whirwind tour of Vancouver on our bikes took us down the coastal path, through the wilderness of Stanley Park, along the beaches of English Bay to the Fischer Price ferry (Aquabus) to Granville Island and its bustling markets and quiet suburban streets. Eventually we ended up in Kitsilano and the very funky Sophie’s Cosmic Cafe, which had kitsch, not kids’, toys stuck to the wall. We enjoyed an excellent chatty lunch with the delightful Maggie, who gave us a wealth of information on Vancouver. Our next engagement was a coffee date with the lovely Jane and her sweet dog, Oliver, which ended with a tour of her beautiful house and some directions to get to the best shops in the area.

After a frantic shopping expedition to obtain various cycling necessities, we realised we were going to be very late for our dinner with Wendy and Ann back in North Van in the evening. While Moira and Tim dodged the crystal meth victims on their way to sort things out at the hotel, N went on ahead solo and found herself struggling onto a bus with her bike, a big bunch of flowers, two bottles of wine, her handbag and a u-lock (luckily aided by a very helpful bus driver), to try and somehow make us less late for the dinner date. Moira, Tim and Paul arrived a fantastic two hours late, but all was not lost as we enjoyed a wonderful feast with lots of wine and laughter, a wonderful way to end a most chaotic day!

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